MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For the past 37 years, the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, hosted by MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts, has been a tool for the education, training and development of artistic high school students across Tennessee.

This year, over 290 of these young artists will be performing and showcasing their talents at the grand finale events set for Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25, following almost a month of instruction by a host of faculty from MTSU and across the nation in vocal and instrumental music, visual art, theater, dance and filmmaking.

MTSU assistant theatre professor Katie Goodwin, the new director of the Governor’s School for the Arts, also known as GSFTA, noted that students admitted this year, like in previous years, had to go through an application and selection process for the three-week summer residency program.

“GSFTA is for rising juniors and seniors who apply in the fall. We do a round of auditions and portfolio reviews to choose the right students for 22 days of arts education on campus,” said Goodwin, a six-year Department of Theatre and Dance faculty member who’s also an MTSU theatre alumna.

“They must show grades and transcripts to be considered. Each of the arts areas has a coordinator, and after the auditions, selections are made. They get three college credit hours (and) have (MTSU student) M-numbers and IDs. They are getting prepared for college life, too.”

This year’s Governor’s School has 293 students from 31 different counties across the state who were selected from among 600 applicants this year.