Some of Bermuda?s most promising young artists will be shining tonight when the Institute for Talented Students hosts an exhibition for its first ever summer master programme.

Under the guidance of award wining American artist Michael Cacy, 20 young Bermudians spent the past month fine tuning their creative talents and exploring mediums as diverse as air brush styling and oil painting.

And with all the hard work done, these rising stars of the art world are set to deliver an exhibition which Mr. Cacy says will certainly assure Bermuda?s art community of a fruitful future.

An exhibition wasn?t scheduled for the course but Mr. Cacy, who has contributed work to countless magazines and works as an art professor in the US, said after seeing the quality of work being produced he insisted that the kids have a chance to show off a little.

The Young Artists Summer Master Course is a product of the Institute for Talented Youths. Founded by Executive Director Riquette Bonne-Smith and working is association with Johns Hopkins University Centre for Talented Youths, the Institute encourages promising students in academics as well as the arts. Though this is the first summer programme that the Institute has put on, Mrs. Bonne-Smith said that it has been so successful she is considering expanding to academic summer programmes in the future.

?It?s great that they?ll have a show which people can come to,? said Mrs. Bonne-Smith. ?The kids are really excited because they say, ?we can invite our aunts, our uncles, our grandmothers, our friends, all sorts of different people to see what they have achieved and I think that?s just a great way to create, its just beautiful.?

A total of three workshops are planned for the summer, with Mr. Cacy teaching a morning and an afternoon class through July, and then only a morning class in August. And in keeping with the aims of the Institute to develop promising students, all of the artists were screened with an art examination just to make sure that they would be up to the skill level required for the course. Originally an age requirement of 13-18 years was imposed but when a number of especially talented pre-teens did very well in the exam Mrs. Bonne-Smith said the programme had to scrap the age minimum.

Guiding around the programme?s studio in Hamilton last week Mr. Cacy shared how the workshop worked as well as his own experience with it but in his enthusiasm with the work being done, he couldn?t help but sneak us a peek of what?s in store for tonight?s show:

?Every single week is something different,? he said, ?Our first week we spent only on everything dry media that I know of: pencil, charcoal, charcoal pencils, pastels and colour pencils.?

The following weeks saw the kids learning the modern techniques of air brushing, producing studies of diffused solar systems as well as experimenting with stencils and some free hand work, he said.

In the third week water based paint was introduced, giving rise to some mixed media work which Mr. Cacy said he was especially pleased with.

?The kids used water colours, ink and gouache,? which he explained is an opaque water colour which can be used transparently ?They were encouraged to even mix them up a little bit and see what happens.?

?So the end result may not be a purist gouache piece. It may be gouache and paint, and then the kids may add some pastel to it.

?But as we roll through they keep acquiring more skills, and if they can combine more and more of those skills by the end of the course the work should we?ll see will be incredible,? he said, commenting that having the students for a month long period of time has allowed him to really tap into their personalities and draw out their best work.

?Next week will be oil and mixed media on canvas, so every week is a whole new programme as if I?m doing a completely different course but with the same kids,? he said, emphasising how well the kids have been building on the new skills they?ve learnt each week.

The aim for the end of the course, he said was to have the students compile a portfolio of their coursework, really emphasising the diversity of their new skills.

In talking with the kids, the air brush work was certainly popular, though as Ellwood Mouchette, 13, pointed out it took them quite a lot of practice to get the hang of the the new skill.

?I didn?t think air brush would be that fun, but once we started getting into it, I really enjoyed it,? said Paige Wineinger.

But soft spoken Kaamilah Al-Amin,17, said, though she found the air brush fun, she said she preferred using charcoal to really work the details for her rich portrait work.

?One of the things I encourage in here is to develop whatever emerging style the student might have,? Mr. Cacy said, as he pointed out the work of 11 year old Paige, which Mr. Cacy said he has taken to calling ?matrix art?.

?Some of the kids really had a spontaneous drawing style before ever coming to this class, and all we?re trying to do is bump that up to the next level. I?m not discouraging anyone from following their own path. And looking at what Paige is doing here is expanding on something she had started back in school, and its now becoming a portfolio series.?

In describing her work, which uses short straight lines in bold colours to deliberately camouflage her subjects, Paige said she enjoyed transforming whatever she?s painting, rendering it in a style distinctly her own.

?In this picture here there are two flowers. The flowers are there, but with the other colours around them you are not supposed to see them stand out. There are not supposed to be any curved lines they all have to be straight.?

?I came up with the design myself in May and April,? said Paige, who is planning on becoming a teacher with plans already in the works of some day opening her own art school.

The public can attend the art exhibition today from 5.30 p.m.-7.30 p.m. at the institute?s centre, 7 Par-La-Ville Road.