More than 40 southern Colorado community college students and their faculty visited the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and the surrounding city on Saturday, Sept. 25. But this was no ordinary field trip.

Instead, the Future in Klieg Lights Tour exposed students to the benefits of a four-year degree and to the possibility of working in the arts by giving them hands-on lessons and behind-the-scenes peeks at academic and professional theater.

Students from Otero Community College, Trinidad State Junior College, Pikes Peak Community College and Pueblo Community College toured the UCCS theater program before participating in workshops focusing on improvisation, comedy and the technical aspects of theater including stage design. Later, they toured the Pikes Peak Center before returning to campus to see a Theaterworks performance of "I Am Nicola Tesla." The day concluded with a private question-and-answer session with the cast and crew of the show.

"I know when I was a student at Pikes Peak Community College, it was a big mental hurdle to go to a four-year school," said CU Regent Stephen Ludwig, a co-organizer of the event. "We want to open doors to the idea of continuing past a two-year degree."

Last year, Ludwig joined with the Colorado Community College System to organize a tour of northern Colorado-based university theater programs for interested community college students. Building on that success, this year's effort focused on the southern part of the state.

"We're trying to bring awareness to the different occupations in the arts," said Jennifer Jirous, STEM, Arts and Information Technology program director for the Colorado Community College System. "There are many occupations in the arts that students simply have not thought about."

The Future in Klieg Lights tour was sponsored by the Colorado Community College System, which provided funding for student travel and meals.

And what's a Klieg light?

The term is synonymous for the bright lights of movie-making and traces its roots to inventor John Kliegl who, in the early 1900s, created the first intense light sources. That lesson, and many more, were part of the technical workshop.