Fresno State's new creative arts center won't launch until the fall, but the unique program already has stimulated the local arts scene.

The center isn't a building and it doesn't have a physical address; instead, it's a campus-wide initiative dedicated to rejuvenating the creative arts at Fresno State and supporting artists in the community.

Established through a $1 million endowment, the Center for Creativity and the Arts will produce a series of visual and performance arts exhibitions that will draw from student and professional talent. Local artists, students and faculty say the ambitious program has created a flurry of excitement not seen in years.

"We so needed a program like this," said Meghan Cartier, a Fresno State art history major. "It just seems like everyone is disconnected."

The arts center is all about connectivity. Students will collaborate with faculty and local and visiting artists to create exhibitions that will span the visual and performing arts.

Next year's schedule includes concerts, films, dance, poetry and even public debates, and all exhibitions will focus on one theme: immigration, migration and labor.

The theme will change every year – for 2012-13, it is consumption and sustainability – but each one will be timely and relevant across disciplines, said Jose A. Diaz, interim director of the Center for Creativity and the Arts and a faculty member at Fresno State.

Events start in September, building toward a monthlong visit by Margarita Cabrera, a Texas-based contemporary artist whose work is influenced by her Mexican heritage.

In October, Cabrera will set up a weaving project in a barn on campus that now is used for storage. She will host weekly workshops for students and community members to join her in weaving tapestries inspired by Mexican traditions, said Elizabeta Betinski, an independent curator who is managing the project. Interspersed with the weaving workshops will be soccer games, picnics and other community events.

Students and faculty from each academic college will participate in the exhibitions, allowing those who may not have had much exposure to art to see how artists explore immigration and labor issues in their work.

"Here, students tend to be very insulated," said Nancy Youdelman, a local artist who studied art at Fresno State and now teaches there. "It will be eye-opening."

Although the center doesn't occupy a physical place, Diaz said he hopes to one day raise enough money for a new building. Exhibitions will be held anywhere artists can find space – from galleries and classrooms to parks and sports fields.

With the closure of the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science last year and local arts programs struggling with bare-bones budgets, Fresno State faculty say they've been worried.

A thriving local arts scene is crucial to sustaining the university arts program and an important component of art education – students should have opportunities to intern and collaborate with professional artists, and display their art around the community.

The $1 million endowment, a gift from an anonymous donor last year, also pays for student internships at local museums.

Cartier and Alyssa Mendoza, a 23-year-old art major, were both awarded internships at Arte Americas. They started working at the small museum in May, and will continue the program through December, when both students will graduate.

Mendoza said her work at Arte Americas has helped her connect the museum with young, local artists and promote student work. Her tasks include planning a series of upcoming shows on murals and graffiti, and she said she has lined up some student artists to be in the show.

The students have breathed new life into the museum, which has few young volunteers and is too under-resourced to offer paid internships, said Nancy Marquez, an Arte Americas board member who coordinates the interns. Fresno State pays the student interns about $10 an hour.

"We jumped at this chance" to have student interns, Marquez said. "We want to bring in the new generations so the museum is a place that serves them. Then they can connect us to the local [art] scene."