At the Computer Clubhouse, tomorrow is today. Part of the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center located at 855 California Avenue, the Clubhouse offers kids ages 8 to 18 a chance to use the most up-to-date computer, video and music technology, bringing the future into their lives now.
   "Children learn much faster than adults so it's very beneficial for them to be exposed at a young age," said technology center manager Carole Costa.
   Take, for example, 9-year-old Alexis Treviso, who comes to the Clubhouse as part of an after school program. In just seven weeks, he has mastered a complicated 3D software program called Bryce 5. Using the program, he designed a piece of art with mountains, a space ship and sand dunes.
   "It just came out of my head," Treviso said of the idea for his project. He also made a similar piece for one of his friends, using components like skulls and mazes that he knew his friend would like.
   Treviso, a fourth grader at Edison Elementary School, easily navigates the system, choosing options like create, choose objects, colors and textures.
   "The first thing, you need to just play around with them," he said. The more you fiddle, in other words, the more you find.
   Artwork created by Clubhouse students on similar programs currently is on display at the Chapman Library, 577 S. 900 West. Participants picked the name of the exhibition, Youth Art of Tomorrow, themselves. The exhibition coincides with the fourth anniversary of the Clubhouse, which opened in 2001.
   "We tried to select artwork that would represent different age groups and different softwares," Costa said. "We also tried to choose artwork that the kids had been working on that meant something to them."
   There are plenty of things to experiment with at the Clubhouse, which also has a "drop-in environment," open to any students whether or not they are enrolled in a specific after-school program. On a recent late afternoon, Treviso built a molecule, while another boy constructed a robot with gears and moving pieces. One of Treviso's favorite projects so far was a movie he made with several other Clubhouse members, including his 10-year-old cousin, Alison Bravo. The kids, Costa said, came up with a script about a robbery and filmed the whole project themselves using digital video cameras. A green screen was used for special effects, and the movie also included elements like stop-action animation, designed on the computer.
   "They are very creative," Costa said.
   Bravo said writing the script was the hardest part of the project, while Treviso, who served as the movie's director, said there was a lot of fighting over who got to hold the camera. Costa said students always take the helm of each project while staff members just offer advice and guidance. It was Costa who had to break it to the movie's production team that a red get-away Ferrari was not an option. She helped them decide, instead, on putting a Ferrari sticker on a staff member's red car.
   "We are really trying to empower them to make their own decisions," Costa said.
   A soft-spoken fourth grader, Bravo prefers software dealing with digital photographs and music editing. She took several pictures of herself and her cousins and, using a Photoshop program, pasted the pictures onto a background of meadows and snow-capped mountains.
   "First I found a background and then I took pictures," Bravo said. "Then when you print them they look like real so when people see them they think they're real but they're not."
   Using music editing software on the computer, Bravo has also burned a CD of original songs. She hopes to have another CD ready soon.
   "I'd like to make six more songs," she said.
   While in the here and now kids probably just think they're having fun, an important preparation is taking place. Take Treviso's proficiency with the Bryce 5 software.
   "This is an entry level graphic 3D program but the skills Alexi has, he could apply it to an industrial standard," Costa said. "It's more complicated, but it's the same idea."
   Putting children in the role of creator also empowers them. At the Clubhouse kids don't just play video games, they design them. They don't just listen to music, they make it.
   Omar Abdalla, a junior at Highland High School, and his friends Abdul Muhidin and Mohamed Abdi, all 17 years old, holed up in the music studio, laying down tracks for an original rap.
   "There's bass, there's tunes, there's loops," Abdalla said. "You just put them together and make a beat." The boys spent all afternoon perfecting the beat. Next they will start writing lyrics to go with it. Sometimes they even rap in Somali, their native tongue.
   "It's easy to come up with something," Abdalla said. "It's not hard."
   "When we write it, we think about it first, you know," Muhidin, a senior at Highland High School, said.
   The trio have been coming to the Clubhouse three times a week for six years. They have recorded several CDs and the equipment and software they use is the same found in professional music studios.
   "We really try to build on their interests," Costa said. "The kids are able to do a lot of things on very complicated software because they are the ones who choose what they want to do."
   The creative outlet provided at the Clubhouse also is perfect for students who don't thrive in the traditional educational environment.
   "We see some children who are not successful in school, but they are very successful in the Clubhouse environment," Costa said.
   Abdalla and company love sharing their creations with friends and family.
   "It's fun," said Muhidin. "When you're done with your project and everyone comments on it, it feels good. It just makes you want to go back and do more."
   And that is the most important thing kids take away from the Clubhouse.
   "They are more confident," Costa said. "A lot of it is about self-confidence. They realize they can be successful in something. It helps their self-esteem."
   
   Art work made by students at the Computer Clubhouse will be on
   display at Chapman Library, 577 S. 900 West, through March 2. This
   piece, which will be on display during the next exhibition, was
   created by Edison Elementary School fourth grader Alexi Treviso using
   a 3D software program called Bryce 5.
   
   What you need to know
   l Youth Art of Tomorrow, featuring 20 pieces of high-tech art created by students at the Computer Clubhouse, such at the piece at left. The art will be on display at Chapman Library, 577 S. 900 West, through March 2.
   l The Computer Clubhouse, part of the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center, is located at 855 California Avenue (1300 South). For more information about the Clubhouse and Clubhouse programs, call 974-2420 or visit http://www.slcgov.com/clubhouse.
   
   l Does your group or organization have an upcoming event? We want to know. Send the who, what, when, where and why in an e-mail to close-up@sltrib.com, or fax at 801-257-8525 or by mail to: The Salt Lake Tribune, Attn: Close-Up, 90 S. 400 West, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.