ASHTABULA — An artist can claim a significant measure of success when an audience member is so impressed by a performance, he offers the artist a scholarship to a prestigious school.

That was the good fortune of Tim Kolman, who, as one of two male dancers in an Ashtabula Arts Center Show earlier this year, impressed Bruce Loomis of Jefferson.

“He was very rock-like in the way he performed,” says Loomis, recalling the recital that grabbed and held his attention from the first dancer to come on stage.

Loomis followed up by calling the Arts Center and offered to financially assist one of the male dancers with the tuition to the Interlochen Center to the Arts in Interlochen, Mich.

Kolman, the son of Andrew and Ellen Kolman of Ashtabula, had never heard of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, but a quick check of the school’s Web site convinced Tim that he could grow artistically by attending one of the three-week sessions. The center also came highly recommended by his dance instructor, Shelagh Dubsky.

Tim applied to the Summer Arts Program, which required a performance video. Interlochen accepted Tim into the program and also provided a $1,000 scholarship.

He chose the modern dance track, which included ballet and jazz classes in addition to the core modern-dance sessions. There were 49 other students in his class — 48 of them female. Within that circle were students from Peru, Germany, England, Russia and Italy, as well as from across the United States.

“It was scary at first because there are lot of people there,” Tim says. “But I made friends with them so fast. Everyone there is an artist.”

“Interlochen’s mantra is ‘where art lives,’ and Tim gained a camaraderie with fellow artists from all over the world,” said Tim’s mother.

Interlochen offers programs in creative writing, dance, motion picture arts, music, theatre and visual arts. All of the students are intensely committed to their field and eager to learn.

The faculty is likewise passionate about the arts and mentoring the world’s brightest and most promising young artists and performers.

For Tim, that passion translated into some of the hardest work he’s ever done in a dance studio.

“It was pretty hard physically,” he says. “They pushed us really hard and we learned so much every day.”

Tim typically spent nine hours a day in class and rehearsal.

“Later in the evening, you had free time to do whatever. You could go back to your cabin or play sports. They had tennis, ping-pong, soccer, baseball,” he says.

There was also opportunity to drop in on the rehearsals and performances of other students, further expanding the dancer’s view of the art world.

The dance students prepared two performance pieces, a modern dance and a classical piece, “Les Preludes,” which was done with a live orchestra on an outdoor stage.

“I’d never done that before,” says Tim, who has danced to recorded music for many Arts Center productions.

Tim began taking dance lessons there after tagging along with his sister, Melissa. “I tried it and I liked it,” said Tim, who has studied dance for eight years.

He is enrolled in several dance classes at the Arts Center and enjoys a variety of dance styles. He also enjoys wrestling, although his dancing schedule seldom affords him the time to participate in school extracurriculars.

Tim is a sophomore at Jefferson Area High and plans to go to college. He says his Interlochen experience helped nudge him toward a career path in dance.

“As a result of going through that program, I think I might push forward in dance,” he says. “Interlochen showed me what it’s going to be like in the future.

“I’m not sure about what I’d like to do, but hopefully I can either become a professional dancer somewhere, and if that doesn’t work out, I can try to become a physical therapist for dancers or a dance teacher,” he adds.

His parents have taken note of their son’s focus and enthusiasm since he returned from Interlochen.

“Tim is very excited about dance and what he may be able to achieve through dance,” says Ellen Kolman. “His time at Interlochen showed him he can meet the challenges and achieve some amazing things. My husband and I are very grateful to Mr. Loomis for giving our son this experience of a lifetime.”

Tim says Interlochen experience gave him more than just dance training and performance opportunities — his Facebook friends list grew by at least 100.

“I made a lot of strong friends whom I’ll be friends with for the rest of my life,” he says.