MPR: Arts High School Proves Perpich's Vision

Arts High School Proves Perpich's Vision
By Tim Pugmire
May 10, 1999

Ten years ago, the Minnesota Legislature approved $6.5 million for an arts high school. The late Governor Rudy Perpich pushed long and hard for the school, and the proposal nearly died several times in the Legislature. But after its controversial start, the state-run facility has quietly schooled nearly 1,000 students in visual and performing arts. The school is now building a $7 million addition.

THEATER STUDENTS AT THE ARTS HIGH SCHOOL stand in a circle, taking turns in an acting exercise. Students in the Theater program spend a year learning dramatic technique and texts before moving onto playwriting, directing and other specialties. Anne Olson, an 11th grader from Oakdale, says she was active in theater productions at her old school, but she says she wanted more.

Olson: Because I really love to do theater. And here you can do it as part of your day, as part of your academic school day, instead of an after-school kind of thing. And you really concentrate a lot more on the art, rather than on a play or a musical that you're working on.

The tuition-free public high school is located just west of Minneapolis on the former campus of Golden Valley Lutheran College. Walls inside the aging buildings are covered with students' paintings and drawings. Hallways are cluttered with sculptures. About half of the students, those from outside the Twin Cities area, live in a dormitory. The school is one part of the Lola and Rudy Perpich Minnesota Center for Arts Education. The other component is a professional development and research program for art teachers throughout the state. Up to 300 11th and 12th graders attend the school. Center Director David O'Fallon points to a push pin-covered map of Minnesota to illustrate the enrollment.

O'Fallon: Kids literally do come from all over the state; from Blackduck to Blue Earth, through everything in between.

Arts High students can specialize in dance, literary arts, media arts, music, theater or visual arts. A decade ago, some educators feared the school would rob Minnesota schools of the best and brightest art students. O'Fallon says that hasn't happened. He says the Arts High School is benefiting every school district in the state by serving as a laboratory for art education.

O'Fallon: We keep asking, "how can we do this better? How can teaching improve? How can we connect ideas across the art forms? How can we connect, for example, concepts in dance with concepts in math or physcis?" And then, "ow can we share this?"

The late Governor Rudy Perpich proposed the idea of an arts high school in 1984 after visiting New York City's High School for the Performing Arts, the inspiration for the movie "Fame." Critics snickered, but support for the idea gradually grew. Perpich wanted the school near Loring Park in Minneapolis. A downtown Saint Paul location was another candidate. Originally viewed as a temporary site, Golden Valley is now the school's permanent home.

In a cramped practice room, music student Jonathan Paul Keller plays his standup bass to accompany classmate Alexei Moon Casselle's rap song. The Arts High School takes a unique approach to music. You won't find large bands or orchestras. Instead, students perform in small ensembles. Teacher Jonathan Howard says this pushes students' creativity while best accommodating the wide variety of musical backgrounds and skills.

Howard: Students come in with classical training, or sometimes very little training. We get a nice blend of students that have had private teachers all their whole lives, and students who have learned in the garages and the basements throughout the state of Minnesota.

Bass player Keller, an 11th grader from Minneapolis, says he likes the creative environment and freedom of the music program. He says it's a good way to explore his musical interests.

Keller: If I would go to college, and I wanted to study music, I'd be spending all this money and going to college. And what if I found out, you know, music wasn't my thing? Well, I get to go to high school and do that for free.

An Arts High School day is divided in thirds. Students spend two-thirds of their time on academics and one-third on their art specialty. Mark Youngstrom, Director Of School Programs, says the art areas are designed to be intellectually demanding.

Youngstrom: Kids sometimes come here from programs where the experience is making art and perhaps there's not a lot involved with thinking about art. And we want both to happen here. We've had sort of an initial conception that helped drive the beginning of the school, we thought about this image of the thinking artist, and we still do.

Christian Schoening, an 11th grade theater student who transferred from Hopkins, agrees. She says the Arts High School is academically rigorous.

Schoening: You know, people think about this school as a big slacker school, that's what the arts school is like, the reputation. But it's not. You come here, the academics are so much harder than my academics at my old school. So you're really challenged at this school. But then there's so much there for you. Teachers are always there to help. The emphasis is not on grades but actually like learning the material.

And the art-centered curriculum appears to be working. The school boasts a 95 percent graduation rate, with 70 percent of those graduates moving on to post-secondary education.

Director David O'Fallon says creativity is the key to solving many of the challenges facing our society. He says the Arts High School has an important role in helping develop the creativity of young people throughout Minnesota.

O'Fallon: Their imagination is our best natural resource. We are in the business of helping that, growing it, sustaining it. We hope providing nurturance to it. We've got to reach more young people. Some can come here. Lots of them we have to go to and work with their communities and teachers.

O'Fallon says the school has gained a lot of political and financial support over the past decade, and he says the future looks good. Work is nearing completion on a $7 million addition to the Arts High School. The new building houses a recital hall, music studios and science, math and language classrooms. The space will be ready for students in September.

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