Costa Mesa High’s new program explores careers in the arts

The students of Costa Mesa High School have always been able to explore classes in art, dance, theater and music. But the school’s art teachers knew a piece was missing from the program — components that focus on arts careers.

This fall, the school will begin its new Academy of Creative Expression, or ACE, for the 2015-16 academic year. The academy will expand on opportunities for student field trips, internships and classes taught by professionals from art-related industries.

Funding for this new curriculum comes from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and the Costa Mesa High School Foundation. Both organizations also recognized the high school’s need for a more specialized academy.

This program will focus on studies such as digital art, graphic design, photography, film & video, 3D art, ceramics, dance, theater, choir and band. Elective classes for piano and orchestra will also be included.

By developing these academy classes, Costa Mesa’s art teachers and students hope that more attention will be given to creative studies.

“It used to feel like there were more opportunities for people who studied math or science,” student Kelly Leno said. “But now people who want to enroll in arts can see the greater options there are.”

The school’s Visual and Performing Arts Department Chairman Kirby Piazza said students will benefit by learning about different career paths in the arts. Besides the performance direction, the academy plans to explore additional opportunities.

“There’s a great amount of careers available like backstage engineering and visual design,” Piazza said. “A lot of these jobs exist in California but the students may not know that so we want their studies to be more hands-on.”

New facilities for the academy’s students are now available on the Costa Mesa campus. The district recently built a dance studio, black box theater, band room, choir room, digital media room, and a theater and performing arts center that seats more than 300.

The academy plans to use the center for plays, music concerts, dance performances and film festivals for students to present their own work.

Classrooms for visual arts are set to open during the next school year.

This fall, the academy will begin its courses for the incoming freshmen class only. Potential academy students applied for positions within the program.

During their arts studies, students will still complete A-G courses, also known as college entrance requirements.

Student applications for the academy’s 2015-16 school year have already been accepted.