ChiArts Admissions Brochure

ADMISSIONS GUIDE

WE BELIEVE IN THE ARTS AS A TRANSFORMATIVE FORCE FOR SOCIETY

Artistry gives the courage to make choices, the drive to wake up each day prepared to work harder than the day before, and the responsibility to maintain integrity for ourselves and others. At The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts), we use passion for the arts to fuel success for the whole student and develop a true scholarartist.

ChiArts, the city’s first public high school dedicated to the arts, offers a collegeprep education with a pre-professional arts conservatory program. Students apply to study in 1 of 5 disciplines—creative writing, dance, music, theatre, and visual arts— studying with the city’s most motivated teachers and artists. ChiArts scholar-artists participate in a rigorous program which includes 5 hours of academics, 3 hours of arts education, and 1 to 4 hours of practice or rehearsal per day.

scholar-artists HAVE...

Received several acknowledgments from the National YoungArts Foundation for their artistic excellence

Been chosen among all public arts high schools/ programs nationwide to perform in a music video showcasing talented young artists for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Netflix film Tick, Tick… Boom!

Competed and won awards on the national and international circuit in multiple disciplines (National August Wilson Monologue Competition, Yokohama International Music Festival, Youth America Grand Prix International Competition)

Published writing in several literary reviews and poetry collections (Ricochet Review, American Gun, and others)

Performed with distinguished institutions (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) and in acclaimed venues (Carnegie Hall)

Been awarded 9 Posse Foundation fulltuition scholarships to a Posse partner university Been acknowledged yearly by Chicago institutions as active artists in the city (DCASE Rising Stars Honor Roll, All-City Visual Art Exhibition, CMPI)

Been invited to participate in prestigious camps and tours (Grammy Foundation’s GRAMMY Camp, The Juilliard School’s Sphinx Performance Academy, Thelonious Monk National High School All-Star Jazz Tour)

Been awarded a number of national medals in the Scholastic Art & Writing Competition on a yearly basis

Been commissioned to create a portrait of Harold Washington for Chicago Public Libraries, on permanent display

MASTERCLASSES & GUEST APPEARANCES HAVE INCLUDED...

• Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre

• Hebru Brantley

• Mark Bradford

• Poetry Magazine

• Broadway in Chicago

• KevinEubanks

• Mikhail Baryshnikov

• Theaster Gates

• Tyehimba Jess

RenéeFleming

• NPR’sPeterSagal

Yo-YoMa

Mission: The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts®) develops the next generation of diverse, artistically promising scholar artists through intensive pre-professional training in the arts, combined with a comprehensive college preparatory curriculum.

50 wards of Chicago are represented by the student body every year

65% of students begin as novices, with little to no training in their art

than 40% of ChiArts students come from low-income families More than $3 million in private funding is raised annually by The ChiArts Foundation to support the arts conservatories.

The Ailey School

Baldwin Wallace University

Berklee College of Music

Boston Conservatory

California Institute of the Arts

Carnegie Mellon University

Clark Atlanta University

Columbia College

Columbia University

Cornish College of the Arts

Dartmouth College

DePaul University

FiskUniversity

HowardUniversity

The Juilliard School

Leeds College of Art& Design

2,500 hours of arts training are provided to each student from freshman year to graduation

Middlebury College

Morehouse College

New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts

New York University

Northwestern University

Oberlin College

Point Park University

Pomona College

Rhode Island School of Design

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Michigan

University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Utrecht School of the Arts

Yale University

The

(CP),

(H), and

(AP)

all of which align with College

Standards and prepare students for postsecondary education. ChiArts operates on a block schedule where each academic class meets every other day.

AP classes are offered beginning sophomore year. All AP classes are offered based on enrollment number

**Can be from an additional credit in World Language or core subject areas.

CREATIVE WRITING

The Creative Writing Conservatory integrates ChiArts’ core values into the rigorous study of the foundations of creative writing and the development of individual voice and polished work. The first two years of the program will consist of training in the elements of Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and cross disciplinary courses in which students can use their writing skills in other art forms.

Students will write every day and learn habits that will serve them well throughout their lives as writers. The 3rd and 4th year of the program will consist of advanced studies in Poetry and Fiction, and will also include production classes and professional development courses. Students will work with each other to help refine their skills and creative voice.

Students will have significant practice in critically and clearly thinking about their own work and the work of others, as well as the ability to offer targeted and thoughtful feedback that aims to support a writer’s intentions and guide a writer towards his or her best work. Students will also gain experience editing and publishing a literary magazine.

Upon successful completion of the four-year program, ChiArts Creative Writing students will have developed a solid foundation in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction, including both writing alongside a deep and wide knowledge of texts. Students will also have a polished portfolio including pieces from each genre. This foundation will make students competitive candidates for undergraduate creative writing programs.

StudentsofallabilitiescanauditionforadmissionintotheCreativeWritingConservatory. ChiArtsrecognizestheneedtoprovideopportunitiesforstudentswhohavehadprior instructionincreativewriting,aswellasstudentswhohavenothadpriortrainingbut demonstrateastrongnaturalabilityandadesiretolearn.

The Dance Conservatory is designed to give dancers a strong foundation in classical ballet, modern dance techniques, and a wide variety of dance styles that will be beneficial for their journey to the professional stage and beyond. Our scholar-artists receive professional training from top-notch faculty who are globally recognized teachers, performers, and choreographers.

The Dance Conservatory students study various dance techniques, ballet/ pointe, modern (Horton, Graham), contemporary (jazz, modern), conditioning, Spanish, African, hip hop, tap, intro to yoga, in addition to their personal & professional development classes.

The overall goal of the program is to establish a solid foundation with which students can begin to progressively develop their skills as a professional dancer.

The Dance Conservatory is committed to providing a high level of instruction and experiences that will prepare students to study dance at the college level or enter a professional dance training program.

StudentsofallabilitiescanauditionforadmissionintotheDanceConservatory.

TheMusicConservatorypreparesstudents for a lifetime in music from readiness for collegiate music programs to training for a successful professional career in music. We develop and accept students with varying levels of musical training in both instrumental and vocal music. Our focus is on music as a whole and we study classical, jazz, pop, Latin, music of the African Diaspora, music theory, music production, music history, ear training, piano/keyboard skills, guitar skills, and

receive training in vocal technique, experience in ensembles, keyboard skills, guitar skills, acting, songwriting,andmovement.

Instrumental majors study technique and repertoire of their instruments through various ensemble classes and instrument specifictechniquecourses.

The teaching artists of the Music Conservatory at ChiArts bring real world experience from the stage to the studio in order to give our students the most enriching, well rounded music education in Chicago. The Music Conservatory is founded on a drive for creativity and a focusonrealworldlearning.

Acting major focuses on a progression of study that includes acting, voice and speech, movement, history of theatre practice and literature, stage production and design, periods and styles, and devising

Theatre Conservatory offers a rigorous program of instruction at the highest artistic and academic level, to prepare students for admission into competitive post-secondary programs and/or to work directly in the profession. Students in the Theatre Conservatory have the unique experience of working with a range of artists from the Chicago theatre community, giving them insight and experienceswithprofessionalsinthefield.

Visual Arts Conservatory begins with foundational instruction, with an emphasis on essential art-making skills and understandings; instruction then progresses toward more complex concepts, including critical analysis of visual culture and the fostering of independent work. The program challenges and empowers students to develop their own aesthetic, as each matures into an innovative artist and criticalthinker.