Chicago's first and only pre-professional public arts high school, The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts), located at 2714 W Augusta Blvd., celebrates its 15th anniversary school year and welcomes admissions applications for prospective students, and “Backstage Pass” immersive open house experiences.
ChiArts’ dynamic administrative staff and all five conservatory heads invite interested 8th-grade students and their families to the open house “Backstage Pass” events. These immersive Open Houses will give students, parents, and guardians a "Backstage Pass" to check out the campus, meet with department heads and teachers from different conservatories, learn about the admissions process, see student performances, learn how to audition successfully and ask any questions they may have. Every Open House will also include an academic and admissions informational session for families to learn about courses and how to apply.
Visual Arts and Theatre Open House will take place on Thursday, October 17, Music will be on Wednesday, October 30, and Dance & Creative Writing will be on Thursday, November 7. All Open Houses are from 6-8 p.m. at ChiArts. Due to the high volume of demand, ChiArts asks that each student bring no more than two guests to ensure that as many students and their families get an opportunity to attend. Register for an Open House here.
Photos: Creative Writing, Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance Conservatories of ChiArts. Courtesy of ChiArts.
Applications for enrollment at ChiArts are now open, and students can apply via GoCPS at www.cps.edu/GoCPS until November 15, 2024. The GoCPS application will provide each applicant with a sign-up for an audition slot and the option to audition in person or virtually. More information on applying can be found on ChiArts’ website here. With equity central to ChiArts’ mission, the school continues its unique model of admitting novice students and encourages those with no training in the arts but who demonstrate a strong natural ability and a desire for learning to apply.
Another back-to-school event at ChiArts is the annual Connections Week held this year from October 21-25. This five-day event connects scholar-artists to post-secondary opportunities with support from a range of well-loved local colleges, nationally acclaimed universities, and conservatory training programs. Highlights include masterclasses, audition workshops, one-on-one portfolio reviews, professional development panels, and opportunities to secure scholarships, all under ChiArts' roof. On October 23 at 7 PM in the Jim and Kay Mabie Auditorium, ChiArts will host "Last Year, Last Look," where Connections Week university, college, and conservatory representatives can experience scholar-artists in a performance setting.
More than 65% of students accepted to ChiArts are novices each year. As Chicago’s first and only public high school offering pre-professional arts training, the school seeks to remove tuition and other barriers for Chicago’s youth and create a space for them to develop their talent, hone their skills, and thrive as creators, thinkers, and community members. At ChiArts, students can study in one of five disciplines: music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and creative writing. ChiArts strongly encourages all student artists to attend the Open House events and apply. Young artists attending ChiArts represent all 50 of Chicago’s wards, studying with the city’s most motivated educators and professional teaching artists. All scholar-artists graduate with 2,500 hours of tuition-free arts training.
Students at ChiArts participate in a rigorous program, including five hours of academics, three hours of arts education, and one to four hours of practice or rehearsal per day. The academic curriculum provides students with a college preparatory education. ChiArts utilizes a research-based multi-year curriculum in each discipline, ensuring instructional sequencing across grade levels and alignment with Illinois State and College Readiness Standards. ChiArts offers college prep, honors, and advanced placement (AP) classes. ChiArts takes pride in helping their students develop time management with their extended school day of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (the longest school day in Chicago), honing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in group performances and presentations and expanding students’ cultural awareness in one of Chicago’s most diverse student populations.
ChiArts Campus Tours are available to register for via this link here. These year-round Campus Tours take place on Tuesdays at 4:00 p.m. ChiArts also accepts invitations to High School Fairs. To contact ChiArts admissions for a High School Fair, email admissions@chiarts.org and/or call 773-534-9718. For more information on ChiArts’ admission information, including upcoming tours and events both in-person and virtual this year, visit ChiArts.org.
ABOUT THE CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (CHIARTS)
The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) is Chicago’s first public high school for the arts. With disciplines in Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, ChiArts provides its scholar-artists with a donor-funded pre-professional arts training program paired with a CPS-funded college-preparatory academic curriculum. ChiArts opened its doors in 2009 and has graduated 12 classes of scholar-artists at a rate between 92-100% each year. ChiArts is the only public arts high school in the nation that actively recruits novice-level students. Learn more at chiarts.org. Learn more about recent ChiArts news and performances on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. For more general information about ChiArts, visit chiarts.org.
ABOUT THE CHIARTS FOUNDATION
ChiArts Foundation was established in January 2021 to support arts education opportunities for, and inspire and nurture current, future, and former students of The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts). As ChiArts’ arts conservatories are donor-funded, the Foundation’s key objectives are to provide annual fundraising support for ChiArts’ five arts conservatories, support outreach through community partnerships, develop marketing and public relations activities for ChiArts, and increase alumni engagement and build community through alumni support. For more general information about the ChiArts Foundation, visit chiartsfoundation.org and ChiArts Foundation on LinkedIn.
Please note: The Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) is Chicago’s first public arts high school, distinct from the similarly named private arts school, Chicago Academy for the Arts (The Academy).