Institute for the Creative Arts obtains final charter approval, set to open in August 2024

The Arkansas Department of Education State Board of Education gave final approval for the Institute for the Creative Arts at its meeting Dec. 15, officially starting the state’s first performing and visual arts high school.

With that final approval, the high school is now preparing to open in August in Fort Smith.

“We are so excited to officially be approved to begin the school,” said Dr. Rosilee Russell, founder and executive director. “This means that we will be able to open the first Performing and Visual Arts High School in Arkansas.  It means that students who want to be engaged in the arts or in a creative field will have that opportunity to hone their skills in a very real way.”

The new school will be housed in the Community School of the Arts’ (CSA) new 40,000-square-foot Center for Creative Art building under construction just north of the U.S. Marshals Museum along the Arkansas River.

The school will be open for grades 9-11 in fall 2024 with 200-250 students, Russell said. The first year, the school won’t have a 12th grade, but that grade will be added the following year when the first year of 11th graders moves up a grade. The goal is to have 350 students the second year, 400 the third and max at 500 in the fourth year, according to the charter application. Enrollment will begin in January.

Though the school will be located in Fort Smith, the application says it will draw students from Alma, Booneville, Cedarville, Charleston, County Line, Fort Smith, Greenwood, Hackett, Johnson County Westside, Lavaca, Magazine, Mansfield, Mountainburg, Mulberry/Pleasant View, Ozark, Paris, Scranton, Van Buren, Waldron and Westfork school districts.

The Center was initially planned to house arts programs for young children through high school students and adults. After school programs are still planned.

The new building on the river will include high-tech classrooms, teaching studios, art galleries, recording studio, film and digital animation labs, dance studios, culinary labs, black box theater and a 350-seat theater and performance hall. The school day will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the day divided between academic and arts instruction. As a public charter school, it is tuition-free and open to all students, a CSA news release said.

“The Mission of the Institute is Empowering students through an intensive arts and academic curriculum that prepares them for higher education, creative careers, and to become future leaders in the performing and visual arts industries,” the news release said. “The Institute will combine a rigorous college preparatory academic program with pre-professional training in the arts which will include music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, and culinary.”

Russell said the school will specialize in arts programs that are not typically offered in a traditional high school.

“ICA is designed to meet the need for in-depth arts training. Students will be immersed in one or more arts disciplines of their choice and spend several hours weekly training and honing their skills. It is the first-of-its-kind in Arkansas and a model for education in both arts and academics,” the news release said.

The core arts faculty will consist of professional musicians, actors, dancers, filmmakers, and artists who provide the critical link between ICA students and the professional arts world. Students will generally spend half of their school day in academic instruction and half of their day in their arts focus area.

The school is about to begin hiring teachers, which Russell said will take time because some of the teachers will require a national search to find. She said the school will need to have at least 11 full-time instructors when it opens with additional part-time teachers to fill in gaps. Full-time instructors will be added as enrollment grows.

“I am excited to help play a role in enhancing art education in the River Valley. This will be a game-changer in these students’ lives as they and the staff endeavor to transform the region into a beacon for the arts,” said Jeannie Cole, board chair for Community School of the Arts.