Baltimore School for the Arts
Encyclopedia
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
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History
In 1979, the President of the School Board authored a charter creating the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA). In the form of a resolution of the school board, this charter followed many years of effort to create an arts high school, including a 1978 recommendation of the special Task Force appointed by Mayor William Donald SchaeferWilliam Donald Schaefer
William Donald Schaefer was an American politician who served in public office for 50 years at both the state and local level in Maryland. A Democrat, he was mayor of Baltimore from 1971 to 1987, the 58th Governor of Maryland from January 21, 1987 to January 18, 1995, and the Comptroller of...
. The BSA was created as part of the Baltimore school system, however the charter provided the BSA with the structure and the authority to design and implement policies and programs necessary to be successful in its mission as a pre-professional arts high school. The charter stated "that it differ from other Baltimore city high schools by training students with potential for careers in the performing and visual arts."
Mission
The Baltimore School for the Arts is a school that intends to prepare its students for careers in the arts. The school provides qualified students with training in one of five arts disciplines: the visual arts, music, theatre, theatre tech, or dance in combination with a comprehensive, college preparatory academic program. The theatre and music majors are split into two groups each: for theatre, there is both acting and stage production, and the music department is split into vocalists and instrumentalists.A further mission of the school is to serve as an arts resource for the Baltimore community by offering performances, educational workshops, and extensive after-school training in the arts to Baltimore children.
Today, BSA graduates go on to study at a number of colleges, universities and conservatories. BSA alumni also have careers in business, human services and education.
Academics
The Baltimore School for the Arts is a four-year public high school that provides young people with intensive, pre-professional training in the arts within the context of a comprehensive, college preparatory academic curriculum. Working with a distinguished faculty, students pursue any one of six disciplines—the visual arts, music, vocal, theatre, technical theatre, and dance—in an environment that emphasizes professionalism and scholarship. About 320 students attend the school, coming from public and private schools in and around Baltimore. Students are accepted by audition or portfolio review.In Media
- The school in the film 2006 film Step UpStep Up (film)Step Up is a 2006 American dance/romance film directed by Anne Fletcher starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan.Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark , who find themselves paired up in a showcase that...
was a fictionalized version of BSA, called The Maryland School for the Arts. There are some significant differences between the institution portrayed in the film and the real school, and most of the actual filming of the movie did not take place inside BSA. - The Maryland School for the Arts also provided the setting for the 2008 film sequel to Step UpStep Up (film)Step Up is a 2006 American dance/romance film directed by Anne Fletcher starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan.Set in Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark , who find themselves paired up in a showcase that...
, Step Up 2 The StreetsStep Up 2 the StreetsStep Up 2: The Streets is the 2008 sequel to the 2006 film Step Up from Touchstone Pictures. It was directed by Jon Chu, and choreographed by Jamal Sims, Hi-Hat and Dave Scott...
although again, most of the actual filming of the movie did not take place inside BSA.
Notable alumni
- Jada Pinkett SmithJada Pinkett SmithJada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
- actress, wife of Will SmithWill SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood... - Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
- hip hopHip hopHip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
artist 1971-1996 - Christian SirianoChristian SirianoChristian Siriano is an American fashion designer. Siriano first gained attention after winning the fourth season of American reality show Project Runway, becoming the series' youngest winner...
- fashion designer and Project RunwayProject RunwayProject Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...
winner - Tracie ThomsTracie ThomsTracie Nicole Thoms is an American television, film, and stage actress. She is best known for her roles in Rent, Cold Case, The Devil Wears Prada, Death Proof, and the short-lived Fox television series Wonderfalls....
- actress - Josh Charles - actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
- Antonio HartAntonio HartAntonio Hart is a jazz alto saxophonist. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, studied with Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and has a master's degree from Queens College, City University of New York. His initial training was classical, but he switched to jazz in college...
- jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist - Katherine NeedlemanKatherine NeedlemanKatherine Needleman is the principal oboist of the Baltimore Symphony orchestra, USA. She studied under Richard Woodhams at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, graduating at age twenty. She was the first prize winner of the Gillet-Fox International Oboe competition in 2003. Ms...
- classicalClassical musicClassical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
oboistOboistAn oboist is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the cor anglais, oboe d'amore, shawm and oboe musette.... - Larry Gilliard, Jr. - actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
- Stefania DovhanStefania Dovhan-Early life and education:Dovhan was born in Kiev, at the time in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union . She studied voice at the Baltimore School for the Arts and the University of Maryland College Park.-Career:...
- sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...