California Institute of the Arts

California Institute of the Arts

The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. Incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the performing arts. It is authorized by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) to grant Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in the visual, performing, and as of 1994, literary arts. The Herb Alpert School of Music was accredited in 2009 to grant a Doctor of Musical Arts.

The school was founded/created by Walt Disney in the early 1960s and staffed by an alternative array of professionals, the institute was started as Disney’s dream of an interdisciplinary “Caltech of the arts.” CalArts provides a collaborative environment for all sorts of artists. Students are free to develop their own work (over which they retain control and copyright) in a workshop atmosphere, as respected members of a community of artists in which authority is constantly tested and where teaching works through persuasion rather than coercion. Intercultural exchange among artists helps in practicing and understanding of the art making process in the broadest context possible.

California Institute of the Arts Rankings

• GRAPHIC DESIGN SCHOOL RANKING
• TOP 100 FINE ARTS COLLEGE RANKING IN 2010

California Institute of the Arts Tuition and Fees

uition at CalArts is established annually by the Board of Trustees and is subject to change each year. Tuition for the 2010-2011 academic year is $36,166 for full-time enrollment. It is anticipated that tuition will increase in successive years. New and prospective students will be notified when a change in the tuition rate occurs.

Tuition covers instruction, facilities, and some materials used within the regular programs. Students should be prepared to supply materials required for most projects. Tuition and fees (less any financial aid awarded) are due before or upon registration each semester. For new students, a nonrefundable admission deposit of $500, to be applied toward tuition, is due with the Statement of Intention to Register. Upon registration, new students must make a deposit of $300 to cover loss or damage to CalArts property (keys, library books, equipment, etc.). It is refundable at the time of graduation or withdrawal.

Schools and Colleges of California Institute of the Arts

• School of Critical Studies
• School of Art
• The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance
• School of Film/Video
• The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts
• School of Theater

California Institute of the Arts News

• Theater Artist Peter Sellars to Receive Honorary Doctorate at CalArts - Thu, 17 May 2012
  Renowned theater, opera, film and festival director Peter Sellars receives an honorary doctorate from CalArts during Friday’s (May 18) graduation ceremony. Sellars, who was honored last month with an Opera News Award by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, has pushed the boundaries of the performing arts during his three-decade career, reinterpreting classic works from both western [...]

• Meet the 2012 Alpert Award Winners - Wed, 16 May 2012
  On May 11, the 18th annual Alpert Award in the Arts were announced at the The Herb Alpert Foundation in Santa Monica. The award was given to five exceptional mid-career artists in the fields of Dance, Film/Video, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts, with each recipient receiving a $75,000 prize in recognition of “past performance and future promise” [...]

• Producer’s Show 2012 Wows Audience with New Animated Shorts - Tue, 15 May 2012
  The 2012 CalArts Character Animation Producers’ Show screened works from CalArts BFA animators last week before an at-capacity crowd at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Chris Miller (Film/Video 90), director of Puss in Boots and a CalArts alum, delivered an introduction of the films to the [...]

• Theater Design and Production Portfolios in the Spotlight - Mon, 14 May 2012
  Today (Monday, May 14) in the Main Gallery from noon to 6 pm, the work of graduating and continuing students in the School of Theater’s Design and Production programs will move from background to foreground during Portfolio Review 2012.  Theater and entertainment industry professionals from across the country have a chance to view portfolios from [...]

• Next Words 2012: CalArts MFA Writing Showcase at REDCAT - Fri, 11 May 2012
  On Sunday at REDCAT, the CalArts MFA Writing Program in the School of Critical Studies presents the final installment of the Next Words spring reading series, featuring works from the graduating class of writers. Curated by Ebony Williams, Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal, Lan Pham and Zoe Etkin, Next Words events were held at Mandrake, Skylight Books, [...]

• Digital Arts and Technology Expo at CalArts - Fri, 11 May 2012
  Tonight (May 11), The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts’ Music Technology program hosts a showcase of tech wizardry at the Digital Arts and Technology Expo. The event celebrates new student and faculty work made over the course of the academic year with projects and topics ranging from artists’ perspectives on computer games to [...]

• ‘Crescent City’ Rising: New Hyperopera Debuts in LA - Fri, 11 May 2012
  The Industry, a new experimental opera company created by CalArts alum Laura Kay Swanson (Theater MFA 10) and partner Yuval Sharon, brings more than 50 artists from a number of visual and performing arts disciplines together for its inaugural production, Crescent City, which runs May 10-27 in Los Angeles. Created by composer Anne LeBaron, a [...]

• CalArtians Transcribe Sounds of a Guitar Smashing for Solo Piano Release - Thu, 10 May 2012
  Artist Rowan Smith (Art MFA 13) and composer Ingrid Lee (Music BFA 12) recently collaborated on a project to transcribe the sounds of a guitar smashing into a piece for solo piano. The work, titled COME ON YOU FUCKERS, is meant to encompass the commercialization of rebellion as well as “the obsolescence of protest gestures [...]

• Graphic Design Students Present End-of-Year Shows - Thu, 10 May 2012
  Just one of the many highlights of CalArts’ spring semester is the Graphic Design program’s year-end exhibitions for BFA, MFA and Motion Graphics students. If __, then  __, which opens at 8 pm tonight (May 10) in the D301 gallery, features the work of 63 undergraduate designers. The show’s title refers to the decision-making processes—and [...]

• Staged Reading of The Fifth String by Janet Sternburg at New York’s La MaMa Theatre - Wed, 09 May 2012
  The Fifth String, a play written by Janet Sternburg, will be produced in a staged reading on Saturday (May 12 at 3 pm) at La MaMa Theatre in New York. In The Fifth String, a long-lost family manuscript sparks a journey across space and time. The historical musician Ziryab joins up with three couples of various ages, [...]