{"id":794316,"date":"2026-05-13T21:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/794316\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T21:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T21:25:19","slug":"at-lachsa-l-a-s-most-important-public-arts-school-the-misfits-become-superstars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/794316\/","title":{"rendered":"At LACHSA, L.A.’s most important public arts school, the ‘misfits’ become superstars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After watching his mother perform in a production of \u201cA Raisin in the Sun\u201d at Compton Community College when he was 9 years old, Anthony Anderson knew appearing on stage would be his life\u2019s work. Over the next handful of years, he enrolled in programs across Los Angeles to achieve that dream. Then, one morning after finishing a class at the Southern California Regional Occupational Center in Torrance, Anderson saw a Post-It note on a bulletin board that caught his attention. The note informed aspiring artists about a newly formed arts school. To be admitted, they had to submit an audition tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ripped it off the board, and I brought it home to my mother, and I said, \u2018Mom, if I can get into this school, can I go here?\u2019\u201d Anderson says. \u201cShe said, \u2018If you can get into that, yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Months later, Anderson received a letter informing him that he had been accepted into the inaugural class at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1984 and opening its doors to students in 1985, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts is located on the campus of Cal State L.A. It was established to provide students (currently 550) with conservatory-level arts training and college-prep academics within the public education system. LACHSA isn\u2019t associated with LAUSD; instead, it partners with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which provides funding to support it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it to be very important that I was in an environment where other students had the same passion as I did for the arts, in particular, theater,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cBeing around other students who had the same passion and drive that I had as an artist was very influential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, LACHSA has featured a who\u2019s who of alumni across various disciplines, including musicians Phoebe Bridgers and Haim, actors Jenna Elfman and Belissa Escobedo, and visual artists Robert Vargas, Tomashi Jackson and Kehinde Wiley. For the past seven years, the school has been ranked as the top public high school for the arts.<\/p>\n

\"Drew <\/p>\n

Drew McClelland (second from right) with students from LACHSA\u2019s Cinematic Arts Program and actor William H. Macy (far right).<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of LACHSA)<\/p>\n

While the school\u2019s accolades focus on the arts, LACHSA also aims to give its students experiences that extend beyond the program. Days are structured so that students take academic classes in the morning and arts in the afternoon. With this format, they meet and get to know classmates from other disciplines.<\/p>\n

Former \u201cSNL\u201d cast member Taran Killam points out that this also promotes the school\u2019s social and economic diversity, acting as a mini-college experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a melting pot, but you have this beautiful, focused bonding,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a rare thing for kids to know, but LACHSA students are ambitious. It\u2019s very unifying when your background is so disparate and so diverse. It\u2019s what makes it special, and you can\u2019t get this experience in a traditional school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lara Raj attended several arts-focused high schools as she moved during her childhood. With that in mind, the member of the girl group Katseye cites LACHSA as having a major influence on her artistic development. During her time at LACHSA, Raj took music, fashion and acting classes, and says its music tech class was her favorite. There, she learned how to create beats and write songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI developed my songwriting and fell in love with it through those classes,\u201d Raj says. \u201cI was excited to go to school every day. And I hate school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before attending LACHSA, singer-actor Josh Groban didn\u2019t know a school specializing in the arts was an option. After bouncing around schools and realizing he needed a different education to express himself equally academically and artistically, he ended up at LACHSA. There, he found like-minded, artistically inclined outsiders.<\/p>\n

\"Josh <\/p>\n

Josh Groban, a former student of LACHSA, credits the institution with helping him find his voice.<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a kid who didn\u2019t quite know how to fit in,\u201d Groban says. \u201cThen at [LACHSA], I was surrounded by other students who, I think, didn\u2019t know how to fit in either. We were there for the same reasons, which is that we felt like we needed the nourishment of the arts and being able to express ourselves on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Half of LACHSA\u2019s funding is provided by the state, with the rest provided by the LACHSA Foundation, a registered 501(c) (3). According to its executive director, Trena Pitchford, the foundation has invested $1 million each school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always ask me when I tell them I went to LaGuardia and to LACHSA if they were private schools,\u201d Raj says. \u201cI tell them it was created by people who are passionate about the arts and want to inspire kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a part of LACHSA that I think is a discovery point for a lot of Los Angeles County, and even the nation,\u201d Pitchford says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much opportunity for the school, and they\u2019re doing it on a limited budget. What would happen if they were fully funded? What would happen if the foundation had a $40 million endowment? That would fully sustain what they\u2019re doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LACHSA <\/p>\n

LACHSA students posing in front of the entrance to the Greek Theatre<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of LACHSA)<\/p>\n

LACHSAPalooza, the culmination of the foundation\u2019s two-year fundraising campaign to celebrate the first 40 years of LACHSA, will take place at the Greek Theatre on May 30. There, student artists will perform alongside Ozomatli, Jon B., April Showers and more. From a fundraising standpoint, the foundation has high hopes of raising $2.5 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have both annual goals in terms of investment as well as sort of big visions, big dreams of where we think LACHSA could go for the next 40 years,\u201d Pitchford says. \u201cWe also hope to put LACHSA on the national stage.\u2019<\/p>\n

The honorees for the night are the late Pat Bass, LACHSA\u2019s gospel choir director, retiring LACHSA theater department chair Lois Hunter, and Jerry Freedman, a longtime social studies teacher at the school.<\/p>\n

For Anderson, who is serving as the night\u2019s host, seeing Freedman recognized is very meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was there from the school\u2019s beginning,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cHe was there when I started, and he\u2019s still there and is still beloved by the students 40-plus years later. I\u2019m looking forward to honoring him.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an arts-based school in the long-standing entertainment capital of the U.S., LACHSA can educate and enable the next generation of artists to discover their voices in the backyards of production companies, studios and record labels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe freedom that a LACHSA student gets on the campus to discover who they are is exciting,\u201d Pritchard says. \u201cIt\u2019s very innovative, very creative, and it\u2019s forward thinking, future forward. It\u2019s an exciting and thrilling place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alumni agree. Without LACHSA and, in turn, a focused public arts education, pursuing a career in the arts would have been more difficult and more costly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps develop souls to be fully fledged human beings who feel like they can go off into the world and be the best versions of themselves,\u201d Groban says. \u201cWe all felt like we were free to be who we wanted to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecialty-focused high schools like LACHSA, be it arts or any other topic deserving of protection, because it is a gathering place for exceptionally talented, ambitious, driven kids,\u201d Killam says. \u201cAnd aren\u2019t those the kind of people we want to be cultivating in society?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After watching his mother perform in a production of \u201cA Raisin in the Sun\u201d at Compton Community College…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":794317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[36960,324155,8067,1582,276,10911,18996,2961,324154,324156,116881,224,5337,15978,3546,18904,11645,15689,324157,1628],"class_list":{"0":"post-794316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-anthony-anderson","9":"tag-art-school","10":"tag-artist","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-class","14":"tag-kid","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-lachsa","17":"tag-lachsa-foundation","18":"tag-lara-raj","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-morning","22":"tag-people","23":"tag-production","24":"tag-school","25":"tag-student","26":"tag-trena-pitchford","27":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116569384148465146","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}