California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)

California Institute of the Arts, known more frequently as CalArts, offers intensive professional training in the fields of visual art, critical studies, dance, film/video, music, and theater. CalArts was established in 1961 by none other than Walt and Roy Disney, who envisioned a premiere arts institution that would shape the talent of future generations. Central to the brothers' dream was an interdisciplinary model, encouraging artists from different creative branches to collaborate, learn, and innovate together. Today, CalArts instructs approximately 1,500 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students each year, with a student to faculty ratio of less than 7:1. This highly individualized method of instruction, combined with rigorous curriculum in six artistic fields, has produced countless talented artists imbued with the university's core belief: through artistic practice, we transform ourselves, each other, and the world around us.

CalArts' Community Arts Partnership (CAP) program provides summer residencies, youth and after-school programs, and community and school-based co-curricula across Los Angeles County. Through their Extended Studies program, students can choose from both credit and non-credit bearing courses which are competitive and encourage creative exploration in the arts. The Community Arts Partnership's free arts programming is led by a teaching corps of CalArts faculty, reaching thousands of youth between the ages of 4 and 18 at public schools, community centers, and social service agencies. Through these branches of the Institute, CalArts encourages artistic exploration and engagement across Los Angeles County for all ages.