opposite page and front cover: The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at CalArts - 2022 Open House Dance Concert.
this page: CalArts School of Art - 2023 Winter Session with Tiffanie Tran.
Photo by Tiffanie Tran
Welcome to California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts is a vibrant community of artists located just north of Downtown Los Angeles. Our programs of study are designed to develop original creative voices and help our students— emerging artists—find full expression as they make their way in the world. A CalArts education is “grounded in openness, experimentation, critical engagement, and creative freedom. Through artistic practice, CalArtians transform themselves, each other, and ultimately, the world.” That’s not just a tagline: It’s our mission.
The CalArts campus is more than just a home to classrooms, studio spaces, or numerous works of art and performances. The Institute is a safe, supportive environment in which every individual artist can learn and create as their authentic self. As a member of this community, you’ll join an open, globally minded student body and benefit from a diverse array of backgrounds and experiences of your peers, CalArts faculty, and any number of guest artists who lecture, critique, or perform each semester with students.
CalArts by the Numbers
Student Population (Fall 2023)
ENROLLMENT
1,353
Total Enrollment
68 %
Undergraduate Students (918)
BFA, Certificate
32 %
Graduate Students (435)
MFA, MA, DMA, Adv. Cert.
GENDER
55 %
Female
33 %
Male
12 %
Nonbinary, undisclosed, or other gender
GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION
69 % US Students from 43 States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam
31 %
International Students from 39 countries and regions
Quick Facts + Stats About Cal A rts
0.2
Our Campus
CalArts is located on 60 acres in Valencia, California, overlooking the beautiful Santa Clarita Valley. The suburban enclave provides a secluded, yet stimulating environment primed for work and collaboration. But our proximity to Los Angeles also allows for access to renowned art museums, performance venues, and Hollywood’s entertainment industry.
At the heart of the campus is our Main Building, a sprawling five-level, 500,000-square-foot hub, where according to founder Walt Disney’s original vision for CalArts, all artistic disciplines share space under one roof. While CalArts’ footprint has grown beyond the Main Building, it remains the central spot for learning, sharing meals and ideas, and the focal point to watch and absorb the community’s collective energy.
Surrounding the campus along the hillsides are The Wild Beast Music Pavilion, the Eli and Edythe Broad graduate art studios, the Chouinard dormitory, the Ahmanson apartment complex, and various annexes with additional classrooms, studios, computer labs, and other facilities.
Dining
The main dining destination on campus is Steve’s Cafe, an open-air space designed for communal eating, socializing, studying, group activities, and casual meetings with fellow students and faculty. The dining service program is overseen by Bon Appétit, an industry trendsetter recognized for its nontraditional approach to food service. Food is prepared fresh daily using only the finest ingredients, and the menu features a selection of hot entrees, vegetarian, and vegan meals, a full salad bar, drinks and snacks. Recognizing the cultural diversity of the CalArts community, Steve’s offers a wide range of menu choices.
Tatum Lounge is our eclectic coffee house also managed by Bon Appétit, offering snacks, donuts, grab-and-go sushi, and sandwiches alongside espressobased drinks, matcha, chai, and teas.
CalArts Experience:Student Life
Student Affairs
Student Affairs at CalArts oversees a variety of student support and advocacy services, including personal therapy, health services, special events/ activities, and student government and organizations. We care about developing artists in a well-rounded environment.
While we might not have a football team—or any official collegiate sports team—CalArts does have a number of clubs and affinity groups. Among them are:
• Black Arts Collective
• Mi Gente (Latinx student union)
• Queer Artists Collective
• Asian Student Alliance
• TEA (Themed Arts Association)
• Game Makers Club
• Soccer Club
• Hiking Club
• KCIA Radio
Residence Life
Living on campus allows for a seamless transition into your new journey in art school. Most undergraduates reside in Chouinard, a dormitory complex containing Mom’s Cafe, a game room, and a large swimming pool. Chouinard houses approximately 340 students through double-occupancy rooms with bathrooms shared between two or three rooms.
Ahmanson Hall provides apartment-style housing for 99 students in 17 suites. Each suite has either five or six bedrooms—each assigned to a single student—with a shared living room, kitchen and bathroom.
Resident Assistants (returning fellow CalArts students) live on-site to help students with any housing issues, and to ensure a safe, clean environment.
Career Services
The Patty Disney Center for Life and Work (CLW), takes a holistic approach to creative career development for artists, readying students for life after CalArts. Using nontraditional, collaborative, and experimental methods, CLW prepares CalArtians to become innovators, entrepreneurs, key players in the creative economy, and cultural shapeshifters.
The team empowers students to reach their creative potential by providing 1:1 career advising, professional development workshops and networking events, information sessions, an entrepreneurial Incubator Program, an annual Career and Opportunity Festival, grant opportunities, and a robust internship program. The Bridge to Industry program, launched in fall of 2022, is an experiential learning and mentorship program created to support self-identified BIPOC students in pursuit of careers in the entertainment industry. We forge intentional career connections with creative leaders ranging from independent local and international artists and agencies, educational arts nonprofits, and multinational corporations.
Organizations that have recently recruited our students and alumnx and/or hosted CalArts interns include InRage Entertainment, REDCAT, Revry, Netflix, Illumination, Wiggle World, Open the Portal, QueerUp, FISK Projects, Center Theater Group, The Industry, Women’s Audio Mission, Melrose Sound, The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal, Apple, SONY Animation, and Pixar, and many more.
In addition to the CLW, individual schools have initiatives that further develop our artists and prepare them for the professional world. Examples include:
The Center for New Performance, the professional theatrical producing arm of CalArts, offers opportunities for you to work shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrated artists, creating a unique platform to help expand your portfolio.
The Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) CalArts Educational Initiative allows you to work directly with a professional WDI mentor to develop themed entertainment projects.
Create the Future. Create Your Future.
The annual CalArts Expo is a one-day immersive event featuring interdisciplinary creative work from the CalArts community, ranging from first-year BFA students to internationally renowned faculty and alumnx creators.
The Theater Portfolio Review is an annual exhibition of work completed by graduating and continuing Experience Design and Production students. Arts professionals are invited to campus to experience the extraordinary work of our students in the fields of live performance, interactive media, installation, immersive and experience design, and social practice.
Animation Portfolio Day is a yearly opportunity for Animation students to display their work to major studios and have conversations with representatives.
Presented in Los Angeles and New York, the Actors Showcase is an annual program of graduating actor performances for theater, film, and television industry professionals.
Beyond Campus
In addition to proximity to the mountains and beaches, CalArts is located on the doorstep of Los Angeles—the 21st century hub for global innovation, the arts, and the Hollywood music, film, and new media industries.
CalArts’ Roy and Edna Disney/ CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is the Institute’s performance venue for innovative contemporary arts in downtown L.A. Its programming includes a mix of established artists and emerging voices alongside original works developed at CalArts.
Other significant cultural institutions and venues within an approximate 30-mile zone of CalArts include:
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
• Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
• The Broad Museum
• Walt Disney Concert Hall
• Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
• Hammer Museum
• Ahmanson Theatre
• Mark Taper Forum
• Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
And that’s just a peripheral start. L.A. is rife with indie art spaces and music venues for greater opportunities and exposure to different forms and perspectives.
Academics
CalArts offers dozens of comprehensive degree programs in the visual, performing, media and literary arts. These programs are optimized for artists who go beyond aesthetics and expertise and who think about the way their practice engages with the world at large. Programs
SCHOOL OF ART
Art / BFA, MFA
Art and Technology / MFA
Graphic Design / BFA, MFA
Photography and Media / BFA, MFA
SCHOOL OF CRITICAL STUDIES
Aesthetics and Politics / MA
Creative Writing / MFA
THE SHARON DISNEY LUND
SCHOOL OF DANCE
Program in Choreography / MFA
Program in Dance / BFA
SCHOOL OF FILM/VIDEO
Character Animation / BFA
Experimental Animation / BFA, MFA
Film Directing / MFA
Film and Video / BFA, MFA
THE
HERB ALPERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Composition and Experimental
Sound Practices / BFA, MFA
Experimental PoP / BFA
InstrumentalArts: Brass / BFA, MFA
Collaborative Keyboard / MFA
Guitar / BFA, MFA
Harp / BFA, MFA
Piano/Keyboard / BFA, MFA
Percussion / BFA, MFA
Strings / BFA, MFA
Winds / BFA, MFA
Jazz / BFA, MFA
Music Technology: Interaction, Intelligence & Design / BFA, MFA
Performer-Composer / BFA, MFA, DMA
VoiceArts / BFA, MFA
World Music:
African Music and Dance / MFA
Balinese and Javanese Music and Dance / MFA
North Indian Music / MFA
World Music Performance / BFA
World Percussion / MFA
this page: The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts - Maya Paredes (Music BFA 23) graduation recital. Photo by Alejandro Caminos.
of
SCHOOL OF THEATER
Performance: Acting / BFA, MFA
Directing / MFA
Experience Design and Production:
Experience Design and Production / BFA with specializations available in:
Costume Design
Experience Design
Lighting Design
Scene Design
Sound Design
Stage Management
Technical Direction
Experience Design and Production / MFA with specializations available in:
Costume Design
Interactive Media for Performance
Lighting Design
Producing
Scene Design
Sound Design
Stage Management
Technical Direction
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
INTERSCHOOL DEGREES
/ BFA, MFA
Available by application to a small number of artists whose advanced work warrants study in two programs in different CalArts Schools.
INTEGRATED MEDIA CONCENTRATION
/ MFA
Offered by many graduate programs, the concentration is designed for artists who wish to combine their core exploration of interdisciplinary practices, participatory media and interactive technologies.
MINORS
/ BFA
Digital Arts
Music Theory
Critical Studies
Creative Writing
Humanities
Social Sciences
Cultural Studies
Science and Math
Life Beyond CalArts
CALARTIANS WORK AT: Apple, Art Equity, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Facebook, Getty Museum, Google, Hammer Museum, Hauser & Wirth, LACMA, LA Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOCA, Natural History Museum, Nike, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation, Warner Bros Animation, Whitney Museum, Yale, Zyga.
THEY BEGIN COLLECTIVES AND
BUSINESSES INCLUDING:
Betalevel, Brand New School, Center for New Music, Coaxial, Entropy Magazine, IBEX Puppetry, Machine Project, Museum of Jurassic Technology, Poor Dog Group, Post Commodity, San Diego Underground Film Festival, Scoops Ice Cream, Speakeasy Society.
THEY ARE AWARDED WITH: Oscars, Tonys, Emmys, Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, Bessie Awards, Made in L.A.’s Mohn Awards, MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, National Design Award, Pulitzer Prizes, Stan Brakhage Award, Yale Drama Prize.
Noteable Alumni
luciana achugar choreographer
Alison Brie actress
Raven Chacon Diné artist and composer
Don Cheadle actor, producer, and director
Pete Docter animation producer, writer, and director
Carribean Fragoza writer and artist
Lauren Halsey artist and activist
James Brandon Lewis jazz saxophonist, composer, bandleader
Geoff McFetridge artist, graphic designer
Atsuko Okatsuka Comedian
Ellen Reid composer and sound artist
Paul Reubens actor
Ann Telnaes editorial cartoonist
Carrie Mae Weems photo-text and video artist
The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at CalArts. Photo by Josh Rose.
Get Ready to Make Your Mark
Admissions
CalArts welcomes applications for admission from individuals engaged in the visual, performing, media, or literary arts. The main criterion for admission is artistic merit, as assessed directly by the faculty of the individual programs. Applicants are asked to demonstrate their abilities through live auditions or portfolio submissions. Other important considerations include previous educational records, recommendations, and a personal artist’s statement submitted by the applicant.
Financial Aid
CalArts is committed to helping students meet their cost of attendance. We offer a variety of financial assistance, including grants, scholarships, student loans. and Federal Work Study. During the 2021–22 academic year, more than 90% of enrolled Calarts students received institutional funding in the form of grants or scholarships. Most students receive financial aid from a combination of sources, including scholarships, grants, and loans. To learn more about financial aid, visit calarts.edu/financial-aid.
opposite page: CalArts School of Theater - Carolyn Bryant Project. Photo by Daniel Loyola.
Your Next Steps
• Find out which program would be a good fit for you.
• Plan a virtual or in-person campus visit.
• Review application requirements.
• Prepare your audition, portfolio, or writing sample.
• Review our financial aid guidance.
• Send in your application!
PROCESS
Accreditation
California Institute of the Arts is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Senior College and University Commission.
CalArts is also an accredited institution member of the National Association of Schools and Dance (NASD).
See wsuc.org to learn more about the WASC accreditation process. For more information about NASD, see nasd.arts-accredit.org.
For CalArts consumer information, including our Nondiscrimination Policy, visit calarts.edu/ consumer-information.
Credits
Published by CalArts Enrollment Management
Creative Direction and Design: Stuart Smith (Art MFA 02)
Photography: Rafael Hernandez (Art BFA 11) - unless otherwise noted
Editorial: Christine Ziemba
Connect with us!
We would love to hear from you! If you have questions about the application process or admission requirements, please contact the CalArts Office of Admissions via email at admissions@calarts.edu or via phone at 1-800-545-2787.
Find additional information on our website: calarts.edu/admissions
You can also connect with us on social media.
Follow CalArts at @CalArts or CalArts Admissions at @applytocalarts
Use #FutureCalArtian on your social media posts to potentially be featured on our channels!
back cover: CalArts School of Film Video - Students use 16mm film equipment during John Hawks’ Film Production class.
California Institute of the Arts
