The Arts Came Alive at the McCallum Fine Arts Center Opening!

Fine arts came alive on Friday night at the grand opening of the McCallum High School Fine Arts Center. Many of Austin’s most talented teachers and gifted art students put on a fantastic show to celebrate the opening of the new, 25,000 square-foot facility, which includes a 524-seat theater and three state-of-the-art classrooms. The new theater boasts digital lighting and sound and a full fly loft, which allows stage crews to hoist curtains, scenery, and even people!

As I saw up-close on Friday night, this new facility offers so many rich opportunities for budding artists and performers to flourish. Student artists were hard at work Friday night demonstrating pottery, painting, silk screening, jewelry making, and other crafts in the three new art classrooms. The grand opening performance, Elevate, featured an aerial performance by McCallum dance students, choreographed by Blue Lapis Light and accompanied by the McCallum Choir, Orchestra and Classical Guitar students.

The new $9.4 million facility was built thanks to the voter-approved 2008 Bond Program. For its energy-efficient architecture, the building has earned a five-star rating, the highest award, from the Austin Energy Green Building program. Austin Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole presented the award to AISD Trustees Vincent Torres and Annette Lovoi at the program on Friday night.

The Center will benefit from two new arts initiatives in AISD. Creative Classroom will develop a model for arts-rich schools at all levels, and Any Given Child, a program sponsored by the Kennedy Center for the Arts, will offer the Austin arts community support for planning and strengthening our arts programming.

My thanks to McCallum principal Mike Garrison and the Friends of the McCallum Fine Arts Academy, particularly its chairwoman Cari Clark, who worked  hard to make this spectacular event a success. So many others contributed, it is difficult to acknowledge them all. I was  happy to be able to celebrate this long-awaited opening with wonderful teachers, parents, students and supporters. 

The arts are alive and well in Austin ISD; you just need to stop by the McCallum Fine Arts Center to see that!

Additional photos from the McCallum Arts Center Grand Opening can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/paxsimius/sets/72157627684053543/