Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts
| Grand Arts High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 34°03′35″N 118°14′39″W / 34.0595965°N 118.2443026°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | September 9, 2009 |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Principal | Jewel Brown |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,171 (2022–23) |
| Campus | Urban |
| Nickname | VAPA, Grand Arts, Number 9, Cortines |
| Alumni | Doja Cat |
| Website | Official website |
The Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, known unofficially as “VAPA” by students, is a performing arts public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located on the site of the old Fort Moore at the corner of Grand Avenue and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States, adjacent to Chinatown. Grand Arts anchors the north end of Los Angeles' "Grand Avenue Cultural Corridor". The school's distinctive architecture has made the facility noteworthy beyond the Los Angeles area.
The school was built with the intention to be a public arts facility for the community. The concert hall was designed with a Broadway sized proscenium stage, contains 927 seats, orchestra pit, and fully equipped sound and lighting booths. The hall has been used to present popular musicals with assistance from Broadway casts, directors, and other crew. In addition to the concert hall, the school offers students a 250 seat black box theater, an outdoor amphitheater, a professional scene shop, photography and broadcast studios, science and computer labs, four dance studios, and specialized spaces for art, music, and theater classes.
The school admits around 250-300 incoming freshmen students each year, with Media Arts, Dance, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts accounting for a portion of the incoming freshman. However, Visual Arts is by far the most applied to and the largest, with around 30%-40% of the school belonging to the Visual Arts Academy. Despite this, Visual Academy consistently receives less funding from the school per capita than all other academies. Students are admitted via a lottery which takes place each spring. Admission requires no prior training or auditions, and there are no fees or tuition.
The school's leadership history includes, founding administrator and former principal Ken Martinez, and former Executive Artistic Director, Kim M. Bruno (former principal of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Professional Performing Arts School).