How L.A.’s Fame Began

The Early Days of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Were Not Easy. But Art Never Is.

It was a warm day in September 1985, on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles, when the doors officially opened for the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA). In 1987, the first senior class would graduate. I was one of the first students accepted to this experimental school and program and among those who graduated in that premier class. LACHSA, from the outset, was going to be Los Angeles’ contribution to building the next generation of artists.

We students had no idea what exactly we were going …