By Khalida Sarwari
Back when he was mayor of Oakland, California Attorney General Jerry Brown wanted to create something special for the city and came up with the idea for a school of the arts.
After years of preparation and planning, Brown’s vision for the school, which opened its doors in 2002, materialized today with the grand opening of its new campus at the hub of the city.
Today’s celebration for the Oakland School for the Arts campus at the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue was a proud event for Brown, the school’s founder, who dreamed up the art school during his tenure as mayor because he said he was not satisfied with the city’s public schools.
“I believe that there is a lot of artistic talent in Oakland that needed a school to bring it out,” Brown said in a phone interview this afternoon.
The newly renovated Fox Theater, which once hosted the likes of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Ginger Rogers, will now host dance performances by middle and high school students.
“This movie palace is a remarkable historic structure,” Brown said. “It’s like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.”
The decision to move the school from its previous location in a parking lot at 18th Street and San Pablo Avenue to the Fox Theater was a pragmatic one for Brown, who wanted to combine a commercial venue with a unique school aimed at artistic excellence as a way to revitalize the city’s downtown area and support its residents.
“I wanted a great school downtown right next to BART so that kids all over the region could have a good school to go to,” Brown said.
The school will now accommodate about 500 students who are admitted based on an audition process evaluated by instructors and artists at the school, Brown said.
The arts school boasts a 95 percent college acceptance rate to prestigious conservatory arts programs as well as top-notch academic schools around the country.
Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, director of institutional advancement at the school, said it is open to students of all economic backgrounds but that one of its aims is to give underprivileged young people a chance to study the arts.
The school offers classes in performing, visual, literary and theater arts, instrumental and vocal music, and arts management, along with a college prep academic curriculum.
The Fox Theater complex, which fell into disrepair in the 1970s, was purchased by the city of Oakland in 1996 and rehabilitated at the cost of $76 million.
Through public and private funding by local foundations and businesses, the arts school was constructed at the cost of $6.9 million and will accommodate about 500 students.
“As a teacher of these kids, I can’t even express how happy I am to see their hard work housed in such a gorgeous facility,” Frazier said. “I am hoping that having a building around them will give them a stable place to learn and will let them know that the city believes in them.”
Brown said he intends to remain involved with the school and looks forward to a grand opening ceremony for the Fox Theater scheduled to take place on Feb. 5.
