Tracie Carter, RLS Media Morning Staff
In 1931, principal and the late Raymond P. Ensign turned the key to the doors of one of Newark's new and fabulous institutes of higher education that would also be confirmed the nation's first school of the visual and performance arts. It was Newark's School of the Visual and Performing Arts (Arts High).
According to The University of Wisconsin at River Falls, Ensign is a distinguished artist. He rounded out a career as an artist and educator marked by thousands of honors in art education.
At the end of his career, officials at The University of Wisconsin said Ensign took his last job as director and educator at the School of Fine and Industrial Arts at the intersection of High and William streets. He admired the new Art Deco-style building that housed a beautiful state-of-the-art auditorium in the heart of the building.
According to The Newark Board of Education, in 1932, the building saw its first students from grades 9-12, which officially kicked off what we know now as Arts High School.
Under the leadership of Mr. Harrison E Webb, the vision of a school where art and drama could take 'center stage in the world was taken for granted by skeptics who believed heavily in the importance of Latin, mathematics and the sciences.
In 1983, more than 50 years of excellence in art education catapulted faith in the success at Arts High by Newark voters to approve a referendum that passed a $62.6 million bond package. It was used to build a performing arts wing next door to the Wighams Funeral Home and other Newark Public Schools district projects.
According to public information, this included $8 million for a renovation and expansion project after an 18-month-long renovation project. The school reopened in January 1996, with the addition of drama, television production broadcast and dance studios.
The new project also added more than a dozen new classrooms, including and science laboratories, the main office, gym with locker rooms, and a cafeteria.
Through 25 years of wear and tear on the new building, school officials have made significant improvements to both the old and new facilities after a school day fire inside the auditorium evacuated students from the building and caused considerable damage to the infrastructure of the auditorium.
From 2019-2021, the Experimental Theater, Television Studio, Auditorium, Library, and several other parts of the building have undergone major structural and electrical upgrades to bring each facility to 21st Century standards.
This includes new lighting grids, state-of-the-art upgrades to all facilities, fiberoptic connections from Auditorium to TV Studio, and a complete makeover of the building's media center.
According to Arts High School's website, some of the school's esteemed graduates include singers Sarah Vaughn, Melba Moore, and Connie Francis; jazz artists Wayne Shorter and Woody Shaw; Philadelphia Orchestra trumpeter Seymour Rosenfeld; music directors Mort Lindsey and Charlie Calello; actors Michael B. Jordan, Tisha Campbell, and MJ Rodriguez; ballerina Beatrice Rodriquez; fashion designer Steven Burrows; graphic artist Paul Bacon; and dancer/choreographer Savion Glover.
Arts High School is a public magnet high school for the visual and performing arts, with majors offered in visual art, vocal and instrumental music, drama, dance, and television communications.
According to the school’s website, it aims to provide all students with the artistic and academic knowledge, skills, and exposure necessary to develop into accomplished creative artists and performers.
“The impetus of the curriculum is to train students with a sense of harmony, form, rhythm, design, color, movement, and theater.
Every student in grades 8 and 9 living in the city of Newark who has an aptitude and love for the arts may apply for admission. Each year, approximately 175 students are accepted into one of our 9th-grade major programs” Arts’ High website continued.
Doors will open in September and students will be greeted by a newly appointed Principal, Ms. Devonne Gorman. She served as Vice-Principal and leader of the Visual and Performing Arts department for several years at Arts High School according a statement on the school’s website.
After 90 years of producing excellent artists for the United States and the world, as a practice-based art school, Arts High encourages students to develop their own styles, to blend talent, technical skills, creative aspirations and professional knowledge.
On record, they are the nation's first visual and performing arts institute of its kind; Newark's Arts High School has it.
IMAGE/INFORMATION CREDIT: Newark Public School's Historical Society, Newark Arts High Website/Facebook page, Newark Public Library artifacts.
