Idyllwild Arts Academy: A Private Arts High School in Music, Dance, Filmmaking

Welcome

Photo courtesy of Evan Mills Photography, 2011

I’m very pleased that you have visited the website of Idyllwild Arts Academy and Summer Program. I think you will find the school a very special place, and if you are serious about your beginning your life in the arts, it may be the right place for you.

As an artist (painter and printmaker) myself, I know what it is to have an unstoppable drive to create, and I know what it is to find the right teacher to guide you. I know what it is to believe there is no one out there who is like you, and then to find others whom, at heart, you recognize as truly and essentially like yourself. I know what it is to discover and develop your own voice in your art, so you really learn who you are and what you are meant to do.

If this also describes you, you will find everything you are looking for at Idyllwild.

Here you will have the opportunity to focus single-mindedly on your art, to receive expert and supportive guidance and training in your discipline, and to live in an extraordinary and inspiring setting of the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California. We offer you a superb college preparatory academic education and complete student services.

Idyllwild has a deep commitment to exploring new and emerging art forms, and to engaging artists, performers, composers, and writers who are active and prominent in their field and who are gifted teachers.

Our students find themselves far ahead of the competition for spots in the top conservatories, art schools, colleges, universities, and professional opportunities, and our alumni have excelled and thrived in the arts the world over.

The definition of education comes from its root, meaning, “to draw forth from within.” An Idyllwild education brings something out from you, rather than stuffing something in you. You rise to meet what we offer, you engage it, respond to it, embrace it, and resonate with it – in words, sound, paint, movement -- and you are at the same time transformed.

Please enjoy our website. Idyllwild Arts can provide the foundation for your life in the arts. I invite you to visit campus to see what makes this such a transformative and magical place.

Brian D. Cohen, President