School District
On the LIHSA campus, passion becomes your profession! Whether you’re drawn to performing or media arts, our immersive curriculum and expert faculty help students refine their craft and prepare for post secondary work and a dynamic career in the professional arts world.
LIHSA provides a highly disciplined and similarly skilled community of peers, critical mentors, and potential networks of professional artists. Emerging professional artists benefit from a school and community members who identify and develop their interests and provide requisite preprofessional training.
Through projects, artistic residencies, field trips, participation in exhibitions and events, students have regular engagement with working professionals. The creative journey is personal, but also shared, and the interactions that students have with staff and each other feed their learning. Finally, there are equity issues at play. LIHSA believes widening participation is essential to ensure that, regardless of background, people with creative potential can progress to the creative and cultural industry sector
Careers in the creative sector are thriving in New York State, require rigorous training, and deserve the same consideration as other career pathways.
Admissions Process
Students are accepted to LIHSA’s half day program upon referral by their home schools and successful completion of an audition or portfolio review. Once an application is received, prospective students have an observer checklist completed, they complete a display of work portfolio and/or prepare for an audition and then undergo an evaluation of their display of work using an approved scoring rubric. Fair, accurate and consistent evaluations of student work are critical in LIHSA’s screening and identification process.
Post-Secondary Planning & Articulation
LIHSA has dual credit coursework with Five Town College, and Molloy College. Applying to specialized post-secondary arts programs requires additional elements beyond the typical college application. Please connect with your child’s guidance counselor to review the application process for your child’s college or conservatory of interest.
Physical Space
LIHSA’s campus was designed from the onset to be a facility that caters to preparation for careers in the arts. LIHSA’s 38,000 square feet of studios and workshops across three buildings are filled with professional workspaces and facilities. LIHSA has four dance studios on campus, a larger theatre that holds 350 audience members with lighting and sound equipment, two smaller black box theatres, an audio-recording studio, numerous classroom spaces, practice rooms, art studios, film editing room, dark room, digital music space and a carpentry shop for scenic design. Significant investment has led to a complete renovation of six classroom spaces which were fitted with special acoustic tile, new maple flooring in two dance studios, a refurbishment of the wood floor in the other two, and an additional gallery wall space added. Through a $100,000 grant from Exploring the Arts, we were able to procure relevant modern equipment as well as technical advice on how to reimagine a cutting-edge music program for aspiring professional musicians.
