This year, our newly renovated VAPA wing has officially opened for classes. The new wing includes a new ceramics studio, 2D art room, graphic arts studio, piano lab, 3D art and set design, photography lab, a music lab with three separate practice rooms, a black box theatre for smaller performances and rehearsal, and lastly a new auditorium that is currently still under construction. The new classrooms feature everything from a state of the art JBL sound system in Mr. Hubbard’s graphic design studio, ten new potter’s wheels in Ms. Devereux’s ceramics studio, to a 70 inch flat screen apple TV smart board in Mrs. Morrison’s 3D art room.
The renovation of the wing has been in the works for over 4 years. Principal Lambert saw that during the financial recession of 2008, schools, including ours, had been cutting their art programs. Because of this, our school began hiring more arts teachers in hopes of building a stronger visual and performing arts department. The original wing was in desperate need of a remodeling, as the auditorium had no heating or air conditioning, and the rooms were in poor condition. Around 2 years ago construction began with a complete remodel of the wing, along with various work on the school’s infrastructure such as its power grid and restrooms.
The renovation was paid for by local school bond measures Q and R–tax dollars that went into the upgrade of various schools throughout the district. The measure was passed by voters in November of 2012. Some $22.8 million went into the VAPA wing remodel from the total $414 million that came out of measures Q and R. McClatchy received a total of $24,868,983, with funds not only going to the wing, but also to various upgrade and remodel projects throughout the school, such as the track and field, which are still in the process of being upgraded. As the project was funded by the public, the new auditorium will be available to the public to rent out for various events.
There have been very few delays in construction. The only delay occurred when classrooms were meant to be ready for move in by August 14th, but were pushed back to the 23rd. The construction on the auditorium has not been delayed, and has always been projected to open in December. The auditorium is projected to open on December 22nd. The auditorium is considered a much bigger project than the new classrooms, and because of this has been given an extra 4 months of working solely on the space. The first major production in the new auditorium will be the spring musical, a Lion’s Pride production of Legally Blonde.
The new wing has been a collaborative effort between teacher and builder, with teachers having been consulted on everything from furniture, storage, to design of the classroom.
“Inviting us to be involved in the project was such a huge gift because we could have so easily been left out, but they took our hands the whole time…They just have been overwhelmingly inviting and wanted our opinion over the entire thing.” Said 3D art teacher Ms. Morrison.
The new classrooms have been built with both teachers and students in mind, teachers both praising the user friendly nature of the new space, along with their professional feel, “The classrooms are more collegiate in nature, and feel more like a community college” says graphic design teacher Mr. Hubbard, “When a student comes into a classroom that looks official, they will know that we’re getting down to business and that we’re going to accomplish some good work.”
Students around campus have expressed similar sentiments about the wing, “It is much nicer than the other classrooms and it makes VAPA feel more official now.” said sophomore Cole Eames, a student in the VAPA program. “It makes me feel a lot more supported by the campus…in recent years it’s kind of felt like we were stuck in terms of funds, in terms of our equipment…So it feels really nice to have this nice big facility that has all the amenities we need.” Said senior and technical director for the drama program, Chrysanthe Vidal.
Though students still have expressed concern over some elements of the new wing, such as the lengthy construction time on the new auditorium, “It would be convenient to have it now because we’re planning for things that are happening as soon as it opens, and that means there are more room for errors in how the facilities work.” said sophomore Mackenzie Crall.
Mr. Lambert says of the new wing and auditorium “makes us the arts center for the region. When our auditorium does finally open it’s going to be the most state of the art auditorium in the Sacramento region. It’ll have all the technology to take us many years into the future…The [arts] curriculum combined with the spaces that are conducive to that academy just go in hand in hand to make it an incredible program and benefit to our school.”
