About

The art of arts education has been perfected in Southern California’s stunning San Jacinto Mountains.  Idyllwild Arts Academy features a close-knit community of artists in several disciplines who share their creative passions with high school students from around the world.  
The Academy grew out of the dreams of Max Krone, former Dean of the Arts at the University of Southern California, and his wife, Beatrice.  They envisioned a peaceful setting where people from all backgrounds could learn from each other as they pursued artistic fulfillment in breathtaking natural surroundings.  The Krones’ friendships with Ansel Adams, Pete Seeger, Merce Cunningham, and Ray Bradbury immediately helped the Academy set a standard of excellence from which the teachers who came after them have never departed.
The first student body, in 1986, included only 70 children in grades 8-12.  Today, 300 students in grades 9-12 get intensive training in Visual Arts, Music, Theatre, Moving Pictures, Dance, Creative Writing, and Interdisciplinary Arts/Fashion Design.  The hands-on teaching, natural beauty, and cultural ferment—the student body is 49 percent international—bring out the best in the young people who bring a wealth of talent to the wooded, 205-acre campus.  
Idyllwild Arts Academy’s generous spirit sets it apart from other arts boarding schools.  A student-to-teacher ratio of 5:1 gives the students abundant personal attention, and the annual financial-aid budget of more than $6 million gives young people from all across the economic spectrum a chance to learn from the Academy’s teaching artists.  And the academic faculty gives students an education in the humanities and sciences that prepares them as much to study at elite universities as to attend conservatories or art colleges.
The Academy’s notable alums include Shepard Fairey, creator of the Obama “Hope” poster; Tony-nominated actress Marin Ireland; the brilliant dancer and choreographer Neal Beasley; Liang Wang, principal oboist for the New York Philharmonic; Nate Lowman, star of the New York art movement called Warhol’s Children; and 2011 American Idol finalist Casey Abrams.