Students, staff and community members gathered at Santa Barbara High School on Wednesday for the groundbreaking of its new Visual Arts and Design Academy building.
The 1,600-square-foot building will house both indoor and outdoor classrooms as well as new equipment meant to make students’ art a reality, including a large format printer, a laser cutter and an industrial sewing machine.
VADA is an arts program at Santa Barbara High School that has been around since 1999 and boasts an estimated 225 students.
“One of the things that makes Santa Barbara Unified a very unique school district is its academy, VADA,” district Superintendent Hilda Maldonado said during the ceremony. “The Visual Arts and Design Academy is a shining example of that special programming that we have. It integrates rigorous academic coursework with project-based, career-focused art in design instruction.”
The funding for the building, which has been in the works since 2017, comes from numerous sources, including a state grant of $2.2 million with the school district matching the amount, an anonymous $1.2 million donation from a private donor, and community fundraising through Friends of VADA, one of the organizations that has helped fund the program since its inception.
“This is a community asset. Our students are going to benefit directly, but this campus is going to be uplifted because of this work,” said Daniel Barrett, program director of VADA.
Barrett pointed out the importance the building has not just in helping the students develop their artistic talents, but also helping bring them together as a community.
The building will give the program a new home and bring the scattered classes together in one place, giving the students a stronger sense of community.
“Everybody’s gonna be close together, instead of every building being in different parts of campus,” said Alan Rodriguez, a 10th-grade student in VADA whose class will be among the first to use the new building.
The fundraising efforts highlight how much of a community project VADA has been and the way it has brought the community together. The groundbreaking ceremony attendees included school board members, school staff and students, members of the Friends of VADA organization — which is comprised of parents, teachers and alumni who are invested in the VADA program — and local elected officials.
Among the officials present was City Councilman Oscar Gutierrez, who joked that despite being a graduate of San Marcos High School, he was more than happy to show his appreciation for the arts and the work being done at Santa Barbara High School.
“My degree in college was film, so obviously the arts are something that I hold very dear and close to my heart, and it’s actually what inspired me to do more for my community and inspired me to run for office to try to help my city,” Gutierrez said.
Construction is now underway and the building is slated to open in spring 2024.
Ernesto Centeno Araujo is a Noozhawk contributing writer and UC Santa Barbara student.
