New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, or NOCCA, is the regional, pre-professional arts training center for high school students in Louisiana. NOCCA opened in 1973 as a professional arts training center for

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

-age children. Located in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, it provides intensive instruction in culinary arts, creative writing, dance, media arts, music (classical, jazz, vocal), theatre arts (drama, musical theatre, theatre design), and visual arts. NOCCA was founded by a group of artists, educators, business leaders, and community activists. Tuition is free to all Louisiana students who meet audition requirements. Students from over 100 public, private,

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a ...

and home schools attend in the afternoon or late-day as well as Academic Studio students who attend NOCCA for the full day. In 2000, NOCCA moved to a campus in the

Faubourg Marigny The Faubourg Marigny ( ; sometimes called The Marigny) is a Neighborhoods in New Orleans, neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission, are Rampart Street, North R ...

neighborhood. Before that, NOCCA was housed for many years in an old elementary school building on Perrier Street in Uptown New Orleans.

Curriculum

NOCCA students receive pre-professional arts training in one of eleven different arts disciplines, and additionally may participate in a full-day academic program, the Academic Studio. * Classical Instrumental Music * Creative Writing * Culinary Arts * Dance * Drama * Entertainment Production Design * Jazz * Media Arts *

Musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Visual Arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

Vocal music Vocal music is a type of singing performed by one or more singers, either with instrumental accompaniment, or without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella), in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but ...

Launched in the fall of 2011, NOCCA's Academic Studio is a full-day, diploma-granting attendance option. To enroll in the Academic Studio, prospective students must successfully complete an arts audition and be accepted into a Level I program in one of NOCCA's eleven arts disciplines.

Admissions process

NOCCA acceptance is by audition only.

Notable alumni

* Musician

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews Troy Andrews (born January 2, 1986), also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is a musician, most notably a trombone player, from New Orleans, Louisiana. His music fuses rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop. Biography Andrews was one of sev ...

* Musician

Jon Batiste Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists including Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Prince (musician), ...

* Artist

Gustave Blache III Gustave Blache III ( ; born 1977) is an American figurative artist from New Orleans, Louisiana, currently residing in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his works in series that highlight the process and unique labors of everyday society. ...

* Musician

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He has also written two operas and more than 80 film and television scores. Blanchard has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Original Score for ''B ...

* Dancer

Bella Blue Bella Blue (born January 25, 1982) is an American burlesque dancer and producer. She is the founder and headmistress of the New Orleans School of Burlesque. Early life Bella Blue was born on January 25, 1982, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Barb ...

* Musician and actor

Harry Connick Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and former television host. As of 2019, he has sold over 30 million records worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling ma ...

* Novelist and poet

Nicole Cooley Nicole Ruth Cooley is an American poet. She has authored six collections of poems, including ''Resurrection'', ''Breach'', ''Milk Dress'', and ''Of Marriage''. Her work has appeared in ''Poetry'', ''Field'', ''Ploughshares'', ''Poetry Northwest'', ...

* Musician

Lucky Daye David Debrandon Brown (born September 25, 1985), known professionally as Lucky Daye, is an American R&B singer-songwriter from New Orleans. He signed with Keep Cool Records and RCA Records to release his first two extended plays, ''I'' (2018) ...

* Writer

Lolis Eric Elie Lolis Eric Elie (born April 10, 1963) is an American writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and food historian best known for his work as story editor of the HBO drama '' Treme'' and story editor of AMC's '' Hell on Wheels''. Early life an ...

* Musician Sullivan Fortner * Musician

Donald Harrison Donald Harrison Jr. (born June 23, 1960) is an American jazz saxophonist and the Big Chief of The Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Berklee College of M ...

* Musician

DJ Hollygrove The Chopstars, also known as Chopstar DJs or simply Chopstars, are a collective that include American disc jockey, DJs and Turntablism, turntablists that perform chopped and screwed remixes of popular music under Chop Not Slop Ent. Their "ChopNo ...

of The Chopstars * Actress

JoNell Kennedy JoNell Kennedy is an American actress, producer and writer. Life and career Kennedy's father, Joe Nathan Kennedy was a government employee, and mother is Joan Marie Johnson, was a member of the '60s girl group The Dixie Cups. She began her car ...

* Musician Doreen Ketchens * Actor

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. He gained wide recognition for portraying Sam Wilson / Falcon / Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with the film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier ...

* Musicians Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and

Jason Marsalis Jason Marsalis (born March 4, 1977) is an American jazz drummer, vibraphone player, composer, producer, band leader, and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and the late Ellis Marsalis ...

* Conductor Paul Mauffray * Musician

Paul Meany Paul Meany (born July 2, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music director, and record producer. He is best known for co-producing and collaborating with much of Twenty One Pilots' work since 2017. He has also done p ...

* Musician Jeffery Miller * Rap Artist

3D Na'Tee Samantha Davon James (born December 18, 1986), known professionally as 3D Na'Tee, is an American rapper, songwriter, and video director. 3D Na'Tee has been featured on several national media outlets such as MTV, ''The Source (magazine), The Sou ...

* Musician

Nicholas Payton Nicholas Payton (born September 26, 1973) is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a writer who comments on subjects including music, race, politics, and life i ...

* Actor

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1962) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor of stage and screen. He first Breakthrough role, gained recognition portraying ...

* Musician Nick Sanders * Musician Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah * Filmmaker Phillip Youmans

NOCCA Foundation

The NOCCA Foundation is NOCCA’s nonprofit partner, providing supplemental funding for NOCCA and advocacy for its world-class program. Some of the Foundation’s more notable endeavors include: a Student Success Program that pays for students’ classroom supplies as well as fees associated with important summer training programs across the country; an Artists-in-Residence Program that brings more than 100 professional visiting artists into NOCCA’s classrooms each year; the capital campaign for NOCCA’s current home and expansion projects like Press Street Gardens; a wide array of arts classes for adults; and concert, gallery, and literary events for the community. The Foundation also oversees rentals of the NOCCA campus, making it available to arts organizations, individuals, corporations, and other groups.

References

External links

Official websiteThe NOCCA Institute
{{authority control Art schools in Louisiana Culture of New Orleans Charter schools in New Orleans Faubourg Marigny Public high schools in New Orleans Schools of the performing arts in the United States Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in Louisiana