Repository

Heinz History Center

Title

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA) Records

Creator

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA)

Collection Number

MSS 936

Extent

1.0 linear feet (1 box)

Date

1979-1999

Abstract

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA) is a public magnet school located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa. CAPA serves 6th through 12th grades and sepcializes in dance, instrumental and vocal music, literary arts, theatre, and visual arts. The CAPA Records include correspondence, exhibition and gallery programs, awards, newspaper clippings, and photographs.

Language

The material in this collection is in English.

Author

The guide to this collection was written by Meghan Hall.

Sponsor

This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.

Publisher

Heinz History Center

Address

1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA) is a public magnet school located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., that provides study in theatre, dance, visual arts, art, and music. Part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools system and serving 6th through 12th grades, CAPA was originally existed as the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and Rogers Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts until a merger in 2009. The former was originally housed in a repurposed Baxter School and community center building located in Pittsburgh's Bruston neighborhood, and was opened in September of 1978 as a magnet school under Dr. Harry Clark. The first students to attend CAPA High School did so on a part time basis, attending classes at their home schools in the morning and at CAPA in the afternoon. Enrollment reached 75 students by the end of the first year but it was not until 1983 that the school introduced a full-time program from which students could earn their high school diploma directly through CAPA.

CAPA has grown significantly and enrolls over 500 students with majors available in dance, instrumental and vocal music, literary arts, theatre, and visual arts. The school offers studies including mainstream, Pittsburgh Scholars Program (PSP) and Centers for Advanced Study (CAS) along with a full range of extracurricular student organizations.

In 2003, CAPA moved into downtown Pittsburgh, providing expanded and updated facilities, as well as direct access to Pittsburgh's Culutral District.

Scope and Content Notes

The Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School Records include correspondence, exhibition and gallery programs, awards, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The majority of the correspondence is that of Beverly L. Bates and JoAnne L. Bates who were teachers at CAPA and coordinators within the art department beginning in the 1980s. Also included are memos and communication letters between other staff members of CAPA. CAPA Celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1999 and correspondence from the planning of the celebration and anniversary programs are included in the collection. The exhibition and gallery programs are from student and faculty exhibits shown at the school and at various Pittsburgh galleries. Newspaper clippings from Pittsburgh and regional newspapers showcase the work of CAPA students, and provide information about CAPA and its activities in the greater Pittsburgh community.

Also included in the collection are grant documents and operational information relating to several grant-funded projects including the 1995 Story Hat Project, The Yurt Project in 1997, and the artist in residence program. The photographs depict CAPA faculty and students, as well as student and faculty art projects.

Conditions Governing Access

None

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from JoAnne Bates in 1999.

Archives accession # 1999.0221

Preferred Citation

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA) Records, 1979-1999, MSS 936 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

Preliminary processing by Meghan Hall on 04/03/2013.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Separated Materials

1985 Unicorn yearbook separated to library collection.

Container List