Overview
The Baltimore School for the Arts Foundation is a 501c(3) established concurrently with the school to raise private funds to supplement the annual budget provided to the school by Baltimore City Public School System.
The City Schools covers about 75% of the school’s operating budget each year including faculty salaries, building and maintenance. The other 25%, more than a million dollars a year, is raised by the Board, Director and Foundation through private sources including corporations, foundations and individuals. These funds are the backbone of the school's combined academic and arts education and include programmatic costs for performances, visual art exhibitions, and master classes; summer study grants for juniors, college preparatory classes, academic tutoring and last-dollar college scholarships; instructional materials and supplies including musical instruments, theatre and dance supplies and costumes, visual art materials, and special library collections including classical and jazz CDs, art books, scores and dance videos; and community outreach.
The Foundation also raises money for the BSA endowment which is just over $6 million. In 2001, BSA was awarded a challenge grant of $750,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation to build a special endowment to develop and sustain programs in music, dance, stage production and theatre, as well as the junior summer study grant fund. BSA was designated one of the top five public arts high schools in the country by the Foundations and in spring of 2006, BSA completed the DDCF match.
Capital Renovation & Expansion
In the fall of 2005 the Baltimore School for the Arts publicly launched a capital renovation and expansion campaign, “ACT II – Creating more opportunities for more of Baltimore’s children.” The total project cost was $30 million and the money was raised in a unique, equally shared public/private collaboration with $15 million coming from the public sector (the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, the federal government, and the Baltimore City Public School System) and $15 million from private sources (past and present board members, philanthropic and community leaders, alumni and other donors). The Baltimore School for the Arts capital renovation and expansion campaign included the acquisition and renovation of an historic brownstone located next door to the BSA’s original landmark facility, as well as the renovation and expansion of the original facility. This expansion was essential in order to upgrade facilities with state-of-the-art studios and classrooms as well as to address serious infrastructure needs in the school’s aging home and to acquire more space (29,000 square feet). The expansion has allowed for growth in the high school and TWIGS programs. The project and campaign were completed in February 2008.
You can help to support BSA with a gift to the Foundation. Click here to join a campaign!
