ArtQuest is a public school magnet program for the Visual and Performing Arts at Santa Rosa High School. Founded in 1994 as a California Secondary Specialized Program, ArtQuest was designed to “provide an above and beyond experience for students who wish to concentrate on the arts during their high school years and for whom creativity and artistic expression is of paramount importance”. Our faculty remain dedicated to this original mission and to the ongoing development of an even more effective and meaningful learning environment, in the heart of our diverse and artistically rich community.
ArtQuest provides students with an immersive, 21st-century, college preparatory program that prepares students with the creative problem solving skills, critical thinking and industry experience necessary to pursue conservatory, college and professional paths.
ArtQuest offers eight Visual and Performing Arts Specialties. The Visual Arts Specialties include Digital Arts, Photography, Video Arts and Visual Fine Arts. The Performing Arts Specialties include Dance, Theatre Arts, Instrumental Music and Vocal Music.
ArtQuest Core classes bring students together from all eight Arts Specialties. Participation in the ArtQuest annual theme and incorporation of students’ Arts Specialties into Core class projects and presentations. Curriculum in the ArtQuest Core classes are aligned with the California Core Standards.
ArtQuest students are Santa Rosa High School students who take all of their classes at SRHS. In addition, many of our students take courses at the Santa Rosa Junior College to supplement and enhance their learning and/or fulfill graduation requirements. Founded in 1874, Santa Rosa High School was the eighth high school in California and remained the only high school in Santa Rosa until 1958. Santa Rosa High School (SRHS) has a long and proud history of offering a comprehensive, quality education to its community. SRHS continues to offer rigorous academic and vocational programs, offering courses in the Arts, English, math, sciences, social studies, foreign languages, and physical education. It also offers studies in agriculture, automotive technology, business, electronics and wood shop. SRHS students’ SAT scores are consistently high, being among the highest in the Santa Rosa City Schools District. The Advanced Placement rate of passage is also consistently high.
ArtQuest is conscious that many identity groups have been excluded from access to an arts education, and reaffirms our commitment to inclusion, equality, and diversity in the arts. ArtQuest pledges to condemn all acts of exclusion, discrimination, hate or violence. We commit to supporting each other in enacting anti-racist pedagogy and dismantling all systemic discrimination and practices that undermine social justice.
