About.

Grand Center Arts Academy (GCAA), the first of its kind in the St. Louis region, opened in August of 2010. Grand Center Arts Academy is currently a middle school (6-8) and will eventually serve 6-12 grades. GCAA is dedicated to offering world-class training in music, theater, visual art and dance, along–with a rigorous academic program.

Grand Center Arts Academy is a Charter School, an independent public school that charges no tuition. Students eligible to attend must be residents of the city of St. Louis as well as students from St. Louis County eligible to attend St. Louis Public Schools under the voluntary transfer program. In 2015 we will serve 6-12 grades and host approximately 750 students.

This one of a kind arts school is located in the heart of the thriving and vibrant arts center of the St. Louis region, Grand Center. Through rich instruction in a student’s chosen art form, as well as meaningful encounters with all arts mediums in an interdisciplinary atmosphere, Grand Center Arts Academy will provide a nurturing environment for students who have a strong interest in the creative and performing arts.

Do you know of a student you think would thrive at GCAA? Students with potential or undeveloped talent are encouraged to apply, as well as students who are currently at an advanced level. Training will be available for all levels of ability.

Amercian Quality Schools (AQS), a Not-For-Profit Educational Management Organization, has been selected as GCAA’s educational partner. Saint Louis University is the sponsor of Grand Center Arts Academy.

History

The Confluence Academy Board of Directors, along with leaders in the Grand Center Arts District had a dream of locating a visual and performing arts school in the heart of St. Louis’ premier Arts district. Saint Louis University agreed to be the sponsor of the charter and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the charter status in 2008.

In July, 2009, Lynne Glickert was hired and charged to open the arts school with the goal of opening in August, 2010. With a background as a music teacher, school principal, an expert in Arts Integration, and her connections to the art community, she was the ideal person to make that dream a reality. With the assistance of American Quality Schools (AQS), the management organization contracted by the board to run the school, and assistance from an Arts Leadership Team comprised of professionals from various well-established arts institutions in the St. Louis area, GCAA will begin its second year on August 25, 2011.

Building.

Built as the Carter Carburetor complex at 711 North Grand in 1925, the current home of Grand Center Arts Academy was originally designed by Hugo Graf and includes two buildings.

Visually separated by their differing size and construction materials, the two share a unifying style and are artfully connected by stepbacks. The smaller of the two buildings is two stories high and its Grand Avenue facade is dominated by the huge arch of the central entrance.

This arch is flanked on the second story by a colonnade which gives way to stark, simple window openings as one moves toward the ends of the building.

Classical motifs in low bas-relief and a simple cornice decorate an otherwise austere surface. The central doorway is further emphasized by the verically articulated mass of a cube-like “third floor.” It is this “third floor” plus the similarly treated parapets which provide the stylistic and visual link between the main building and the larger parking garage behind it. The dark brown, brick garage rises in six diminishing levels to an octagonal, central tower. Each level is emphasized by a border of gray stone facing around the top. Although of more modest material, it dominates the complex due to its size and strength of design. With its emphasis on mass and hard, mechanistic precision, the Carter Carburetor complex is a fine early example of modern American architecture.

-Text taken from the national Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form, Midtown Historic District