On her way to New World School of the Arts for the first time, Contessa Bryant, then a high school student, remembers three distinctive features about downtown Miami in 1989: the pigeons, hot dog carts and the Metrorail.
At the time, the area had yet to capture the artistic flair it now embodies. There was no Adrienne Arsht Center or Pérez Art Museum Miami, and just a decade earlier, the city’s trademark Art Deco hotels were on the verge of being demolished.
But then, in 1986, the Florida legislature passed the New World School of the Arts act, paving the way for NWSA to be built.
“We were told that Miami was going to become a hub for the arts…and in order to do it, [the founders] understood it was going to be through the vehicle of education,” said Bryant, who now serves as principal at the NWSA’s high school.
Forty years later, the school remains an artistic engine—a space for art to grow and support the city’s best creative minds.
A vibrant engine that includes a high school and college component with divisions like visual arts, music, dance and theater, and notable alumni such as Robert Battle, the artistic director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Tarell Alvin McCraney, an Academy Award winning playwright of Moonlight fame, and Billy Corben, a filmmaker best known for his Netflix documentary Cocaine Cowboys.
“Sometimes I’m on the elevator with a giant piece of art that’s hiding someone behind it, sometimes there’s somebody singing to whoever is in the elevator,” said Lara Murphy, a high school alum of NWSA’s second-graduating class and a current dance instructor at New World.
Celebrations for the 40th anniversary will take place from the fall 2026 term through the fall of 2027.
The first performance featured students from the program at the New World Dance Theater on Oct. 10. Choreography was done by Battle and John Harnage, a performer at the Paul Taylor Dance Company, was a special guest.
“It is very inspiring for all of us—students, faculty, staff and community members—to see the artistry displayed by our current and former students,” said Mary Burns, who serves as the dean of dance.
The visual arts division will continue the festivities on Oct. 24 with the Living Network Exhibition at the building 5 art gallery. It will feature more than 80 artworks from alumni, current students and faculty.
Rising Stars, a broadway-style production that features the work and talent of the NWSA student body across different divisions, will also have a special segment for the 40th anniversary. Details about when and what it will entail have not been finalized.
Future programming for the anniversary celebration will be announced throughout the year.
The origins of the NWSA date back as far as 1974 when the Performing and Visual Arts Center was started at Miami Northwestern Senior High School.
As PAVAC grew, students took their core courses at Northwestern and arts courses at the Kendall and North campuses of Miami Dade College.
The program’s success showed there was a need for a designated arts institution in Miami like LaGuardia High School and The Juilliard School do in New York City.
In 1984, the House of Representatives passed the South Florida School of the Arts bill. Students for the program were found through district-wide talent shows.
The project’s aim was to put those students on track to attend New World High School. They welcomed their first class in 1987 in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and MDC. It was the first official dual-enrollment arts program in the country.
Students in the program—accepted through an audition or portfolio—had the option to transition into Florida International University courses at the NWSA campus to earn their bachelor’s degree in fine arts or music until 1994. When that partnership ended, a new one was started with the University of Florida.
Today, New World students take their courses in building 5 with the exception of the music division, which is found in building 4.
“There’s a legacy here,” said Jeffrey Hodgson, the CEO and Provost for NWSA. “We have a commitment and a responsibility to make sure that this legacy is not only celebrated but that it continues to thrive.”
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