Although a small and relatively new school, the New Mexico School for the Arts is making a name for itself. Nearly all of this year’s graduating seniors will attend college, with the graduates collectively receiving more than $5.4 million in scholarships. The state-chartered school in Santa Fe annually puts on an average of 32 artistic productions and has been ranked by multiple sources as one of the New Mexico’s top schools.
Last spring, Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLaine addressed the school’s graduates. On Monday, it was spy-turned-author Valerie Plame Wilson at the podium.
The ceremony took place at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center where hundreds turned up to support the 44 members of the class of 2015.
Wilson retold the story of her life as a CIA operative and how she was outed as an agent by members of George W. Bush’s administration in 2003. The 51-year-old retired spy recalled the frustration of what she said felt like having her life “shredded.”
“My plan to retire with the CIA was scratched,” she said. “I learned the meaning of ‘life is not fair.’ ”
But Wilson, who lives a second life as a New York Times-bestselling author for her spy novels, Blowback andBurned, told the graduating seniors that failure is not permanent. She also encouraged students to love fully and trust their intuition. She also threw in humorous asides such as advising the prospective college students to avoid morning classes and to brush their teeth four times a day.
“Don’t laugh,” she said. “No one wants to kiss a dirty mouth.”
The graduating seniors wore shiny black gowns and caps. Each also wore a colored sash that corresponded to their artistic field of study: orange for music, green for visual arts, blue for dance and purple for theater. The graduating seniors, following what has become school tradition, also choose an underclass student to place the sash and honor cords across the new grads.
Divided by areas of interest, graduating seniors still expressed a common sentiment: they loved their fellow classmates, specifically their shared love of art.
“I was a lot more comfortable being surrounded by artists. You know, people a little more like me,” said graduating senior Will Bensen, 18.
Bensen, who plans to attend the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Ore., said part of the school’s draw is that every student wants to be there and wants to study art. Bensen said students have to make an effort to get accepted at the school, including passing a daunting interview process. Bensen, for example, had to submit a portfolio and draw a bowl of fruit in five minutes as part of his application process. Others had to audition by acting, dancing or singing. Bensen began attending the school as a freshman, but many transfer to the school after lackluster experiences elsewhere.
That was the case for Elizajane Davis, 18. She said she previously attended Santa Fe Preparatory School, which she found too focused on academics. Arts, she said, took a back seat. So Davis applied and transferred to the New Mexico School for the Arts. She studied theater and found kindred spirits.
“Everyone is here for a reason,” she said. “No one is making you do the arts.”
Davis plans to attend Bay State College in Boston and study fashion.
The charter school, which opened only five years ago, continues to establish itself. About 95 percent of the graduating seniors have already been accepted into higher learning institutions including the Bard College, the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.
The school was listed as the 10th best school in the state in a U.S. News and World Report ranking of schools nationwide. The state’s education department has consistently graded the school as an “A” school.
Contact Chris Quintana at 986-3093 or cquintana@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @CQuintanaSF.