The school of music and art The school of music and art (August 25, 2004)

Finn Center offers array of cultural classes in state-of-the art facility

by Andrea Chang

Architects for the first permanent home of the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, came up with a novel blueprint for the Finn Center: design the building to resemble a blank canvas, with the students, artwork and music adding the color.

Just seven months after the architects' vision materialized, student artwork dots the interior landscape of the award-winning building on San Antonio Circle, while natural light for artists filters in through large, sparkling windows and music bounces off the thick walls of the center's recording studios.

The Finn Center, the only arts and music facility of its kind in Northern California, has become not only an architecturally noteworthy facility but a state-of-the-art place for music and cultural exploration at a time when arts are suffering.

The $11.7 million, 25,000-square-foot facility is the seventh and final location for the Community School for Music and Arts in Mountain View, which services more than 30,000 music and arts students of all ages each year.

Finn Center, with its private music studios, digital arts lab and 236-seat concert hall, allows CSMA to further arts education in areas where previous locations - like a church basement and a farmhouse - were limited.

"We have always had outstanding programs and now we have a facility that equals the excellence of the programs," said Evy Schiffman, marketing and communications director.

Founded in 1968 by community volunteers who wanted to improve music and arts education in Silicon Valley, the center provides instruction through classes, private music lessons, camps and concerts. The organization started in an old rented house with only $150, 28 students and 10 volunteer teachers.

The Finn Center has already won the 2004 American Institute of Architects' San Francisco Design Awards for Excellence in Design. The facility, designed by San Francisco architect firm Mark Cavagnero Associates, is spacious and modern but softened by the hundreds of student artwork decorating the walls. This summer, Mohr Gallery, Finn Center's art exhibition area, featured projects from Bay Area students as well as student work on loan through "Paintbrush Diplomacy," an international art exchange program.

With about 120 classes available at Finn Center each semester, students of all ages, levels and financial means can sign up for courses like oil painting, music theory, Web design and ceramics. More specialized courses are available as well; students can sample henna in "Arts of India" and in December, they can learn to make holiday presents in a "Toy and Giftmaking" class. Private music lessons are also offered in about 25 instruments including cello, French horn and violin.

Though classes are not cheap - a two-week summer camp costs $240 and adult classes cost about $150 for four weeks - the center offers financial aid to ensure that everyone, regardless of economic status, has equal access to a complete arts education. For students in need of financial assistance, determined by factors including family income, CSMA provides merit scholarships, direct tuition assistance, program subsidies and work-study opportunities.

The center's goal to promote arts appreciation reaches beyond the concrete walls of Finn Center: every year, the organization's Arts-in-the-Schools programs bring the arts to public and private school classrooms with weekly, hands-on instruction integrated into the school day. Arts in Action, one of CSMA's in-school programs, focuses on creative expression, cultural and historical foundations of art and the development of technical skills. Ten thousand children from grades K-8 benefit from Arts-in-the-Schools.

"We're seeing a dramatic decline in public funding for arts education," Executive Director Angela McConnell said. "So as a result of that, programs like ours are even more important for families who aren't able to provide or ensure that their children are provided an education that includes music and arts."

With the opening of the Finn Center, Schiffman said CSMA has secured "a much greater place for arts advocacy." She and other CSMA volunteers stress the need for a comprehensive arts education, especially in early childhood development.

"It's what's human," Schiffman said. "Singing, music is integral to all cultures. It's part of what makes people feel alive. The arts don't speak any language."

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