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Fine & Performing Arts
Art, music, dance or drama as your major — taught with the city's actual arts institutions.
What you'd actually do
- Take studio, ensemble or rehearsal time as a daily class
- Work with professional artists and Chicago arts institutions
- Build a portfolio or performance résumé, not just a grade
- Perform and exhibit for real audiences
How you get in
Depends on the school. Only four audition — Chicago Arts, Senn (dance, theatre, visual art), and Lincoln Park. The rest are plain lotteries you enter by ranking them on GoCPS. Where an audition is required it is an eligibility gate: schedule it with the school before the deadline or the application can be disqualified.
Audition or portfolioLottery
Now, later, and after
What this gets you freshman year, by the time you graduate, and after that.
Freshman year
What you'd touch first
- Daily studio or rehearsal instead of one elective a week
- Your first real critique
Junior & senior year
What you'd walk out holding
- A portfolio or audition reel good enough for conservatory applications
- Juried shows and city-wide performances
After graduation
Where it goes
- Art school, conservatory, design programs
- Arts administration, teaching, production, design work
Where you can do it12
Selective Enrollment schools first, then ordered by graduation and college rates against the district average.
Lincoln Park HS
Lincoln Park
Well above district(+11.3 pts)
Auditions for instrumental music, vocal music and theatre; portfolio for visual art. Selection runs on the audition score, not grades or test.
School profileChicago Arts HS
West Town
Above district(+7.7 pts)
Auditions, 11 conservatory programs. Formerly ChiArts, and a district school since 2026-27. Apply on GoCPS first; the school then contacts you to schedule. No prior training required.
School profileSenn HS
Edgewater
Above district(+6.6 pts)
Auditions for dance and theatre, portfolio for visual art. Music is the exception — it is a lottery with no audition.
School profileDisney II HS
Old Irving Park
Above district(+4.7 pts)
Lottery, but with a test-score floor at 9th grade. Grades 7-12.
School profileCurie HS
Archer Heights
Near district average(-2.4 pts)
CPS lists it as a lottery with no screening; the school's own pages describe auditions. Ask before you count on either.
School profile
Dyett Arts HS
Washington Park
Below district(-3.9 pts)
No audition despite the name — a lottery with a 2.0 GPA minimum and attendance-area priority.
School profileWells HS
West Town
Below district(-10.8 pts)
Lottery. One undifferentiated arts program rather than separate majors.
School profile
Kelvyn Park HS
Hermosa
Below district(-11 pts)
Lottery, attendance-area priority. Grades 7-12.
School profileCollins STEAM HS
North Lawndale
Below district(-15.2 pts)
Lottery with proximity priority.
School profile
Julian HS
Washington Heights
Below district(-16.7 pts)
Lottery with no test, unlike Julian's six other programs.
School profileMulticultural Arts HS
Little Village
Below district(-21.3 pts)
Lottery. Studio arts, ceramics, digital music, photo and video studios.
School profileArt in Motion
South Shore
Lottery. Charter, grades 7-12, in a converted ice plant with a black box theater and recording studio.
School profileVisit one of these
Upcoming open houses at schools that run this program.
- 17OctLincoln Park High SchoolOpen House · 13:00
Questions
- Do I have to audition?
- Only at four of these schools: Chicago Arts, Senn (except its music program), and Lincoln Park. Everywhere else it is a lottery. Dyett is called a High School for the Arts and holds no audition at all.
- Do I need years of training first?
- Not at Chicago Arts, which says it looks for creativity, passion and potential to grow rather than prior training. Lincoln Park's instrumental music program is the opposite — it expects several years on your instrument.
Where this comes from
Checked 2026-09-12. Program details change — confirm with the school before you rank it.