NOCCA Foundation - New Orleans Center for Creative Arts Foundation

About Us

The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) was founded in 1973 and opened its doors to students in 1974. Today, NOCCA is Louisiana’s arts conservatory for high school students, offering intensive instruction in Classical Music, Creative Writing, Culinary Arts, Dance, Drama, Jazz, Media Arts, Musical Theatre, Theatre Design, Vocal Music, Visual Arts, and academics. Students come from across Louisiana, attending via full-day, afternoon, and after-school sessions. Admission to NOCCA is by audition, and there is no tuition.

The NOCCA Institute is NOCCA’s nonprofit partner, providing supplemental funding for NOCCA and advocacy for its world-class program. Some of the Institute’s more notable endeavors include: a Student Success Program that pays for students’ classroom supplies as well as fees associated with important summer training programs across the country; an Artists-in-Residence Program that brings more than 100 professional visiting artists into NOCCA’s classrooms each year; the capital campaign for NOCCA’s current home and expansion projects along the Press Street corridor, including Press Street Gardens; a wide array of arts classes for adults; and concert, gallery, and literary events for the community. The Institute also oversees rentals of the NOCCA campus, making it available to arts organizations, individuals, corporations, and other groups.