High School of Music & Art

The High School of Music & Art
Address
443-465 West 135th Street New York, New York United States
Information
Type	Public Magnet High school
Established	1936
Founder	Fiorello H. LaGuardia
Closed	1984
Principal	Richard A. Klein (1969–1987)
Grades	9–12
Campus	urban
Color(s)	purple & light blue
Nickname	M&A
Merged with	High School of Performing Arts
To form	Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts
Website	http://www.alumniandfriends.org/

The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art", was a public high school at 443-465 West 135th Street, New York, New York, USA, that existed from 1936 until 1984, when it merged into the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts.

Colloquially known as "The Castle on the Hill," the building that once housed Music & Art is located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Harlem, near the campus of the City College of New York and St. Nicholas Park. The building now houses the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, a "magnet school" of the New York City Department of Education.

New York City Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia started the high school in 1936, an event he described as “the most hopeful accomplishment” of his administration. As the mayor of New York City he wanted to establish a public school in which students could hone their talents in music, art and the performing arts. Music & Art was made up of three departments: Art, Instrumental Music, and Vocal Music. It was a "magnet" school, meant to draw talented students from all boroughs. In 1948, a sister school — the High School of Performing Arts — was created in an effort to harness students’ talents in dance.

Future Mad magazine contributors Al Jaffee, Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, John Severin, and Al Feldstein all attended Music & Art together in the 1930s.

R. O. Blechman, Milton Glaser, Ed Sorel, and Reynold Ruffins — three of the four co-founders of the renowned design firm Push Pin Studios — were M&A students in the 1940s. Other M&A graduates from the 1940s include Bess Myerson, Allan Kaprow, and Hal Linden.

...
Wikipedia