About UsWelcome to the Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, founded in 1989! At Harrison School for the Arts, we provide an arts education that has international acclaim. Nestled within the boundaries of Imperial Polk County, among a population of 602,000, we are committed to academic excellence in the arts and traditional academic subjects. Harrison students achieve their general academia through Lakeland Senior High School, online courses, dual enrollment, and Harrison's Summer Academy. Harrison is a community of artists, teachers, and scholars providing opportunities for talented students to develop their abilities to the fullest extent. We embrace our responsibility to create an innovative learning environment that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Our faculty and staff are instilling self-discipline, self-esteem, and a working knowledge of and greater appreciation for the arts for each of our students. Our expansion and renovation of over 110,000 square feet of arts facilities in 2009 marked a momentous occasion in our school's history. Both district funding and community campaign funds provided for the making of a masterpiece. With the new teaching space, we welcome the addition of departments in Motion Picture Arts, Jazz, and Guitar to complement our existing programs in Dance, Chorus, Piano, Orchestra, Musical Theatre, Theatre, Technical Theatre, and Visual Arts. Our state-of-the-art facilities, coupled with our incredibly gifted faculty, ensure that our current students and future Polk County generations have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential in the arts through premier instruction at Harrison. Teaming is vital to the success of all of our programs. Faculty, staff, parents, students, and community advocates partner together ensuring results of immeasurable quality. Therein lies a notable strength of the Harrison School for the Arts - a nurturing support system credited to fostering creativity for a lifetime! The end result for our students - they become Better Artists, Better Students, and Better People. Our graduates have attended such prestigious post-secondary institutions as Harvard, The Julliard School, The Cooper Union, Eastman School of Music, Southern Methodist University, New York University, Manhattan School of Music, DePaul University, Ringling College of Art and Design, and Princeton to name just a few. Harrison alumni have gone on to star in major Broadway productions, featured on network television programs, pursue roles in professional dance companies, and many are practicing artists. In 2009, the Harrison community celebrated their first alumna receiving a Tony. Whether lighting up the stages of Broadway, teaching the arts in schools, or working in the field of engineering, all of our students contribute significantly to the communities they serve. As we look to the future of Harrison School for the Arts, I invite you to learn more about how you can become part of the Harrison tradition and join our distinguished alumni in providing artistic leadership for the 21st-Century. On behalf of our entire school community, I invite you to visit and tour our various program offerings. Tours are scheduled on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Please feel welcome to contact me at 863-499-2855 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Sincerely, Craig S. Collins, Ed.D |
Lois Cowles Harrison
Lois Cowles Harrison
Center for the Visual
and Performing Arts
