Fine Arts
Your story deserves a spotlight.
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[string orchestra playing “Colors of the Wind” from Walt Disney Pictures’ 33rd animated feature film Pocahontas]
Music
The Music Department includes beginner through advanced level Orchestra and Band, along with Music Theory I and AP Music Theory classes.
Music counts for one of the necessary art credits at Franklin, but it is more than just an in school class. Franklin music classes also double as a club/organization that participates in two concerts every year, number fundraisers, music festivals, competitions, and out of school engagements, such as: weddings, anniversaries, retirement parties, and much more.
Music is a great way to bring about school spirit and ensure balance of work and your artistic creative expression.
Theater
Our theater program is expanding each year, and our newly renovated theater is now a worthy space for our remarkable students. The program has been recognized by the renowned New Orleans Theatre Association, which has underwritten numerous shows and funded upgrades to our auditorium. The Theater Department is more popular than ever with recent exciting shows like Pride and Prejudice, Spelling Bee, Noises Off, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Beyond the classroom, students use theater as a powerful tool to effect change. In 2024, 20 students from the Gender and Sexuality Alliance and the Key Players drama club worked with Broadway director Jimmy Maize to present a devised theater piece on the Cap
Visual Arts
The Visual Arts Department offers a wide variety of courses in multiple disciplines including painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, digital design, and other media arts.
Our students and faculty make a fantastic creative learning team! Our students’ artwork has been recognized by numerous organizations including Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Rau for Art Foundation, Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Selley Foundation, and The George Rodrigue Foundation. Our outstanding Fine Arts faculty have participated in international and local exhibitions and have been published in national art journals.
Creative Writing
Our excellent creative writing program helps students find their authentic voices and hone their writing skills while letting their imaginations run wild. From highly structured poetry such as sestinas to more experimental free verse or short stories, our writing students learn to take risks and push their creative limits. The program also has produced the nationally acclaimed Riverbend Review, an anthology of student writing and artwork honored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association as one of the finest student publications in the country
NOCCA Partnership
Franklin is proud to partner with the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), giving qualified students the opportunity for off-campus pre- professional arts training with intensive instruction in dance, media arts, music, theater arts, culinary arts, visual arts, and creative writing.
Our schedule lends itself to students spending mornings at Ben Franklin and afternoons at NOCCA. Students take four classes each semester at Ben Franklin, two classes each of the rotation days, Day A and Day B. Because there are additional classes that must be completed in order to graduate from Ben Franklin, students work with their counselor to arrange to take those additional classes at a local college or university.
Absolutely not. Our most successful NOCCA students (most successful in their academics and in their arts discipline) attend some of the most highly selective colleges and universities in the country.
Some NOCCA students come back to Ben Franklin after their NOCCA classes because they need tutoring or want to participate in some type of extracurricular activity. Others do not return to BFHS after NOCCA. It depends on the student.