Making This Possible
Laifun Chung
President
Landscape Designer
A Message from the President
I am both humbled and honored to serve as president of the Arts High Foundation. As a lifelong artist and arts advocate, I am impressed and encouraged by how profoundly LACHSA continues to nurture the creative talents of young people. As an alumni parent, I am (selfishly, I admit) grateful for the conservatory-style training the school provided my son, Thomas Kotcheff ’06. The training he received was so excellent it helped him gain admission to one of the world’s leading arts conservatories, the famed Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Although it has been many years since Thomas graduated, my devotion to LACHSA persists beyond what it did for my son. It is deeply moving to witness how this school continues to benefit thousands of young, developing artists.
Even before LACHSA was established in 1985, it was realized that public funding would not be enough to sustain such an institution, a public arts high school where each student would receive a tuition-free arts education. Therefore, the Arts High Foundation’s primary mission has been to help bridge the gap between available public funding and the actual cost of the school’s arts programs. To ensure that LACHSA remains a beacon for our community’s best and brightest young artists, my fellow Foundation board members and I will tirelessly continue to advocate and fundraise for this most important cause. On behalf of our public partner, the Los Angeles County Office of Education, I proudly assure you that LACHSA will continue to be a public school where students thrive—a public school that works!
- Laifun Chung
Arts High Foundation Board of Directors
Cara Leonetti Esposito
Vice President
Leonetti/O’Connell Family Foundation
Sandra Ell
Chief Financial Officer
CFO
Brenda Barnes
KUSC
Sheila Bergman
Emeryville Center for the Arts
Stacy Brightman, Ph.D
LA Opera
Jack Groban
Jack Groban & Associates
Marcia Wilson Hobbs
Beverly Hills Courier Publishing, LLC
Laurie Kaman
Branded Entertainment
Vivian Rescalvo
Transportation & Education Deputy to Supervisor Yaroslavsky
George Simpson
LACHSA Principal
Drew K. Skelly
MorganStanley SmithBarney
Eric Small
Flora L. Thornton Foundation
Trustees for Life
Hal David
Song Lyricist
Edward Kantor, M.D.
Otolaryngologist
Sheila Weisman
Civic Leader, Philanthropist
Co-Founders
Michael D. Antonovich
Supervisor
5th District, Los Angeles County
Caroline Ahmanson
1918-2005
Ex-Officio Members
Ollie Blanning
Arts Deputy to Supervisor Antonovich
Todd Hawkins
President, Arts High Alumni Association
Michele Russo
President, LACHSA Parent Council
Lauren Landress
Chair, Fundraising Committee, LACHSA Parent Council