Post by ashley cortez on Apr 13, 2009 2:59:36 GMT -5
paris académie des arts
E X P R E S S Y O U R S E L F !
did you know that harry potter started out as pen marks on a cafe napkin? that prada was once a small shop selling leather products in italy? that london was once a tiny group of wooden huts? everything has its origins. everything evolves over time. and everything ends up bigger, stronger and completely different from its original. paa is no different. founded in 1823, was a tiny high school in the village of montauban-de-picardie, home only to students who had nowhere else to go. no-one really knows when or how the change began to take place, but it was somewhere just before the turn of the twentieth century. the turn of the twentieth century. the school began to gain renown. smarter and more talented students began passing through, winning awards and championships as they went. it became a never-ending circle - the more the school became famous, the more students flocked to it, making it even more well-known.
in 1916, the battle of the somme was fought within a mile of the school. montauban had been turned into a german strongpoint. the two sides were bombing each other without mercy. a stray shell hit the school and burnt it to the ground. students were evacuated, but many died in the flames and the commotion that followed.
with most schools, that would have been the end. the students would have been enrolled at different schools and paa, then montauban académie, would have been forgotten. but the teachers and staff and most of the students weren't about to let it die. the government, who had taken an interest once the school began to succeed, funded a complete restoration. they didn't just rebuild the school - they completely transformed it. they moved to paris and became a school of the arts, training students in music, art, dance, fashion and drama as well as the usual subjects. once the new school was complete, students flocked there in unanticipated numbers.
in 1956, there were more people on the waiting list than in the school, and paa became selective. they chose only the best and most talented students, and the rest were sent away with a polite 'unfortunately, we feel you would do better furthering your education elsewhere.' after becoming selective, the quality of the students rose dramatically. paa became one of the most renowned art schools in the world. the staff hired talent scouts to scour the globe, offering places to only the best.
and so we reach 2009. some call it paa's golden age, others call it their downfall. the standards are high, the teachers are often world famous, the students are the absolute elite from all corners of the world. but, as the school changed, so did the city. underneath the bright show of lights and beauty lies a much darker world, and some of this darkness is leaking into paa.