The New Mexico School for the Arts brought out some big guns — and some soon-to-be big guns — from the worlds of arts and politics for a Tuesday evening presentation to the Santa Fe school board.

The school hopes to lease either Alameda Middle School or the district's B.F. Young building on Camino Sierra Vista for the community's newest charter school, scheduled to open in 2010 with arts students from around the state.

The school is also looking at the possibility of locating at the College of Santa Fe if a public entity buys the campus. Two of the new school's governing board members are also members of the task force formed by Gov. Bill Richardson to consider various options for the property once the private college shuts down next month.

New Mexico first lady Barbara Richardson, Secretary of Cultural Affairs Stuart Ashman, Mayor David Coss, Museum of New Mexico Foundation director Tom Aageson, Santa Fe Pro Musica's Tom O'Connor, Think New Mexico executive director Fred Nathan — as well as a talented young singer, Sam Connan — were among those who spoke to the Santa Fe school board on behalf of the proposed partnership.

Lee Berk, former president of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and one of the founders of the Boston Arts Academy, said the New Mexico School for the Arts is "destined to be a beacon of excellence."

Others spoke of the value of high-quality arts education in preparing students for careers in the arts and arts administration. And Nathan, calling this a "proverbial win-win situation," reminded the board that the school would bring state dollars, philanthropic dollars and new jobs to the city.

Many of the speakers were also parents. "This is exactly the kind of program that will bring us back into the public schools," said Tamara Lichtenstein, mother of a home-schooler.

As for the 11-year-old Connan, a student at the Santa Fe School for the Arts, he said, "This is the absolute perfect place for me to go."

The proposal presented to the board called for the initial lease to begin in the summer of 2010 and continue for four years, with three renewal terms of five years each.

Lobbyist J.D. Bullington, a member of the school's founding committee, asked the board to adopt a resolution at its May 20 meeting allowing the lease or lease-purchase negotiations to proceed.

The school can expect to get around $84,000 a year from the state in rent assistance, based on a starting enrollment of about 120 students, Bullington said. When it reaches full enrollment of about 300 students, the rent assistance will rise to $210,000 a year.

This would be a direct source of income for the school district. And because utility and maintenance costs for the facility would be paid for by the charter school, the district's expenses and operating costs would decrease. At full enrollment, the district could gain $660,000 a year including the rent and operational savings of $450,000.

The school also intends to provide professional teacher development training to art teachers from New Mexico's public schools.

In March 2008, the Legislature approved an exception to the state's charter-school act to allow the New Mexico School for the Arts to accept students based on their exceptional artistic aptitude. Public charter schools normally admit students based on a lottery.

The Public Education Commission approved the state charter last year.

In addition to securing a facility, the school is negotiating with the New Mexico School for the Deaf about leasing dormitory space for students unable to commute daily to the campus. The school will, as much as possible, accept an equal number of students from each of the state's three congressional districts.

The B.F. Young building is on the back side of the New Mexico School for the Deaf property line. And both B.F. Young and Alameda are within walking distance of the National Dance Institute of New Mexico. The school and NDI have a partnership to further the educational purposes of both organizations.

So far, 59 families have expressed interest in the school. "This is just word of mouth, reading the newspaper and our own Web site," Bullington said. "We've done no marketing."

Only a few of the interested students are enrolled in Santa Fe Public Schools. Students will be allowed to apply in mid- to late fall of 2009, and auditions will occur in the winter of 2010. The school will offer visual arts, music (instrumental and voice), dance and theater (theater, film and creative writing). The school will be free, although residential students would pay room and board based on a sliding scale.

This spring, the school will offer master classes to students in Las Cruces, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, followed by a summer intensive to introduce them to mastery arts education.

In the next couple of weeks the school's board will start a new search for the head of the school. The board interviewed an earlier pool of about eight qualified candidates, Bullington said, adding, "We were close, but for various reasons we weren't able to work out the details." The head of school will have major responsibility for fundraising. Interest is high, Bullington said, and "We're confident we'll find the right person."

The school is also looking for a principal who will be the top administrator. Ideally the person will be living in New Mexico and have had experience in an arts high school. There are about 75 public arts high schools already up and running in the country.

"This is an important hearing for us because once we have the facility — and the dormitory — we're basically ready to go," Bullington said Tuesday.

Finding a facility has been a big stumbling block for all new charter schools in the state, but as attorney Julia Barnes, another founding committee member, said, "Everyone finds it hard and everyone finds a place."

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.