Baltimore School for the Arts: Tupac's Theater School

Location: Cathedral Street, Mount Vernon neighborhood, Baltimore, Maryland School: Public arts high school, founded 1979 Tupac there: As a theater student, roughly 1986 to summer 1988

Not grades decide admission, but talent: anyone who wants to attend the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) must audition or submit a portfolio. Around 1,000 teenagers apply each year; roughly 115 are admitted to the public high school (Wikipedia). The school occupies two buildings at the corner of Cathedral and Madison Streets in the Mount Vernon neighborhood, including the former Alcazar Hotel. Between roughly 1986 and the summer of 1988, a student learned the theater craft here who left the school without graduating, but never forgot what he learned: Tupac Shakur.

Auditioning for Donald Hicken: The Transfer to the BSA

Tupac started out in Baltimore at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, an ordinary school, and transferred to the BSA after about a year. He owed his admission to his audition. Theater department head Donald Hicken, who had led the department since its founding in 1979, was present at one of his early auditions according to Telex (2024) and remembered an unusually charismatic student. The rest of the teachers, according to Hicken, quickly recognized the talent. At the same time, he wished Tupac had taken his art more seriously (Baltimore Watchdog).

Ballet, Shakespeare, and a Lasting Impression

At the BSA, Tupac learned the craft that later shaped his lyrics and performances: acting, character study, ballet, speech training. The details of the curriculum, such as Shakespeare, Ibsen, or the Mouse King in The Nutcracker, are described in the biography. This page is about the place. Richard Pilcher, another teacher at the school, said according to Baltimore Heritage: “You didn’t forget Tupac.” He was not forgotten.

Friendship with Jada Pinkett and Departure Without a Diploma

At school he met Jada Pinkett, who studied acting and dance there and graduated in 1989. The two became close friends, and Tupac wrote poems about her. The friendship lasted until his death; more on this on the page about Jada Pinkett. He himself left Baltimore in the summer of 1988 with his family for Marin City, without graduating in Baltimore.

Part of School History, but No Mascot

The school has never stopped counting Tupac as part of its history, without turning him into a mascot. A few dates show this:

Public Arts School, Not a Museum (as of October 2026)

The school continues to operate as a public arts school at the same address. The theater department is divided into acting and stage design/production; there is a black-box theater, a recital hall, and a larger stage. The Hollywood dance film drama Step Up (2006) set its story in a fictionalized version of the school. A Tupac memorial site such as a mural or plaque is not documented in the available sources; the building is a school, not a museum, and not a destination for fan visits.

The poems and songs of these years are collected on the page Poetry, Shakespeare, Theater; that page also explains how his stage experience fed into films like Juice and Poetic Justice.