LACHSA Foundation Celebrates the John C. Hench Lab

The new design and production lab empowers student artists at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Last Spring, the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) Foundation hosted LACHSA’s administration, student artists, teachers, special guests, and members of The John C. Hench Foundation, for a celebratory ribbon cutting of the new John C. Hench Lab adjacent to Caroline’s L.O.F.T., LACHSA's intimate performance space. LACHSA is a regional public high school for the arts that has been serving student artists across LA County for over 40 years.

With yet another generous investment by The John C. Hench Foundation, the new lab offers state of the art equipment in sound, lighting, and scenic design and a new classroom space for student artists to learn and develop their artistry. The Design and Production program at LACHSA is a Career Technical Education (CTE) program, offering real-world experience, exemplary education, and master class opportunities for LACHSA student artists. The program prepares these student artists to become a part of California’s creative economy – which in the United States, accounts for one in five creative jobs nationwide. As part of their comprehensive public high school education that specializes in the arts, students in LACHSA’s Design and Production program also provide design and technical support to the over 40 performances, film festivals, and exhibitions that the school produces annually. In the program, student artists design sets, program lighting, build scenery, mix sound, solve problems collaboratively, and learn how creative ideas become real experiences – incorporating artistic, technical, and life skills.

Welcoming guests to the ribbon cutting ceremony, LACHSA Foundation’s Board of Trustees President, Jonathan Zager, expressed the Foundation’s gratitude and partnership with The John C. Hench Foundation. The John C. Hench Foundation has made investments through the LACHSA Foundation since 2017 totaling more than $1 million in grants that has furthered artistic excellence at LACHSA.

LACHSA’s Principal Dr. Tina Vartanian shared, “We are grateful for the incredible support of The John C. Hench Foundation. We are so thrilled to see this program grow. I thank all of my faculty for their expertise in nurturing and teaching our students.”

LACHSA’s Technical Director and lead faculty for the program, Liz Czypinski shared her sincere gratitude, “What makes this lab so meaningful is that it gives our students access to professional tools, materials, and technology that allow them to imagine bigger, work more confidently, and prepare for careers in California’s creative industries. It also gives them something equally important: a sense that their work matters.” She continued stating, “Many of our students arrive here already creative, but they leave with the ability to communicate, collaborate, lead teams, and think critically under pressure. They learn resilience. They learn craftsmanship. And they learn that behind every performance, exhibition, or production is a community of artists working together to bring ideas to life. The John C. Hench lab represents opportunity. It tells our students that their creativity is worthy of investment and that their futures are worth building.”

Emery, a senior in the Design and Production Program, also said, “You have not only given us a classroom. You have given us a space where we have laughed, learned, occasionally cried, but most of all, you turned a storage room into my favorite place in the school. In a world that is attacking artists, where young students are often shamed or discouraged from pursuing creativity for something more ‘practical,’ it is comforting to know that there will always be adults that encourage, fight for, and believe in us, and I am so excited to see how this department will continue to grow.”

The John C. Hench Foundation representatives, LACHSA alumni and Trustee Sam Deetjen and Trustee Lisa Henderson, were presented with a sculpture of Toto from “The Wizard of Oz” created by freshman student artist, Giselle. The sculpture was designed and built from found and repurposed materials as a thank you for their generosity. After Deetjen cut the ribbon and welcomed everyone to the John C. Hench Lab, guests had the opportunity to see the inside of the new facility, during which time additional student artists demonstrated new equipment and spoke about their roles in various productions at LACHSA.

Henderson shared about the lab’s namesake and founder of The John C. Hench Foundation, “John C. Hench worked at Disney in the Imagineering Department. He had an amazing career… John was really, really humble.” Deetjen also added, “He wanted to give back to the artists that made him and subsequently make other artists, not for his own pride but because he loved it. And coming here, knowing these people, and now being where I’m at, that’s what we want. And I think that’s exactly what John would have wanted as well.” The John C Hench Foundation is a private foundation established in 1990, and has funded many arts programs not only at LACHSA, but also USC and CalArts, among others.

The LACHSA Foundation is deeply grateful to The John C. Hench Foundation for their incredible partnership, and longstanding belief in the opportunity that LACHSA offers student artists across LA County. Among the guests at the ribbon cutting were current parents, teachers, members of the LACHSA Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc., and VOLT, a leading manufacturer in the lighting industry.

The LACHSA Foundation advances and elevates the arts education at LACHSA and has been supporting the arts training and programming at the school for over 40 years.

To donate to further advance the LACHSA Foundation’s mission and learn more about the Foundation, visit https://lachsafoundation.org/.

Trena Pitchford
LACHSA Foundation
+1 213-266-5341