The New Mexico School for the Arts opened the doors of its new building in the old Sanbusco shopping center Monday for the first day of school. Head of School Eric Crites tells SFR the new campus will allow the school to expand, both in the number of students it serves and the kinds of classes it is able to offer.

“I’ve been with the school since having our own permanent campus like this was just a dream,” says Crites. “We’ve been working towards a permanent location since before the school even opened. Before, we had to make our curriculum fit into a 1948 elementary school that was not designed to meet the needs of an art school and barely had room for all of our students. Now, we have a building that is specifically designed for our dual-curriculum and really gives us room to grow.”