Charles Burrell Visual & Performing Arts Magnet celebrates $20 million renovation to campus

At the Charles Burrell Visual & Performing Arts Campus, students are being prepared to pursue creative careers and college degrees. APS welcomed families Wednesday to celebrate the new $20 million renovation.

Burrell Arts first opened to students in the fall of 2022. It's Aurora's only rigorous, arts-integrated education for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. 

Students of the arts magnet school can take advantage of state-of-the-art lab and learning spaces. 

Freshmen like Nilaja'nai Lloyd are singing with excitement. 

"We're getting a studio soon in one of our classrooms," Lloyd said. "I get an experience I wouldn't have at any other public school and I get to use instruments and record things that I would not have been able to record somewhere else." 

Charles Burrell Visual & Performing Arts Campus is located inside Aurora Central High School. 

They call Burrell the "Jackie Robinson of Classical Music." He was the first Black member of a major American symphony orchestra. 

The 103-year-old musician joined families to celebrate the renovation. 

"Humble isn't the word for it. I'm flabbergasted," Burrell said. "Without music, you don't really have a society. You have a bunch of clowns." 

Students now have a digital music lab and a newly renovated media center and maker space, a collaborative and creative space for hands-on learning. 

Burrell says he's proud the school carries his name. 

"It makes an old man cry. It's beautiful," Burrell said. 

The Burrell K-8 school is located in the former Peoria Elementary building. 

The renovations were made possible by a $300 million bond voters approved back in 2016.