Leslie Nolte has been a pillar of the Iowa City arts community for decades. Since opening Nolte Academy 25 years ago, she has fostered arts education for dancers and actors after the confines of their normal school hours. With an abundance of students walking through Nolte Academy’s doors every day, Nolte saw a discrepancy. 

“My experience with so many of my students at Nolte Academy, leaving to go to boarding schools, including my own daughter, led me to really understand that we had a great opportunity to do that here, and maybe even do it better than some of the experiences that were had,” Nolte said.

The need for a space for young artists led Nolte, along with other artists and professionals in the area, to create that space.

The Iowa Conservatory for the Performing Arts, or ICON, is a performing arts high school that has been a part of Iowa City for around a year and a half. Opening its doors on Linn Street for the 2023-24 school year, the school was finding its footing in the arts scene at Iowa.

ICON was and still is a passion project, founder Nolte said.

“Our community is, of course, the greatest small city for the arts, and I’d like to also say arts education,” Nolte said.

Over a seven-year period, after finding the right residence halls, staff, and location, ICON was created. The school’s core values of “Caring, Innovating, and Preserving” brought a small batch of students through its doors in its inaugural year and, in its second year, has seen more students joining.

Nolte said students aren’t only coming to ICON for a performing arts education but also a unique high school experience. She said half of the students ICON has brought in have dreams of attending a conservatory or getting a performing arts degree. The other half just want a different high school experience.

Caylon Hull, a second-year at ICON, wanted a little of both worlds.

“I chose ICON because me and my creative dance brain doesn’t necessarily jive with public school brains, because normally they just want to go to school and get it all done,” Hull said.

Hull, who has been a dancer for 11 years, is originally from Creston, Iowa, a town of about 7,400 that is approximately three hours from ICON’s doors. Hull boarded with just one other student during his first year at ICON.

Now in their second year, there are a total of five boarding students. This means Hull lives with another roommate, but he said his parents helped prepare him to live by himself at such a young age.

Being a boarding student for the second year, Hull continues to focus on his future and passion for the arts, specifically dance.

“All of my classes are focused on my future and how I want to develop in the world and with my creativity. And I can express myself so much [more] at the conservatory here at ICON than I can in a public school,” Hull said.

ICON utilizes a combination of Iowa City Community School District online school for basic education classes and a project-based learning curriculum that allows students to explore different facets of the arts. From makeup and hair to lighting, acting, dancing, visual arts, and more, ICON offers many areas of exploration.

“The voice aspect, the backstage, the lighting, how everything is built, is what we are learning here at ICON, and I adore it so much. I was actually able to learn how to use a lighting console last year during our spring musical,” Hull said.

In ICON’s second year, the school has been adapting and adding courses to its course catalog as its student population grows. Although Hull’s primary focus is dance, he has been able to explore different areas at ICON.

“I really love our new class that we added this year. We added photography, and I got into photography during COVID, and it was such a tiny hobby of mine. And I developed a love and a passion for it, and that has been really fun working with our arts teacher,” Hull said.

Nolte and her staff of around 11 have been working in their second year to ensure their curriculum and vision evolve. Parts of the improvements, besides adding courses to their catalog and increasing their student populations, have been more monumental. 

“We’ve certainly grown in our student population. We have kids in their second year now. So, we’ve added classes to our course catalog, and then this coming fall, we will be accredited. So, that’s a big deal in the state of Iowa, as well as within the United States,” Nolte said.

An accreditation in the state of Iowa means ICON would have official school status. According to educate.iowa.gov, schools must meet the standards in Iowa code 256.11 to become accredited.

Not only have faculty been working toward these changes, but Hull, who has believed in the mission since he first stepped into Iowa City, is excited about ICON’s development.

“I’ve noticed a lot of growth and a lot of change with ICON, especially the environment we had. We had a lot of seniors last year, so coming back with the same three students and adding at least six other students was really nice to get to know so many different people,” Hull said.

Although the student population is not what ICON had initially expected in 2022, which was a student population of 150, ICON still houses full-time boarding students, half-day students, gap-year students, and has had new and returning faces to their halls this year.

Hull explained his excitement for the new students joining after many graduated last year.

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“Me being here and until my senior year was just the goal. I’m going to meet so many new faces and so many nice and creative brains along the way, and I’m so excited,” Hull said.

Melia Bohn is currently working at ICON as a student life coach while preparing for an intense audition process ahead of her for musical theater programs. After graduating from Linn Mar High School in 2023, Bohn took a gap year through ICON to find the best fit for her future.

“I have always not felt as confident in my acting, at least before this year, as maybe my singing and dancing, but I have gotten so much more confident in my acting,” Bohn said.

Bohn was able to hone in on a performing arts education and get more clarity on what she wanted to do. Heading into an intense audition process, she reflected on her growth at ICON in the past year.

“They are trying to make it more acclimated to what each student’s major is. So, last year, we were basically doing and are still doing every aspect of the arts. You will just be doing more of your major,” Bohn said.

Nolte understands that gap years might be looked down upon, but with real-life examples like Bohn, Nolte is looking to flip that narrative.

“It’s not traditionally the way it’s done, but we have seen some real success with our gap-year students, and I have a feeling that in our example of the gap-year students, we might even see less changing of major or dropping out,” Nolte said.

With all aspects of ICON being fine-tuned in their second year, the small school is looking to continue providing a new approach to education.

“When you put real faculty members and real students into your idea, there are little changes along the way, of course, but to see it come and move from pretend to real has been pretty fantastic and magical,” Nolte said.