(upbeat music) - It is all about arts education.

They can take anything from film to photography to graphic design to screen printing, mixed media, music production.

(upbeat music) In 2012, Studio 345 was started by the Arts and Science Council.

It's a free program for high school students that live in Charlotte Mecklenburg.

We serve about 22 different high schools and so in 2020, we became a program of Arts Plus.

- Oh Arts Plus is a 55-year plus.

I mean it was founded in 1969 out of First Presbyterian Church in Uptown Charlotte.

It was its own non-profit from the beginning so it wasn't a church program and so they partnered with Charlotte Mecklenburg schools and from 200 applications, chose 20 students and it grew from four instructors and 20 students in 1969, to we contract with over 70 artists and serve close to 5,000 students in the community.

(upbeat music) - All the faculty that work with the studio are professional artists.

They're great with the students.

They have a passion for sharing what they know.

So they understand like I love photography, I'm a photographer and I want to share this passion with the students.

It also gives the students an option to see what a career is like in film or photography or digital art.

And a lot of students come here and they're like, "I never knew."

- I finished Studio in 2019, which is when I graduated and then I went to college and when I graduated from that, I returned as a teacher.

At first, I was very nervous because it was so new, but being here in Studio taught me that I really like teaching.

I just learned that I love seeing them have those "aha" moments and getting to help them and teach them the little tricks that I learned when I was their age.

(upbeat music) - The film class, traditionally, they start from the very beginning of learning how to build characters, make their own storyline, film it, edit, act, all of it.

They, right now, just finished writing all their scripts and they're filming their short films.

(eerie music) (buttons beeping) The film class tends to make a lot of horror-based movies, so I think they kind of reflect on things that they like to watch.

So we try to like pull as much as we can out of telling stories that have a well-rounded plot to it.

(upbeat music) - I arrived to the US in December last year.

They come to our school and present a program to us.

I run to sign up because like my dream is to become an actress and I thought that this would be a pretty helpful experience to help me introduce into that world.

- It's so amazing to see someone develop their creative passion in front of you.

You get to see it, you get to see the joy.

You teach them something and they go, "Oh I can do that.

And I get to control that."

- Not everyone is an arts person, but I feel that arts actually shapes our way of seeing the world and thinking.

(upbeat groovy music) - Biggest part that I love about this environment is that it is just so friendly and we have such a community.

That's what I liked about it when I was in Studio.

- It's a family, it's not just another class.

It gets you out of routine and gets you to think more and be more aware about everything.