The director of a small career academy of the arts in a public high school reflects on the conflicting demands to establish a college-preparatory program adhering to state standards and to facilitate the personal growth, artistic discovery, and democratic empowerment of teens. By narrating experiences that go to the heart of philosophical discord, the author reveals the schisms between interest-based and compulsory learning among students, teachers, and administration that threaten the program's continuance. Questioning the evolution of the academy, teachers' readiness to participate in a democratic arts community, and the director's contradictory role as an advocate for both innovative student-centered learning and traditional academic achievement does not diminish the positive contributions the arts academy had made on the lives of participating students, the overall high school, and the local community. (Contains 1 footnote.)