The ground-breaking for CalArts ' current campus took place May 3 , 1969 . However , construction of the new campus was hampered by torrential rains , labor troubles and the earthquake in 1971 . CalArts moved to its present campus in the Valencia section of the city of Santa Clarita , California in November 1971 . From the beginning , CalArts was plagued by the tensions between its art and trade school functions as well as between the non-commercial aspirations of the students and faculty and the conservative interests of the Disney family and trustees . The founding board of trustees originally planned on creating CalArts as a school in an entertainment complex , a destination like Disneyland , and a feeder school for the industry . Such a model is exemplified in the 1941 Disney film '' The Reluctant Dragon '' . In an ironic turn of fate , they appointed Robert W. Corrigan as the first president of the Institute
earthquake in 1971
1971 San Fernando earthquake
California Institute of the Arts