Miami Northwestern Senior High School's Performing and Visual Arts Center has changed since it was created more than 20 years ago.

Then, young aspiring artists blinded by dreams of stardom flocked from all over to attend the only public performing arts magnet school in Miami-Dade.

Over the years, performance magnet programs emerged at other Miami-Dade public schools, luring students away from the Liberty City program. PAVAC seemed to have lost some of its luster.

But even with decreased enrollment, PAVAC continues to showcase students at concerts, field trips to New York and trips abroad to Scotland. The organization continues to turn out talent who appear on Broadway and attend top performing arts universities, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and other prestigious companies in the arts world.

Coping with an unremarkable academic record at the school and recent budget cuts, PAVAC continues to thrive in part because of help from the community and a dash of thriftiness by teachers and students.

Students predominantly come from the Liberty City area and sections of Miami Gardens and unincorporated North Dade. Since the program no longer offers school transportation, it is difficult to draw students who do not live in the surrounding areas.

The program's five strands -- dance, chorus, drama, band and visual arts -- rely heavily on donations to acquire supplies and raise enough money for field trips and activities.

``We believe in 100 percent sharing and creativity, that's how it works down here,'' said Benny Bolden, PAVAC's lead teacher and band director.

Drama and dance students fashion costumes out of old clothes and thrift store finds, adding embellishments or deconstructing elaborate pieces.

Inside the visual and fine arts classroom, bamboo, leaves and branches are recycled from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Students like Kyntoya Hansford, 17, bring in recovered finds from around the school or their own backyards.

A recent donation by Nat King Cole Generation Hope, a nonprofit founded by the jazz great's twin daughters Timolin and Casey Cole to help school music programs with the fewest resources, added 25 shiny new instruments to the band's cache.

Brianna Clark, 15, an alto saxophone player said she was very excited about the new additions among the ``old bent and scratched up instruments.''

``It wasn't always like this,'' said Ruth Admire, PAVAC's fine arts instructor.

Northwestern has struggled academically, notably since the implementation of the Florida Comprehensive Assesment Test. The school is one of 13 F-rated schools in Miami-Dade. In the past four years, Northwestern has alternated between Ds and Fs.

``We have a wonderful program, but the truth is parents do not want to send their children to an `F' school,'' said Charlette Seward, PAVAC drama and chorus instructor.

``We've seen some parents pull their kids out or they say they won't let the kids come to the school even though they like PAVAC.''

Admire said the arts have received limited resources in part because of an overall shift in focus on core subjects such as reading, math and science.

What used to be an art gallery and PAVAC's main office near the main entrance of the school is now a college recruitment center.

A moratorium placed by Principal Charles Hankerson Sr. nearly three years ago bans field trips from September through March during school hours with few exceptions until after FCAT testing.

PAVAC teachers have had to come up with alternate means to expose students to outside programs such as online virtual tours of museums, after school or weekend field trips and performances.

``In order to be in PAVAC you have to maintain a certain GPA. These are not the kids necessarily failing the FCAT or doing bad academically, but they're getting the short end of the stick,'' said Traci Young, a PAVAC alumna, former Miami Heat assistant choreographer and current PAVAC dance teacher.

Despite some challenges, Seward said ``the show must go on.''

On a recent afternoon, inside the drama room, Gemer Ellis strutted across the floor thrusting her hips and spinning in her heels during rehearsal.

Clad in a sparkling refurbished costume, the self-described plus-size actress imitated comedian Monique in a spoof about PHAT (Pretty Hot and Tempting) girls versus R&B songstress Beyonce.

``We might not have a lot of money, but we make it work because we have passion for what we're doing, for the arts,'' Ellis said.

A sign of a real artist, Seward said.

``It takes a true artist who doesn't have anything to make something, and we do that here.''

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