[4] Arnoldo Herrera González, the director of the National Symphony Orchestra, was appointed to run the school in 1950 by the Ministry of Education.
[5][6] On 25 November 1953, the first facilities for the conservatory were completed and were inaugurated in a ceremony attended by President José Figueres; the archbishop of San José, Rubén Odio [es]; the Minister of Education, Uladislao Gámez [es]; and Herrera.
[7] The pedagogical model used by Herrera was one which combined academic, artistic and scientific education to develop students with a life-long passion and critical sense of life, social responsibility and happiness.
[11][12] A new campus was built and the school moved to Barreal de Heredia, in the Ulloa canton, in 1974.
[13] The primary artistic studies available include courses in architecture, dance, folklore, literature, music, painting, sculpture, theater, and audio-visual arts.