University of the Arts (Philadelphia)

University of the Arts (UArts) is a private arts university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. Dating back to the 1870s, it is one of the oldest schools of art or music in the United States.

University of the Arts
University of the Arts
TypePrivate art university
Established1870, 1876, 1985
Endowment$54.1 million (2020)[1]
PresidentKerry Walk
Academic staff
121 full time, 420 part time
Students1,900
Location
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
,
United States

39.946°N 75.166°W / 39.946; -75.166
CampusUrban
Colors  Red
  White
MascotUnicorn
Websitewww.uarts.edu

The university is composed of two colleges and two Divisions: the College of Art, Media & Design; the College of Performing Arts; the Division of Liberal Arts; and the Division of Continuing Studies. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In addition, the School of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.[2]

History
The Dorrance Hamilton Hall in 2013

The university was created in 1985 by a merger between the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts and the Philadelphia College of Art, two schools that trace their origins to the 1870s. In 1870, the Philadelphia Musical Academy was created. In 1877, the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music was founded.

After graduating from South Philadelphia High School in 1921, contralto Marian Anderson applied to the Philadelphia Musical Academy but was turned away because she was "colored."[3] Today the University's School of Music has a black dean, Kevin Haden.

In 1944, the Children's Dance Theatre, later known as the Philadelphia Dance Academy, was established by Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck. In 1962, the Conservatory of Music and the Musical Academy merged, then, in 1976, the combined organization acquired the Dance Academy, and renamed itself the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. After establishing a School of Theater in 1983, the institution became the first performing arts college in Pennsylvania to offer a comprehensive range of majors in music, dance and theater. This institution is now the College of Performing Arts of the University of the Arts.

In 1876, the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art was founded as a museum and art school.

In 1938, the museum changed its name to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the school became the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art.[4] In 1964, the school became independent of the museum and renamed itself the Philadelphia Museum College of Art (PMCA).

In 1985, the Philadelphia Museum College of Art and the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts merged to become the Philadelphia Colleges of the Arts, and gained university status as the University of the Arts in 1987. In 1996, the university added a third academic division, the College of Media and Communication, which merged with the College of Art and Design in 2011 to become the College of Art, Media & Design.

Academics

The University of the Arts' approximately 1,500 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in six schools: Art, Design, Film, Dance, Music, and the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts. In addition, the university offers a PhD in Creativity. The Division of Continuing Studies offers courses through its Continuing Education, Pre-College, Summer Music Studies, and Professional Institute for Educators programs.[5][6]

Facilities and collections

The university's campus, in the Avenue of the Arts cultural district of Center City, Philadelphia, comprises six academic buildings and four residence halls. There are 10 performance venues and 12 exhibition/gallery spaces on campus.[7]

The Albert M. Greenfield Library houses 152,067 bound volumes, 6,936 CDs, 14,901 periodicals, 16,820 scores and 1965 videos and DVDs. The Music Library collection holds about 20,000 scores, 15,000 books, 10,000 LP discs, and 8,000 CDs. The Visual Resources Collection includes 175,000 slides. Additional university collections include the University Archives, the Picture File, the Book Arts and Textile Collections, and the Drawing Resource Center.

UArts' 10 galleries include one curated by students. Exhibitions have included the Quay Brothers, Vito Acconci, R. Crumb, Rosalyn Drexler, April Gornik, Alex Grey, James Hyde, Jon Kessler, Donald Lipski, Robert Motherwell, Stuart Netsky, Irving Penn, Jack Pierson, Anne and Patrick Poirier, Yvonne Rainer, Lenore Tawney and Andy Warhol.

The University of the Arts currently has seven theaters. The Levitt Auditorium in Gershman Hall is the largest on campus with a seating capacity of 850. Also in Gershman Hall is a black box theater used for student-run productions. The university's Arts Bank Theater seats 230, and the Laurie Beechman Cabaret Theater is located in the same building. The university also utilizes the adjacent Drake Theater, primarily for dance productions. The Caplan Center for the Performing Arts, located on the 16 & 17th floor of Terra Hall – which opened in 2007, houses two theaters. Its black box theater seats 100 and a recital hall seats 250.

Polyphone Festival

The annual Polyphone Festival of New and Emerging Music, launched in 2016, focuses on the emerging musical. Composers, librettists, directors, choreographers and music directors are invited to the campus to work with students on developing musicals.[8]

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

See also

References
  1. As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  2. Accreditation.
  3. Alicia Ault. "How Marian Anderson Became an Iconic Symbol for Equality." Smithsonian Magazine, August 14, 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-marian-anderson-became-iconic-symbol-equality-180972898/ See also "Marian Anderson." Brooklyn Museum Website. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/marian_anderson See also "American Experience: Voice of Freedom." Season 33, Episode 2: Marian Anderson
  4. Sixty-second Annual Report of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Year Ended May 31, 1938, with the List of Members, 1938
  5. "UArts Quick Facts". University of the Arts. 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  6. "Academics". University of the Arts. 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  7. "About". University of the Arts. University of the Arts. 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  8. "Polyphone 2021". University of the Arts. 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  9. Adam Blackstone
  10. Blumenthal, Ralph (August 18, 1997). "Radio Documentaries Focus on Overlooked Corners". New York Times – via Proquest.
  11. "Paul Felder". UFC. July 16, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  12. "Sidney Goodman Estate – The official website of the Sidney Goodman Estate". sidneygoodmanestate.com. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  13. "Jared Leto - Biography - Movies & TV - NYTimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  14. Roberts, Sam (May 29, 2016). "Frank Modell, Longtime New Yorker Cartoonist, Dies at 98". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  15. "Archives - Philly.com". articles.philly.com. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  16. "William Daley". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
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