University of the Arts (Philadelphia)

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.
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.
History
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." 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. 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.
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.
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.
Notable alumni
Julian Abele, architect
Richard Amsel, illustrator, recipient of 2009 UArts "Silver Star Alumni Award"
Maxwell Atoms, animator, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Katie Baldwin, artist
Bo Bartlett, contemporary realist painter
Bascove, painter and illustrator
Irene Bedard, actress, voice of Pocahontas
Howard Benson, rock music producer, Grammy Award winner
Stan and Jan Berenstain, authors and illustrators, The Berenstain Bears
Melanie Bilenker, craft artist
Adam Blackstone, bassist, music director Grammy Award winner
Marc Blitzstein, composer
Helen Borten, author-illustrator and broadcast journalist
Aliki Brandenberg, author and illustrator
Bryan Brinkman, cartoon animator
Samuel Joseph Brown Jr., artist, educator
Victoria Burge, printmaker, draftsperson
Du Chisiza, Malawian author, playwright, producer, and Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture
Claude Clark, artist, art educator
Stanley Clarke, jazz bassist, Emmy Award and Grammy Award winner
Emory Cohen, actor, Brooklyn
Gil Cohen, aviation artist
Cecelia Condit, video artist
Rachel Constantine, painter
Christine Coppa, writer
Stephen Costello, tenor, Metropolitan Opera
Alex da Corte, artist
Joe Dante, film director, Gremlins, The 'Burbs
Linh Dinh, poet
Irv Docktor, artist and illustrator
Heather Donahue, actress, The Blair Witch Project
James Doolin, saturated photo realist painter
George Meade Easby, great-grandson of George Meade and a noted art and antique collector
Wendy Edwards, painter
Heather Mae Erickson, artist
Wharton Esherick, craftsman, printmaker
Robin Eubanks, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, Grammy Award winner
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, artist
Paul Felder, acting (2008), professional MMA fighter with the UFC
Kate Flannery, actress, The Office
Charles Fracé, wildlife painter
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, sculptor
Cheryl Goldsleger, contemporary painter
Sidney Goodman, painter
David Graham, noted photographer of the American landscape
Justin Guarini, Runner-up on the first season of American Idol
Roger Hane, book illustrator
Marshall Harris, photorealist, sculptor and retired professional football player
Natalie Hinderas, professor, pianist and composer
Frances Tipton Hunter, artist and illustrator
Judith Jamison, dancer and choreographer, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and American Ballet Theatre
Carlton Jones Lake, conductor and choirmaster
Ryan Kattner (aka Honus Honus), musician and songwriter Man Man and Mister Heavenly, actor, screenwriter
Mohammed Kazem, conceptual artist
Elle King, singer and songwriter, author of Ex's & Oh's
Harold Knerr, cartoonist and illustrator for The Katzenjammer Kids
LaChanze, Broadway actress, Tony Award winner, (The Color Purple)
Jacob Landau, painter, printmaker, illustrator
Courtney Lapresi, dancer, MasterChef (season 5) contestant & winner.
Jared Leto, Actor (transferred)
Amy Mathews, Australian actress on soap opera, Home and Away
Matt McAndrew, singer and musician, The Voice (U.S. season 7) contestant
John Mecray, American realism painter
Joseph Menna, sculptor and engraver
Katherine Milhous, artist/illustrator, Caldecott Medal winner
Frank Modell (1917–2016), cartoonist
Ana Ortiz, actress, Ugly Betty & Devious Maids
Emi Ozawa, artist
Leslie Parrish, actress, activist, environmentalist, writer, and producer
Irving Penn, celebrity portraitist and fashion photographer
Flo Perkins, glass artist
Vincent Persichetti, composer, Juilliard professor
Steve Powers, graffiti artist. Known as ESPO. Painted "Love letter for you" murals in Philadelphia
Brothers Quay, Timothy and Steven, stop-motion illustrators and filmmakers
Florence Quivar, mezzo-soprano opera singer, Metropolitan Opera
Ron Richardson, singer, Tony Award winner—Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Big River).
James Rolfe, creator, The Angry Video Game Nerd
Arlen Roth, Guitarist, performer, author, teacher.
Arnold Roth, cartoonist
Charles Santore, illustrator
Cal Schenkel, illustrator and graphic designer, Frank Zappa collaborator
Richard Schultz, furniture designer
Lucas Steele, Broadway performer famously known for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Serpentwithfeet, singer
Miriam Tindall Smith, painter, muralist, theatrical designer
KaDee Strickland, actress, The Grudge. 2006 UArts’ "Silver Star Alumni Award"
Nicole Tranquillo, vocalist, American Idol (season 6) contestant
Constance Walton, composer
Helen L. Weiss, composer
Samuel Yellin, blacksmith, sculptor and teacher
Notable faculty
Edna Andrade (1917–2008), American geometric abstract painter and early Op Artist, 1996 recipient of the College Art Association Distinguished Teaching of Art Award for her three decades of teaching at Philadelphia College of Art
Alexey Brodovitch (1930–1940), photographer, designer, art director
Gil Cohen, aviation artist
William Daley (born 1925), American ceramist, professor from 1957 until 1990.
Aaron Levinson, Grammy Award-winning producer and musician
Camille Paglia (born 1947), author and feminist social critic
Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987), composer
Ralph Peterson (1962-2021), jazz drummer
LaVaughn Robinson (1927–2008), professor from 1980 to 2008, American tap dancer, recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as a "Living National Treasure"
Lizbeth Stewart (1948–2013), American ceramist
Samuel Yellin (1884-1940), master blacksmith
See also
Arts education
References
External links
Art schools in Pennsylvania
Universities and colleges established in 1870
Educational institutions established in 1876
Educational institutions established in 1985
Performing arts education in the United States
Universities and colleges in Philadelphia
Market East, Philadelphia
Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia
Dance schools in the United States
Performing arts in Pennsylvania
1870 establishments in Pennsylvania
1876 establishments in Pennsylvania
1985 establishments in Pennsylvania
John Haviland buildings
University of the Arts
Glassmaking schools