University of the Arts (Philadelphia)
The
University of the Arts, located in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania,
United States, is comprised of the College of Art and Design, the College of Performing Arts, and the
College of Media and Communication.
Tracing its history back to the founding of the Philadelphia Musical Academy in
1870 and the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art in
1876, the university offers
bachelor's and
master's degrees in various disciplines, including
music,
drama,
design,
screenwriting,
painting,
sculpture,
illustration,
photography,
crafts, and
filmmaking.
The University of the Arts was founded in
1985 as the Philadelphia Colleges of the Arts, via the merger of the Philadelphia College of Art with the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. It adopted its current name in
1987. Both founding institutions could trace their history back over a hundred years.
The
Philadelphia College of Performing Arts began in 1870 as the Philadelphia Musical Academy. Seven years later, the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music was founded, and in
1944,
Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck founded the Children's Dance Theater, later known as the Philadelphia Dance Academy. In
1962, the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music merged with the Philadelphia Musical Academy, keeping the latter's name because their charter was more flexible. The Philadelphia Musical Academy changed its name to the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts in
1976, and one year later, absorbed the Philadelphia Dance Academy.
The
Philadelphia College of Art started as part of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, created in 1876 in conjunction with that year's
Centennial Exposition. Both the school and the museum, founded as one institution, though operating from separate locations, opened to the public in
1877. In
1938, the museum took its current name, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the school became the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. Eleven years later, with the departure of its Textile School (now known as
Philadelphia University), the school changed its name to the Philadelphia Museum School of Art.
1959 saw the school gain accreditation and become the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, and upon its separation from the museum in
1964, it took the name Philadelphia College of Art.
Philadelphia is emerging as a center in the field of book arts, thanks in large part to the innovative Book Arts/Printmaking graduate program at the University of the Arts. Students in the printmaking/book arts program learn to bring visual ideas to reality through the varied processes of multiple image making. These include relief processes, etching, lithography, metal plate, screen printing, and non-silver photographic printmaking. Courses in book and typographic design stimulate the conceptual integration of word and image and sequence in the development of unique works from book structures to installations. The program develops both conceptual and technical skills, features a faculty who are themselves practicing artists, and offers outstanding facilities through the University's Borowsky Center for Publication Arts. Visiting artists and field trips further enrich students' experiences.
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University of the Arts website*
University of the Arts archives
