University of the Arts (Philadelphia)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

University of the Arts
Established:	1985, 1877, 1870
Faculty:	114 full time, 420 part time
Students:	2,300
Location:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Campus:	Urban
Colors:	Purple, red, & green
Website:	http://www.uarts.edu

The University of the Arts (UArts) is one of the nation’s oldest universities dedicated to the arts. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. The University is composed of three colleges: the College of Art and Design, the College of Performing Arts and the College of Media and Communication.

[edit] History

The University was created in 1985 by the merger of the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (PCPA) and the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), two schools that trace their origins to the 1870s.

In 1870, the Philadelphia Musical Academy (PMA) was created. Seven years later, the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (PCM) was founded. In 1944, the Children's Dance Theatre, later known as the Philadelphia Dance Academy (PDA), was founded by Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck. In 1962, the PCM was merged into the PMA. In 1976, the PMA acquired the PDA and renamed itself the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts (PCPA). 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.

In 1876, the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (PaMSIA) was founded as both a museum and an 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 College of Art (PCA). This institution is now the College of Art and Design.

Twelve years after the merger, in 1997, the University added a third academic division, the College of Media and Communication.

[edit] Academics

Undergraduate students take two-thirds of their classes from one of the three component colleges of UArts and one-third of their classes from the Division of Liberal Arts. Graduate students work within one of the colleges. Under an exchange agreement, 10 students may take classes at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

[edit] College of Performing Arts

• Majors: Dance, Music, and Theater Arts
• Minors: Musical Theatre, Music Education, and E-Music
• Graduate programs: Jazz Studies, Music Education

[edit] College of Art and Design

• Majors: Animation, Crafts, Film/Animation, Film/Digital Video, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Metal/Jewelry Arts, Painting/Drawing. Photography, Printmaking/Book Arts and Sculpture
• Minors: Animation, Book Arts, Figurative Illustration, Film/Digital Video, Narrative Video, Photography, Studio Photography and Typography
• Concentrations: Digital Fine Arts, Art Education Pre-Certification and Art Therapy
• Graduate programs: Art Education/Teaching, Book Arts/Printmaking, Ceramics, Crafts Post-Baccalaureate, Industrial Design, Museum Studies, Painting and Sculpture

[edit] College of Media and Communication

The College of Media and Communication is divided into the following major disciplines: Multimedia, Communication, and Writing for Film & Television.

• Majors: Communication, Multimedia and Writing for Film & Television
• Minors: Documentary Video, E-Music, E-Publishing, Game Design, Information Architecture, Multimedia, Narrative Video, Screenwriting, Strategic Advertising, Web Design, Web Drama

[edit] Facilities and collections

The University's campus, located in Center City Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts cultural district, includes 10 buildings with more than 850,000 square feet.

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 5,000 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 includes one curated by students. Exhibitions have included 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 Poirer, Yvonne Rainer and Andy Warhol.

UArts theaters include the Merriam Theater (1,840 seats), the Levitt Auditorium (seats 850, standing-room-only for up to 1,500), a black box theater, and the Arts Bank (seats 230).

[edit] Notable alumni

• Maxwell Atoms, Animator, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
• Bo Bartlett, Contemporary realist painter.
• Bascove, Painter and illustrator.
• Irene Bedard, Actress, voice of Pocahontas.
• Stan and Jan Berenstain, Authors and illustrators, The Berenstain Bears
• Tallia Brinson, Actress, Rent (Mimi, national tour).
• Ken Carbone and Leslie Smolan, Graphic designers.
• Stanley Clarke, Jazz bassist, Emmy Award and Grammy Award winner.
• Joe Dante, Motion picture director, Gremlins, Space Balls.
• Heather Donahue, Actress, The Blair Witch Project.
• Wharton Esherick, Dean of American Craftsmen.
• David Ewing, Emmy Award and Hugo Award winner.^{[citation needed]}
• Robin Eubanks, Jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, Grammy Award winner.
• Kate Flannery, Actress, The Office.
• Paul Goldberg, Drummer and producer.
• Sidney Goodman, Figurative realist painter and teacher.
• Roger Hane, book illustrator.
• Judith Jamison, Dancer and choreographer, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and American Ballet Theatre.
• Rick Kidney, Producer, Forrest Gump and Goodfellas.
• LaChanze, Broadway actress, Tony Award winner, (The Color Purple).
• Jared Leto, Actor and Musician, My So-Called Life and Fight Club, lead singer of the band 30 Seconds to Mars.
• Noel Mayo, Industrial design pioneer.
• Amy Mathews, Australian actress on soap opera, Home and Away.
• Dr. Sam Micklus, Founder of the Odyssey of the Mind program.
• Phil Nolan, 3D Modeler and Animator.
• Ana Ortiz, Actress, Ugly Betty (Hilda Suarez).
• Irving Penn, Celebrity portraitist and fashion photographer; over 100 covers of Vogue (magazine).
• Brothers Quay, Timothy and Steven, stop-motion illustrators and filmmakers.
• Florence Quivar, Mezzosoprano opera singer, Metropolitan Opera.
• James Rolfe, Internet phenomenon, The Angry Video Game Nerd
• Arnold Roth, Cartoonist.
• Charles Santore, Illustrator and graphic designer.
• Cal Schenkel, Illustrator and graphic designer, Frank Zappa collaborator.
• Jay Smith, Artists and Member of the bandSinch, and inventor of the Viditar (video guitar).
• KaDee Strickland, Actress, The Grudge. 2006 UArts’ “Silver Star Alumni Award.”
• Nicole Tranquillo, Vocalist, American Idol (season 6) contestant.

Vincent Persichetti, American composer

[edit] External links

Philadelphia Portal

• University's Official website
• University of the Arts Name Changes
• University Archives