Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design sets the standard of excellence in educating women for careers in art and design. As the first and only women’s college of the visual arts in the nation, founded in 1848, Moore students enjoy an accessible, supportive small college community and learn from a dedicated faculty of award-winning artists, designers, and scholars.

With 515 students and an 8:1 student-to-faculty member ratio, Moore offers ten Bachelor of Fine Arts majors in art education, art history, curatorial studies, fashion design, fine arts (with 2-D and/or 3-D emphasis), graphic design, illustration, interior design, photography and digital arts, and textile design. Career and leadership skills are emphasized throughout the academic programs, with each major providing extensive career preparation for their respective fields.

The Locks Career Center for Women in the Arts facilitates internships for students to gain practical professional experience. The Locks Career Center also provides a broad range of career resources for students and alumnae, such as one-on-one career counseling, mentoring, job bulletins, and workshops on topics from networking to resume writing.

On-campus leadership organizations provide the chance to learn about and utilize leadership skills, and to develop self-confidence. Leadership fellowship opportunities provide financial support for students to work, either with an individual leader in the arts community or within an innovative organization. Other experiences are available through community service or study abroad.

Moore’s size creates a community experience where students live and learn in a supportive, comfortable environment—one where students from different majors, backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles can learn from each other. The campus includes Sarah Peter Hall, Wilson Hall, Stahl Residence Hall, and Sartain Hall. The main campus includes expansive studios and classrooms, technology centers, two auditoriums, Fox Commons, MAC and PC computer labs, a professional woodshop, ferrous and nonferrous metal workshops, ceramic studios with indoor and outdoor kilns, abundant student exhibition space, two contemporary art galleries, several outdoor courtyards, and the dining café. The Connolly Library’s holdings feature 40,000 monographs, Internet access, 185 art journals, a slide collection of more than 123,000 images, and picture files of 300,000 images.

The support system and friendships formed by living in college housing often help ease first-year students’ transition into the college setting. Approximately 70 percent of first-year students live in College housing, which includes Stahl Residence Hall and Sartain Hall. Other students choose to live off campus. There are numerous apartments in Philadelphia’s neighboring residential areas.

Moore graduates become part of and have access to a broad network of fellow alumnae of accomplished artists, designers, and creative leaders in a wide variety of industries. Among Moore’s notable graduates are fashion designer and business icon Adrienne Vittadini; renowned twentieth-century portraitist Alice Neel; award-winning interior designer Karen Daroff; and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Sharon J. Wohlmuth.

Moore College of Art & Design is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-2680, 215-662-5606. The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation; by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21, Reston, Virginia 20190, 703-437-0700; by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17126-0333, 717-787-5820; and by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (formerly FIDER), 146 Monroe Center NW, #1318, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503-2822, 616-458-0400.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: continuous. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: August 15. Required: high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, minimum 2.0 high school GPA, letter of recommendation, portfolio, SAT I or ACT test scores. Recommended: essay, interview. Auditions held 1 time. Portfolio reviews held continuously on campus and off campus in National Portfolio Days; the submission of slides may be substituted for portfolios when distance is prohibitive.

Moore College of Art & Design

Application Procedures

Undergraduate Contact