The University of the Arts


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The University of the Arts (UArts) is unique among the nation’s leading colleges and universities. Located in Center City Philadelphia, UArts is the only school in the country devoted to all the arts and communication. Composed of the College of Art and Design, the College of Performing Arts, and the College of Media and Communication, UArts offers intensive concentration within each major as well as other creative opportunities for further artistic exploration and growth.

More than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students from forty states and thirty countries are enrolled. UArts educates professional artists, performers, and communicators—people who make their living creating, designing, communicating, and performing. The active Internship Program offers students opportunities to gain hands-on experience in their field during the academic year.

The College of Art and Design offers a full range of programs in the visual arts. It includes dynamic programs in animation, crafts, film/animation, film/digital video, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, painting/drawing, photography, printmaking/book arts, and sculpture. These programs share both exceptionally high standards and a supportive, personal environment to explore and grow as a creative individual.

The College of Performing Arts combines both the exhilaration of performance and the diligent commitment to practice and rehearsal to sharpen technique and shape vision. It includes the Schools of Dance, Music, and Theater Arts. The College offers outstanding opportunities to perform as well as the chance to grow as an artist through rigorous training.

The College of Media and Communications explores new ideas and concepts in a changing world. Video games, the Internet, CD-ROM technology, interactive television, and virtual reality are just a few examples of the emerging forms that are featured in the challenging and exciting curriculum. Offering majors in writing for film and television, multimedia, and communication, the College celebrates the interdisciplinary nature of these new forms of creative expression. Now, students who want to learn more about media and communication before choosing a major can enroll in the UArts Discovery Year, giving them time to explore where their passions lie.

Program Facilities

UArts offers excellent facilities to support all of its programs in an environment rich with opportunities to encounter art and artistic inspiration. The studios, shops, theaters, recital halls, labs, galleries, and libraries are housed nearby in Hamilton Hall, the Terra Building, the Merriam Theater, the Arts Bank, and Anderson Hall, the nine-story studio building.

The facilities in the College of Art and Design include a broad range of studios and equipment: woodworking and metal shops, including a foundry; printmaking shops and digital pre-press labs; fine arts, crafts, design, and film/animation studios; and digital imaging labs. Four gas and several electric kilns are available for work in ceramics, as is a forge for sculpture. A large weaving shop offers dozens of looms and a dyeing room. Facilities supporting work in film, video, photography, and animation are extensive and first-class. UArts is one of the first academic institutions to acquire a 3-D printer and scanner for student use. It is used primarily by industrial design and jewelry design students to develop mock-ups of their ideas faster and less expensively than the traditional way of hand molding wax or foam.

The School of Dance offers a rigorous studio experience, and its home is the newly renovated Terra Building. Dance studios are bright, well-lit, and fully equipped with barres and mirrors, responsive suspension floors, beautiful windows, ceiling fans, pianos, and audio systems. Visiting artists, including Mikhail Baryshnikov and members of the Twyla Tharp Company, teach master classes and meet informally with students. In addition to the 1,600-seat Merriam Theater, student performances are held in the 240-seat UArts Dance Theater. The Alfred M. Greenfield Library houses an extensive collection of dance books and videotapes.

The School of Music at UArts has three big bands, thirty-five small jazz ensembles, seven vocal ensembles, and ten traditional ensembles. In addition to performance opportunities in recital halls and theaters, facilities include fully equipped music studios, practice rooms, and a class piano laboratory. The MIDI and Recording Studio is a modern recording and music technology facility with a complete 32-input recording studio, MIDI and computer labs, computer and synthesizer workstation labs, and an audio-for-video dubbing and editing room. Most practice rooms are equipped with grand pianos, and a suite of fully equipped percussion studios is also available for student practice.

Students in the College of Media and Communication have ready access to state-of-the-art audio and video systems; highly portable equipment; preproduction and postproduction studios; PC-, Mac-, and UNIX-based systems; and industry-standard software used for audio, video, and Web work. The College supports a student-run Webzine and Web radio and hosts a number of student- and alumni-produced Web sites. UArts is a member of the New Media Centers (NMC), an organization of leading universities and corporations dedicated to innovative uses of technology.

Faculty, Residential Artists, and Alumni

Numbering 476 full- and part-time members, the faculty is the driving force of the UArts programs. They are practicing professionals, most with advanced degrees, who are committed to both their own creative expression and the development of their students. The student-faculty ratio is 10:1, so students can be assured of individual attention and guidance.

Visiting artists have included these fine professionals: dance: Suzanne Farrell, Edward Villelo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Donna McKechnie, Oleg Eriansky, Gabriella Darvash, James Truitt, Meredith Monk, and Ronnie Favors; music: Andre Watts, Jack Elliott, Wynton Marsalis, Pierre Boulez, Billy Joel, George Crumb, Eddie Gomez, Placido Domingo, Klaus Tennstedt, Ricardo Muti, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Peter Erskine, and Stanley Clarke; and theater: Elizabeth Ashley, Laurie Anderson, Tommy Hicks, and David Henry Hwang.

Proud alumni include Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Michael Ludwig, Alvin Ailey Dance member Antonio Carlos Scott, artist Sidney Goodman, Tony Award–nominated dancer/actress Rhonda LaChanze Sapp, illustrator Arnold Roth, jazz artist/composer Stanley Clarke, director Joe Dante, illustrator Charles Santore, dancer/choreographer Judith Jamison, actress Irene Bodard, concert pianist Lydia Artymiw, children’s book authors/illustrators Jan and Stan Berenstain, and the Quay Brothers.

Student Performance/Exhibit Opportunities

Events include exhibitions in UArts galleries, ensemble productions, student composition concerts featuring original choreography, repertory concerts, an annual freshmen inter-arts project, recitals, and appearances with visiting artists.

Special Programs

Programs include student exchanges with other schools and colleges, foreign and summer studies, pre-College Summer Institute for talented and motivated high school students, career planning and placement, personal counseling, academic support, professional and peer tutoring, services for students with disabilities, and international student services. Students in the UArts Colleges of Performing Arts and Media and Communication benefit from an exciting partnership with the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) in England. Initiatives between the schools include class-abroad opportunities, student exchanges, recordings, performance workshops, and joint master’s degree programs.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: continuous. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: September 1. Required: essay, 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: minimum 3.0 high school GPA, interview. Auditions held 1 time. Portfolio reviews held continuously by appointment on campus and off campus in National Portfolio Days; the submission of slides may be substituted for portfolios when distance is prohibitive.

Contact

Susan Gandy, Director of Admission, The University of the Arts, 320 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102; 800-616-ARTS ext. 6049, fax: 215-717-6045.