The University of the Arts

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.

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.

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.

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.