University of the Arts Records
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is honored to announce the acquisition of the University of the Arts (UArts) institutional records, ensuring the preservation of nearly 150 years of creative, academic, and cultural history. The acquisition follows the closure of UArts in June 2024, a sudden and painful loss for Philadelphia’s cultural and educational landscape. It is now the single largest collection in HSP’s 200-year history.
The UArts archives include administrative records, such as meeting minutes and accreditation files, exhibition programs, slides, photographs, negatives, A/V materials (cassettes, VHS tapes, CDs, and digital files), architectural drawings, admissions, catalogs, annual reports, and other original creative and scholarly works by students, faculty, staff, visiting artists, and affiliated scholars.
To provide a glimpse into this extraordinary collection, HSP will host a special event on Saturday, November 8, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. HSP warmly invites the University of the Arts community, along with the general public, to reflect and engage with the materials that shaped their experiences.
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Join us for:
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12pm – 4pm expansive, one-day display of items from the UArts archives, including founding documents, institutional records and photographs, art work created by students, faculty, and staff, and archival materials related to other University projects such as galleries. Items from existing HSP collections will also be on display, including noteworthy objects from the founding of the country.
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12pm-4pm Make-and-take art-making with Jim Grilli, UArts graduate in Sculpture
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12pm – 4pm Memory collection art project - opportunity for members of the University of the Arts community—students, alumni, faculty, and staff— to contribute their own stories to the archives.
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12:30pm - Vocal performance with Jillian Patricia Pirtle, UArts graduate in Musical Theater and Operatic Performance and CEO of the Marian Anderson Museum and Historical Society
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1pm & 3pm “The Centennial, The City, The School: The Beginnings of the University of the Arts” with Sara J. MacDonald, former Director for Public Services at the University of the Arts Greenfield Library
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2pm “Collecting The Arts: UArts Records in Context at HSP” with David Brigham, HSP Librarian and CEO
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2:30pm - Flamenco dance performance and demonstration with Anne O’Malley, UArts graduate in Dance, and founder of Flamenco Y Mas International
About the Collection
By the Numbers​
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870 linear feet of material: the most extensive single collection at HSP to date
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643 boxes and 25 flat file drawers filled with records, artwork, and ephemera
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Materials date from circa 1876-2024
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Includes about 400 linear feet of partially processed institutional records and 470 linear feet of unprocessed or underprocessed material
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Professionals moved more than 591 containers, which are now stored at HSP
Examples from the Collection ​
Notable materials include creative works such as graduate theses, student portfolios, and projects from UArts’ renowned photography and book arts programs. Additionally, records and works from the organization’s creative spaces, including the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, the Sol Mednick Gallery, and the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, are present within the collection. These institutional archives also include works of notable artists such as 1939 alum Laura Jean Allen and faculty papers from artist Edna Andrade and Philadelphia Dance Academy founder Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck.
The University of the Arts papers also document the legacy of several foundational institutions, including the Philadelphia Musical Academy (founded in 1870), the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (founded in 1877), the Philadelphia Dance Academy (founded in 1944), and the Philadelphia College of Art, which originated from the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art.​
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​​This acquisition aligns with HSP’s core work of collecting the records of artistic endeavors, complementing dozens of other institutional archives already in its collection, such as the records of the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art), the Plastic Club, the Academy of Music, and the Brandywine Workshop and Archives.
For inquiries regarding the contents, scope, and availability of records, please contact us at uartsarchives@hsp.org. For information about the November 8 events, email programs@hsp.org. For all press inquiries, contact Wendi Sheridan at En Route Marketing.
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Images on this page: Craft Program senior thesis exhibits, 2010; University of the Arts records prepared to be moved by professional movers from UArts to HSP, spring 2025; photograph of Nadia Chilkovsky Nahumck, founder of the Philadelphia Dance Academy, undated; Laura Jean Allen - drafts of New Yorker covers.