PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Nearly 150 years of the academic and cultural history of the shuttered University of the Arts will be preserved by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
This massive collection fills 643 archival cartons and 25 flat files, an estimated 1,000 linear feet. Historical Society CEO David Brigham said it will take at least two years to analyze.
The records include documents about the administration and founding of UArts in 1876, as well as the split into the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Philadelphia College of Art.
“There are records by very accomplished alumni like Edna Andrade and Jack Lewis. Edna was a visual artist; Jack was a fashion designer. It really runs a very wide spectrum. There are also media files in all kinds of formats, you know, on various kinds of tape and digital formats,” Brigham said.
The Historical Society will hold an open house on Nov. 8, where a selection of the documents will be presented. Brigham hopes this will bring a sense of closure to those who experienced the school’s sudden shutdown in June 2024. There will also be a segment where members of the UArts community can record a memory.
“It's a chance to heal and celebrate all the things that UArts and the artists associated with it accomplished over a century and a half. I hope it will also provide a moment of reflection for those of us who do care about the arts,” Brigham said.
The Historical Society has secured an initial $50,000 gift toward an estimated $500,000 need for preserving the collection.