‘WE WANT TO BE HEARD’

GRADUATE

One of the main reasons I have even half the opportunities I do now is because of my connections at UArts through other students and faculty. There was a big emphasis on collaboration throughout the different majors/studies at UArts, and that’s something you get to see even after graduating from there. It is gravely disappointing to see younger artists robbed of that opportunity. Philly as a whole is a creative city. To see the community lose a pillar of what helps to facilitate those connections is extremely devastating. Although the school will be gone, the spirit of the students and faculty lives on. My hope is that the community and network we’ve been able to build as alumni and faculty is something we will be able to use as a safety net for students who are struggling to find their next steps.

If we look back in history, most art movements were made as an act of rebellion against what was happening at the time or as commentary on injustice. Visual arts, performing arts, music arts, and every form you can think of are all incredibly powerful tools in connecting people worldwide.

I think it’s easy for artists right now to feel a little helpless, especially when we see the institutions that facilitate growth and community start to fall apart. I also think that right now is the time where we need to band together more than any. The more these things try to pull us apart or stomp out the creativity of these artists, the more it will fuel the fire.

STUDENT

In January, I created a piece to go alongside Jax Siminerio’s short story, “Bottle of Swine.” The illustration junior class voted it to be published alongside the story in the UArts publication Underground Pool. When my piece won, my peers pointed out my growth in skill and range in what I was able to create. I felt incredibly valued and loved, but more than anything, I felt like my hard work was being seen.

I had 12 credits left to graduate, only nine if I dropped my minor. I have no idea where to transfer to, or where to live. My friends are having to consider breaking leases they renewed only months ago. It’s a nightmare.

RECENT GRADUATE

While I’m in a better position than current students and faculty, I’m losing access to the career services program, which I was relying on to find work in my field.

I don’t want people to feel like the arts in America are failing, or are less of a priority. There is a lot of uncertainty and unrest in the world today, and it’s in times like this where the arts are critically important.

STUDENT

With the closure of UArts and the recent closures of DCAD and PAFA, I do have some fear and uncertainty as to what the future of the arts in the U.S. will look like. But as long as there are people on this earth, the arts will never be truly gone. We should not let institutions hinder our creative abilities and voices.

I am very scared, frustrated and unsure, but I am not giving up on my education. I am in the process of looking at schools to transfer to so I can continue my education and graduate on time.

RECENT GRADUATE

Of course I worry about what this means for the arts as a whole. It’s scary. But creatives are built to adapt. It’s human. Art changes and guides the world, so there will just be new solutions to these issues that we haven’t come up with yet.

I’m numb. My time at the University of the Arts made me who I am today, it feels like a piece of me is gone.

FACULTY & GRADUATE

The school shaped me not just as an artist, but a human. I mean that. I came in as a transfer student from a liberal arts college in North Carolina seeking “more”. I wanted a community of artists, a creative direction, and environment that felt uniquely alive. Not only did I get exactly the education I had hoped for, but my eyes were opened to the world: how people come in all forms, how creativity is a superpower, how being different is a feature, not a bug.

My feelings [now] are anger first. You don't “oopsie” your way into a $40 million dollar problem. Those in charge didn’t actually believe in UArts or understand its importance, necessity to people. Those people are not UArts. The teachers, the students, the staff — they are UArts!

RECENT GRADUATE

One recent memory that stood out from the rest was my graduation ceremony; I loved celebrating the artistic and academic accomplishments of my peers.

I’m fortunate to have graduated on May 16th, but that doesn’t mean I’m not grieving the loss of a clear future for other students and faculty. The damage caused by the administration is insurmountable.

The Arts encourage empathy and openness to different perspectives, which are two things that this country as a whole desperately needs more of. The Arts are about serving and supporting others, but now I feel that we as artists are not being supported in return.

RECENT GRADUATE

I am saddened by the school’s closure, but I am still angry on behalf of the students who are now without a school and the faculty and staff who are now without a job. I cannot imagine their grief and frustration.

Even with UArts’ closure, I still believe that the arts in America will continue strong. Creativity will always find a way to persist no matter what adversity is thrown its way. While online resources are amazing, nothing will ever beat having a community of artists banding together in-person to create something amazing.

STUDENT

I think [the closure] means that the arts are starting to realize that they don’t need to be bound by the education system in order to prove their worth in this world we live in. Cause I remember at a point in time prior, that the arts were trying to prove why they’re just as important as the rest of STEM. And they are without a doubt, but I feel like people should do their own thing instead of giving these big institutions all this money, only to have things like this happen.

I’m honestly just disappointed and a bit demoralized. I feel like I’m in a deadlock by being so close and yet so far. As a rising senior with only 9 credits left, I was really looking forward to the UArts illustration senior thesis show (aka The Ely).

I believe that those artists [affected by the closure], myself included, will persevere and continue to thrive and enhance Philadelphia’s art community, making it stronger. UArts might have won the battle, but the artists and the Philadelphia art community will win this war and continue to thrive!

STUDENT

This whole week has felt like being in the ocean but you’re too busy looking back at the shore to notice a hung wave gearing up to push you down and wrap you into the undercurrents. I will never regret my decision to come here. The connections I have made here will last far longer than the name of a once great institution.

My senior year will be filled with hardships I could not have prepared for. I have to look for internships for the fall, a job to support me through summer, and a school that can match the passion and love that UArts offers.

The class I learned the most about UArts was my History of Illustration course I took in the fall with Tom Leonard. We discussed the school’s history. How it was the first school in the United States to even offer Illustration as a major. In that class Tom made us laugh, but he also made us think. Think about how our work was part of a longer tradition of artists and creatives who came before. How the world impacts us, and how our art impacts the world.

STUDENT

Participating in the art markets run by the Traditional Media Club are some of the best memories I have of UArts.

I know I will be ok, and continue to strive at another university. My future is no longer a straight path, I’m now forced to find a university that has a program that is equal to or better than UArt’s Illustration Program. I’m scared that I won’t get the same opportunities my senior year as a transfer student and will no longer have the connections that I spent the last 3 years making once I transfer.

FACULTY

One fond memory I have as a faculty member occurred during a library tour. The UArts library is an amazing resource for art books so I took my Animation students down there to research materials for their films. I remember how the librarians took extra care to make the tour enjoyable and even took us downstairs to this cool underground giant vault room. It was a place that looked straight out of a movie, and it was something the students had access to as members of the UArts community. I couldn’t help but feel giddy at how amazing the UArts resources were for students and faculty alike.

It feels like the whole city is being shaken by loss after loss of cultural touchstones, with the loss of PAFA and the possible loss of Chinatown to that basketball stadium. Is it really the Avenue of the Arts if the Arts are not there?

STUDENT

[My best memory] happened a few weeks ago. I attended Liftoff, an exhibition for the School of Design, where I got to laugh and talk with my professors and friends. We were all so happy that night, talking about what would happen next year and the opportunities we'd have as seniors.

I think [the closure] is a blatant erasure of the art culture in Center City. This school has such a rich history, and to have it taken away all of the sudden feels like a punch in the gut.

I’m heartbroken and afraid. UArts is my home, and now I have to suddenly go to this new school. I feel like a freshman again, scared and alone.