Philadelphia’s University of the Arts Closes Suddenly, Shocking Students and Supporters

Philadelphia’s University of the Arts Closes Suddenly, Shocking Students and Supporters

The school had experienced a massive drop in enrollment over the years and would have needed a huge amount of cash to stay open.

The Art Newspaper reports:

Philadelphia’s University of the Arts suddenly closes, prompting president’s resignation, student protests and a class action lawsuit

The sudden closure of the University of the Arts (UArts) has sent shockwaves through the Philadelphia art community and the US arts education field. Outcry over the suddenness of the closure—announced on 31 May, taking effect on 7 June—has led to the resignation of school president Kerry Walk, community protests and a class action lawsuit on behalf of former employees.

UArts, a 150-year-old institution boasting programmes that ranged from theater to game art, has produced a number of notable alumni, including the painters Charles Sheeler and Bo Bartlett, conceptual artist Alex da Corte, photographer Irving Penn and the graffiti artist and muralist Steve Powers. The school reported a total enrollment of 1,149 students for the 2023-24 school year, down nearly 2,000 students from the previous decade.

In its 31 May announcement, the institution cited a “fragile financial state” brought on by factors including “declining enrollments, declining revenues and increasing expenses”. One trustee told The Philadelphia Inquirer that it would have taken around $40m to “save” the university. (Many UArts students and staff allegedly found out about the closure through the Inquirer’s initial report rather than administrative communications.)

University leaders’ sudden announcement and fleeting responses to inquiries have left many community members feeling jilted. Union officials told The New York Times that a promised meeting to start layoff negotiations with the school’s around 450 employees was cancelled on 4 June, a parallel experience to that of former students who learned that a town hall meeting scheduled for 3 June would not actually take place. Reeling from the news, hundreds of students, parents and former faculty have responded to university administrators’ decisions with protests and demonstrations starting on 2 June. (In February, after more than two years of negotiations, unioinised UArts employees had reached a tentative contract agreement with administrators, averting a then-imminent strike.)

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