Resources, Spaces & Student Success

UArts offers services, resources and programs to help you succeed, enrich your time at UArts and prepare you for life after graduation. 

Gallery Spaces

You’ll be able to explore the work of visiting artists, both established and emerging, as well as the work of students, faculty, staff and alumni in our 10 gallery spaces. Explore our gallery spaces, and imagine showing your work in them. 

Performance Spaces 

University of the Arts boasts several professional performance venues—including the state-of-the-art Caplan Recital Hall and the adjoining Caplan Studio Theater, Arts Bank proscenium theater, Levitt Auditorium, Beechman cabaret space and YGym Dance Theater—and they’re all available for student performances. You can also see award-winning dance troupes, traveling theater productions and world-class musicians throughout the year. See the performance spaces in which you’ll perform, meet visiting artists and cheer on your classmates.

University Libraries 

Whether you’re a Theater major studying Lorraine Hansberry, a painter exploring the connection of “The Starry Night” to Walt Whitman or a screenwriter researching the Stonewall Uprising, library staff will help you develop your research and information skills and help you find the materials you need.

UArts Libraries’ electronic resources (articles, ebooks, streaming video) are available to enrolled students on or off campus. 

43.	Two people reach for a book on a shelf on a vast library rack, with desks to their left and right.
  • Anderson Hall, First floor 

    The Greenfield Library, UArts’ main library, features books and magazines about art and design, music, dance, theater, film and media arts, as well as more general subjects. The library has large collections of contemporary, classical and musical theater sheet music; museum and gallery exhibition catalogs; graphic novels and illustrated books; and a large vinyl record collection, all available to be borrowed. Greenfield Library also offers printing, computer stations, phone and laptop chargers, and lots of space for studying. Visit University Libraries online, and check out UArts’ collection

  • Anderson Hall, Mezzanine level

    The VRSC houses UArts’ Special Collections, including rare books, the Book Arts collection of artists’ books, a zine collection and graduate theses. The VRSC manages the University Archives, which contain documents and artifacts from UArts’ 145 years of history. VRSC also provides digitization services for print and audio/visual materials. Find out more about Visual Resources and Special Collections. 

  • Anderson Hall, Mezzanine level

    These two student spaces are available whenever Anderson Hall is open. The Library Loft is a calm space that’s perfect for individual or group study. The LIT (library and IT) Lounge offers printing, computer stations and comfy spots to recharge.

Contact University Libraries

University Libraries 
215-717-6280 
libraries@uarts.edu 
Instagram: @uartslibraries

Internships & Experiential Learning

You’ll have access to internships and other experiential learning opportunities that’ll help you apply and expand on what you’ve learned in class in a real-world setting while you make valuable professional connections. 

Notable companies and organizations where UArts students have interned include

  • Cartoon Network,

  • CNBC,

  • Fast Company,

  • FringeArts,

  • Hollywood Insider,

  • Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts,

  • MTV Networks,

  • Mural Arts Philadelphia,

  • National Gallery of Art,

  • Philadanco,

  • Philadelphia Eagles,

  • Philadelphia Magazine,

  • Urban Outfitters,

  • Warner Music Group and 

  • WXPN.

Internships also happen in practicing artists’ studios, art galleries and museums; arts nonprofits; dance and theater companies; design firms; and various local, regional and national companies in the creative industries.

Beyond internships, other experiential opportunities include student-teaching assignments for Art and Music Education fifth-year students.  Find out more about internships and read an Internship FAQ.

Career Services

Prepare for your professional life in the arts by consulting Career Services, which provides career counseling, help writing your résumé and cover letter, coaching on interview techniques and job search skills, and more.

Study Away

With lots of locations and areas of study, you’ll be able to find a place and a program that’ll help you meet your artistic and academic goals and immerse you in a new culture. 

Most students find that a semester away works best in their third year of study, but you can participate in a short travel course any time after your first year. Planning should begin in the fall of your second year, or even during your first year. 

  • The Short Travel Course Program includes faculty-led study away experiences that meet during the academic breaks in the winter, spring and summer for one to three weeks. You can earn credits toward your degree or in Critical Studies and other program areas. Learn more about short travel courses, so you can begin planning to take them. 

  • Participate in our direct exchange programs across disciplines and around the world. Visual arts students might consider a semester at the National University of the Arts in Korea or at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Music students could spend a semester in the Netherlands at the Prince Claus Conservatoire, and Animation majors might choose the Ecole Européenne Supérieure de l’Image in France. 

  • Study with a University of the Arts–affiliated institution abroad, either for a semester or over the summer. You can explore a wide range of design and media disciplines at University of the Arts London, visual and performing arts in a variety of locations through Arcadia’s College of Global Studies.

    Contact Mara Flamm, director of International Programs, to find out more about direct exchange and affiliated programs by email at mflamm@uarts.edu or by phone: 215-717-6621.

Educational Partnerships

Peirce College

To strengthen your position in the creative economy, you can take courses at Peirce College—located directly across the street from UArts. Peirce offers a range of management, marketing and other courses.

Thomas Jefferson University

Take a class in liberal arts or the sciences at Thomas Jefferson University. Students at either university can take courses at the other for no additional charge. Learn more about how the Jefferson partnership works, so you can plan for future coursework.

Learn more about UArts’ educational partnerships and how to register for them:

Contact the Registrar’s office

Office of the Registrar  
Hamilton Hall, Room 230 
registrar@uarts.edu
215-717-6420

Minors

UArts has 20 minors across programs. As you know, at UArts, painters can also be guitarists; dancers can also sculpt; actors can study poetry; and musicians can learn how to design. 

Check out what you can minor in to maximize your creativity.

Educational Accessibility

The Office of Educational Accessibility (OEA) helps identify and remove barriers to learning for students with disabilities. OEA works individually with students to provide reasonable accommodations, outreach, support services and advocacy, and promotes independence and inclusion in all areas of university life.

Contact the Office of Educational Accessibility

Office of Educational Accessibility
Student Center, Room 204 
401 S. Broad St.
access@uarts.edu
215-717-6616

  • Students with documented disabilities, including learning disabilities, blind/low vision, deaf/hard of hearing, mobility impairments, attention deficit disorders, and psychiatric and medical disabilities.

  • Disclosure of an impairment is voluntary, but we highly recommend that you meet with the educational accessibility advisor as early in your UArts career as possible to ensure you get the highest levels of access and support. Schedule an appointment, learn how to apply for accommodation and find OEA forms.

Honors Program 

Join a community of academically exceptional and creative gifted students who are committed to investigating the role of the performing, visual and writing arts in contemporary life. Explore and question disciplinary boundaries, engage in collaborations that investigate multiple disciplines, and interrogate the ways in which your liberal arts coursework can shape and inform your creative practice.

What do Honors students do? 

Students complete both coursework and extracurricular experiences, including community engagement, professional development workshops and alumni shadowing.

Emerging Leaders

Learn more about yourself and your strengths, and develop skills for success through the Office of Campus Life’s Emerging Leaders program. It’s designed to help you be more confident and successful in whatever you decide to pursue, on or off campus.

Our data shows that students who participate in Emerging Leaders have higher GPAs than the overall UArts GPA; are more likely to persist and graduate from UArts; and are much more likely to take on student leader roles, like resident assistant, first-year guide or community assistant. 

Take the first step toward developing your leadership skills by learning more about Emerging Leaders. Visit the Student Activities page and scroll down to the Emerging Leaders tile

Contact Campus Life

Campus Life 
Student Center, Room 307
Email: campuslife@uarts.edu 
215-717-6144