Colleges & Divisions  
Office of the Dean     Credit-hour Ratio     Introduction to the College     Common Learning Outcomes     History of the College     Exhibition Program

  Schools in CAMD

   School of Art 
   School of Design 
   School of Film 
   CAMD College-wide 

Office of the Dean

Mark Campbell \ mcampbell@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6120 or 6024
Dean

Joe Rapone \ jrapone@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6562
Associate Dean

Regina Barthmaier \ rbarthmaier@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6120
Assistant to the Dean

Jessica Kahle \ jkahle@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6024
Assistant to the Dean

Anderson Hall Room 802 \ camd@uarts.edu \ CAMD Webpage

Credit-hour Ratio

Studio courses offered by the College of Art, Media & Design typically award one credit hour per 22.5 or 30 hours of instruction. For example, during a traditional 15-week semester a three-credit studio course will meet 4.5 or 6 hours per week. Studio courses generally require one to 1.5 hours of student preparation per contact hour per week.

The catalogue includes specific credit and contact hour totals for each course.  The University lecture and seminar credit-hour ratio is located on the calendar page.

Introduction to the College

The College of Art, Media, and Design is comprised of undergraduate and graduate programs in Design, Visual Arts, and Film. The College’s curricula focus on different forms of specialized knowledge and practice that enable artists and designers to create particular kinds of expressive artifacts. Art, media, and design are modes of problem solving, of understanding and analyzing phenomena, and of advancing arguments or developing insights. These programs teach not only skills and discipline-specific knowledge, but also a way of thinking, understanding, and knowing.

In addition to educating students and preparing them for professional success and leadership in their fields, the College produces artists and designers who have the capacity to be creatively self-sustaining and self-critical. Graduates from these programs are able to generate and evaluate new challenges for themselves, and are willing to take chances, to fail, and to start over again. These values and capabilities enable our graduates to succeed as artists and to become engaged, intelligent, creative individuals and citizens.

Common Learning Outcomes for CAMD Students

• A coherent critical position with regard to demonstrating a detailed awareness and understanding of key historical and contemporary debates and contexts in art, design, and film.
• A sustained and well-developed research methodology that is critically engaged with their specialist field(s) of study.
• The integration of concepts, processes, and skills in order to realize, select, and present their intentions as a coherent body of work.
• Independence in planning and organizing their own learning, and relating to all aspects of their work through a process of analysis, reflection, and self-evaluation.
• The ability to deploy a wide range of transferable skills, including visual and verbal communication, time-management, planning, initiative, and problem solving, to equip them for professional practice, further study, or employment.

History of the College

The Pennsylvania Museum and the School of Industrial Art was formed in 1876 in in order to take advantage of the Centennial International Exposition held in Philadelphia that year. Comprised of a museum (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art) and a school  (now the College of Art, Media and Design), its mission was to provide training in the industrial arts and exhibit well-designed manufactured goods.  In 1938 the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art became the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art, and was authorized to grant academic degrees in 1940. In 1949 its name was changed to the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, which received accreditation in 1959, and became the Philadelphia Museum College of Art. In 1964 it separated from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and became the Philadelphia College of Art (PCA), which evolved into the  College of Art and Design (CAD).  In 2011, CAD was joined with the College of Media and Communication (CMAC - founded in 1996) to form the College of Art, Media and Design.

Exhibition Program

The Exhibition Program showcases major contemporary exhibitions related to the University’s diverse academic curricula in design, crafts, and the fine arts.

Over the years, the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, the University’s primary exhibition space, has attracted national and international artists to the campus. Artists who have had one-person exhibitions in the gallery include Vito Acconci, Richard Amsel, Siah Armajani, Alice Aycock, Willie Cole, Gregory Crewdsen, Robert Crumb, Rosalyn Drexler, John Duff, Richard Fleishner, April Gornik, Lois Greenfield, Alex Grey, John Hejduk, James Hyde, Daniel Jackson, Maira Kalman, Barbara Kasten, Mel Kendrick, Jon Kessler, Donald Lipski, Salvatore Meo, Henry Moore, Ree Morton, Robert Motherwell, Isamu Noguchi, Thomas Nozkowski, Jack Pierson, Irving Penn, Anne and Patrick Poirer, Quay Brothers, Yvonne Rainer, Judith Shea, Pat Steir, Lenore Tawney, Paul Thek, George Trakas, and Lebbeus Woods. In addition, the gallery has presented notable historic exhibitions of design: Philippe Apeloig, Geoffrey Beene, Alexei Brodovich, Czech Cubism, Charles Eames, Dan Friedman, Frogdesign, Milton Glaser, Keith Goddard, Daniel Jackson, Matthew Liebowitz, Memphis, Milano, and Samuel Yellin.

The Dorrance Hamilton Hall Galleries, Arronson Gallery, Solmssen Court Gallery, President’s Gallery and the Window on Broad are additional exhibition spaces that furnish opportunities for faculty, alumni, students, and regional talents. Nearly every department also launches its own series of exhibits.

The work of emerging and established artists are exhibited in galleries throughout the University, including the Richard C. von Hess Illustration Gallery; the Photography program’s Sol Mednick Gallery and Gallery 1401; Design, Art + Technology  and Game Art programs’ Gallery 1201;  Art + Design Education’s Special Gifts Gallery; Graduate Gallery 224; and the Fine Arts Galleries: Gallery 817, the Printmaking/Book Arts Gallery 633, and the Sculpture Gallery. Student-run invitational and juried exhibitions in Gallery One give students the experience of curating and installing shows. Museum Exhibition Planning and Design MFA students gain experience and skills from their practical work in the galleries. Highlights of the year are the Annual Student Show - a featured Commencement event - and the Senior Students and Master of Fine Arts exhibitions.

Borowsky Center for Publication Arts

The Borowsky Center for Publication Arts is a unique educational arm of the University providing students, staff, faculty, and visiting artists a resource to explore the creative potential inherent in the offset lithographic printing medium. The Center enables qualified users to experience the complete graphic arts process from initial conceptualization through production, while maintaining the highest printing standards. The Center is equipped with a Heidelberg Kors 19 x 25 offset press, platemaking and stripping facilities. Staffed with a master printer and student assistants, the Borowsky Center produces a wide variety of printed material including posters, announcements, limited edition prints and artists’ books.