The University's Museum Studies Program Celebrates Its Centennial

PHILADELPHIA (April 16, 2009) - The University of the Arts will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first class in curatorship at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (a predecessor institution of the University of the Arts) in 1908, with a special reception from 6:30 - 10 p.m. on May 3 in the Levitt Auditorium of Gershman Hall (401 S. Broad St.).

The centennial celebration is being held in conjunction with the 2009 annual meeting and expo of the American Association of Museums in Philadelphia April 30 - May 4.

As part of the festivities, the University will honor former faculty member and museum pioneer Portia Hamilton Sperr for her commitment and contributions to museum studies, museum education, early childhood education and advancement of the museum field.

The founder of Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum as well as the Greene Towne Montessori preschool, Sperr was instrumental in creating the University's Museum Education Program and spearheaded the innovative Philadelphia program "Museums in the Life of the City." She will receive an honorary doctorate of fine arts at the University's commencement ceremony May.

At the May 3 event, Marjorie Schwarzer, professor and chair of the John F. Kennedy University Museum Studies Program and author of Riches, Radicals and Rivals: 100 Years of Museums in America, will make the presentation "Heart, Soul, Passion: A Brief Tour of Museum Studies and How It Came to Be."

University of the Arts President Sean Buffington and Nancy Kolb, president and CEO of the Please Touch Museum, will make introductions.

To purchase tickets ($30, but free for Museum Studies students) or RSVP, contact Jennifer Gin at 215-717-6299 by April 27.

The University of the Arts is the nation’s first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,300 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. The institution’s roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.

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