Commencement
The University of the Arts' 2018 Commencement Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, May 10, 2018, at 10 am in the Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., Philadelphia.
Be sure to mark your calendars for these 2018 Commencement Events:
Portrait Sittings by LifeTouch
Wednesday, April 18 + 25, 9 am to 4 pm
Gershman Hall 3rd floor, Levitt Foyer
To schedule: Log onto www.ouryear.com school code 4000 or call 1-800-OUR-YEAR™ (687-9327).
Ticket & Regalia Distribution Week
Monday - Friday, April 23 - 27, 2018, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Gershman Hall
During this week, students may pick up two tickets for guests to view the 2018 Commencement ceremony in the Merriam Theater, and an additional two tickets for viewing the live streaming of the event in one of our on-campus theaters. After that week, any unclaimed tickets for the Merriam Theater will be entered into a lottery for other graduates to use. An email announcing the lottery will be sent after 6 p.m. on April 27, 2018, and students should reply via their UArts email to request additional tickets if available.
Commencement Cocktail
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 7:30 - 10 PM
The Bellevue Hotel
200 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102
Tickets $25 each, two hour open bar (beer/wine) hors d'oeuvre + live music. Tickets can be purchased in the Office of Student (OSL) located in Gershman Hall Room 309 with cash, or with a credit card by visiting Student Financial Services, 2nd fl Hamilton Hall and bring the receipt to OSL for your ticket. Students can purchase extra tickets for family or friends.
Academic Program Award Ceremonies
Students receiving awards will be notified by their programs the first week of May.
College of Performing Arts
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Terra Hall, Caplan Recital Hall, 17th Fl, 211 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19107
10:30 - 11:10 AM, Brind School of Theatre
11:30 AM - 12:10 PM, School of Dance
12:30 PM - 1:15 PM, School of Music
College of Art, Media + Design
Division of Liberal Arts
May 7- 9, 2018 - Location Date & Times - TBD
Master's Degree Hooding Ceremonies
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
College of Performing Arts, 2 - 4 p.m. Terra Hall, Caplan Recital Hall, 17th Fl, 211 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19107
College of Art, Media, & Design/Continuing Studies, 4 - 6 p.m., Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102
Rehearsal for Commencement
Wednesday, May 9 2018, 9:00 am
Solmssen Court, Hamilton Hall
320 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102
2018 Commencement Ceremony
Thursday, May 10, 2018, 10 am
doors open at 9 am
The Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102
HD live-stream viewing on campus:
Caplan Recital Hall, 17th Fl, Terra Hall, 211 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19107
Levitt Auditorium, 3rd Fl, Gershman Hall, 401 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102
The Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St., Philadelphia PA 19102
Questions? Please contact us at commencement@uarts.edu
Honorees
We are pleased to announce that the University has selected the 2018 recipients of our Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees, to be presented at UArts’ 140th Commencement ceremony on May 10, and our Commencement speakers. We will also honor two of our distinguished alumni during the ceremony.
HDFA recipients and speakers are:
- Kevin Beggs, chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group, creators of 90 hit shows on more than 40 networks, including AMC’s “Mad Men,” Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black,” CMT’s “Nashville,” Hulu’s “Casual,” Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” and “Weeds,” and more. He is the recipient of Operation Smile’s John Connor Humanitarian Award, The Help Group’s Teddy Bear Humanitarian Award, and the Broadcasting & Cable 2014 Innovation Award. In October 2017 he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.
- Lorna Simpson, acclaimed visual artist whose signature style is "photo-text,” in which graphic text is inserted into studio-like portraiture to bring new conceptual meaning into the work. In 1990, she became the first African-American woman to exhibit at the Venice Biennale. In the same year, she had one-woman exhibitions at several major museums, including the Denver Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. Her name has become synonymous with photo-text artworks that confront and challenge narrow, conventional views of gender, identity, culture, history and memory. She is profiled in this month’s issue of Vogue magazine.
The third distinguished recipient of an honorary doctor of Fine Arts degree is:
- Al West, chairman and CEO of SEI, the Oaks, Pennsylvania-based financial services company he founded in 1968 and that manages or administers $861 billion in assets, and founder of the West Collection of contemporary art. The collection features 3,100 compelling works by more than 700 leading international artists. At any given time 1,500 works are installed at the SEI Corporate Campus and other works are displayed in rotating exhibitions at the nearby West Collection Warehouse. Works have been loaned for exhibitions to museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern.
UArts will honor two alumni during the Commencement ceremony, with the Silver Star Alumni Award:
- Lucas Steele BFA ’01 (Musical Theater), an award-winning musical theater performer who earned a 2017 Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the role of Anatole in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. The Broadway show was a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 'War and Peace.' Lucas also won the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Anatole in the Off-Broadway version of the musical.
- Catherine Edelman BFA ’85 (Photography), opened Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago in 1987 as a venue for contemporary fine art photography. Since its founding, it’s become one of the leading galleries in the Midwest devoted to the exhibition of prominent living photographers, alongside new and young talent. Catherine is widely respected as a leader, educator and specialist in the field of contemporary photography.