Independent Arts News Reporting The Historical Society of PA Celebrates the Legacy of the University of the Arts with a Community Open House
Reported on Thursday, November 20, 2025.
Pictured Above: PA Historical Society Penna Museum and School building 1927. Photo Credit: Contributed.
NEWSROOM POST: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
The free public event transformed HSP’s historic building into a vibrant hub of artistic energy.
Philadelphia, PA — The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) welcomed a full house on Saturday, November 8, as artists, alumni, and community members gathered for a special open house celebrating the creative and cultural legacy of the University of the Arts (UArts). The event marked the public debut of HSP’s newly acquired UArts institutional records—now the single largest archival collection in the Society’s 200-year history.
The free public event transformed HSP’s historic building into a vibrant hub of artistic energy. Visitors explored expansive displays of archival items from UArts and HSP collections, took part in make-and-take art sessions with Jim Grilli (UArts Sculpture graduate), and contributed personal memories and reflections to the Memory Collection Project, helping to preserve UArts’ story for future generations.
Pictured Above: PA Historical Society Laura Jean Allen fabric samples. Photo Credit: Contributed.
Throughout the afternoon, a series of engaging performances and talks were presented:
-12:30 p.m. Vocal performance by Jillian Patricia Pirtle, UArts Musical Theater alum and CEO of the Marian Anderson Museum and Historical Society
-1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Presentations of “The Centennial, The City, The School: The Beginnings of the University of the Arts” with Sara J. MacDonald, former Director for Public Services at the UArts Greenfield Library
-2:00 p.m. “Collecting the Arts: UArts Records in Context at HSP” with David R. Brigham, HSP Librarian and CEO
-2:30 p.m. Flamenco performance and demonstration with Anne O’Malley, UArts Dance alum and founder of Flamenco Y Más International
-3:30 p.m. A dramatic reading from Vermeer’s Paradox: Experts Baffled by Impossible Photo Found in Salesman’s Case by Marcelino Stuhmer, former UArts Associate Professor of Fine Arts
The event underscored HSP’s commitment to safeguarding Pennsylvania’s artistic and cultural heritage while fostering public engagement through interactive and interdisciplinary programs.
For more information about the Historical Society of Pennsylvania or upcoming programs, visit www.hsp.org.
