the Stained Glass Project<\/a>, an after-school programme for under-served students that is one of Via\u2019s first tenants. \u201cHundreds of UArts students lost the opportunity to finish the programmes they started, and the entire UArts community never got a proper chance to say goodbye to a place that meant so much to all of us.\u201d With just seven days\u2019 notice, the swift exodus saw art halted mid-project, personal items and equipment abandoned and decades of ephemera deserted.<\/p>\n\u201cEveryone from artists to politicians to neighbours attended the Ceremony of Life to reflect and heal, whether that was in the form of a performance or sharing memories,\u201d Scannapieco says. \u201cIt was really moving to see how this space impacted so many people.\u201d Some students even wore gowns to stage inprovised graduations.<\/p>\n
Throughout the event, an altar formed with objects from the public, as well as some of the many items found in the building when Scout took over, like UArts memorabilia. On the last day of the ceremony, visitors were invited to take anything from the altar as a keepsake. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a use for 10,000 UArts envelopes, but for someone else, these materials might be meaningful,\u201d Scannapieco says. \u201cThe ceremony was our way of saying that we know change is hard, but we can welcome a new chapter while also mourning the loss of this university.\u201d<\/p>\n
A rare spirit of community<\/p>\n
Scout\u2019s decision to hold the ceremony was seen as a sign of its support of the creative community. \u201cI found it remarkable that, of all the cultural organisations in Philadelphia, it was the developer who took the initiative to host this event,\u201d says Sheryl Oring, the former dean of the university\u2019s art school. \u201cIt\u2019s heartening to know that the spaces where so much art and learning once took place will remain active sites for artists, educators and cultural organisations to thrive.\u201d Oring staged a performance during the ceremony, inviting people to share their memories of UArts in messages printed with a typewriter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose in the end time will tell, but I have a lot of faith in Scout,\u201d says Conrad Benner, a Philadelphia-based photographer and writer. \u201cNot only because I\u2019ve been a tenant at Bok for nearly eight years, so I\u2019ve seen how closely they work with creatives and communities to reactivate these spaces. But also because I believe of the possible options, Scout taking over was the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the first tenants of Via are BlackStar Projects, Monument Lab and the Philadelphia chapter of the American Institute of Architects. With equipment like foundries already on site, Via is particularly promising for creative trades, like the Stained Glass Project, which was able to move into the glass studio. Via\u2019s 45 apartments will specifically serve the creative community, with 35 units becoming affordable housing and ten set aside for artist residencies and short-term stays.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhildelphia\u2019s creative energy is what separates us from every other big city in the US,\u201d Benner says. \u201cThat\u2019s because we\u2019re a city with a special mix of affordability, institutions and opportunity. We need all three to stay strong, to stay unique, and this new space can be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the months that followed the abrupt closure of Philadelphia\u2019s 150-year-old University of the Arts (UArts) in spring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33060,69,71,70,33061],"class_list":["post-61276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-art-education","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-regeneration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}