Art and Design

A nationally recognized venue for contemporary art in the greater Philadelphia area, Spruance gallery is a 1,100-square-foot facility (housed in a 1893 power station) that has for 30 years provided the region with a stimulating roster of individual and thematic exhibitions shaped by its mission to encourage dialogue among artists, educators, students and the general public about current visual art and its socio-cultural relevance.

Commons Art Gallery is an open, highly trafficked exhibition space located near the main entrance of the University Commons. This venue, as well as the Great Room Lobby, hosts exhibitions created by the Art Research Collaboration (ARC) Exhibition Program. The ARC program engages with other university departments, local and international educational partners, alumni, and students to present visual information, artifacts, and other academic research based materials in an art gallery context. The Commons Art Gallery is home to such events as the Juried Student Biennial, and the Alumni Spotlight Exhibition. For the past two years it has also hosted the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Juried Student Art Exhibition, which highlights the art of local high school students.

Also in the University Commons, the Great Room Lobby exhibition venue is located just outside the Great Room, the most popular facility for lectures, performances and other major events on campus. The works featured in this space are selected to function in concert with these events and highlight topics of regional interest. Recent exhibitions include Jamar Nicholas: World Building, which presented the process drawings generated by the Philadelphia-based cartoonist and educator in the development of his comic strips and graphic novels. Signpost was a juried presentation of photographs taken by Arcadia students during their international Spring Preview experience.

The Judith Taylor Gallery, located in the Landman Library, is a space dedicated to hosting art exhibitions organized and created by students, either individually, in groups, or as part of a class. Any student currently enrolled in a university art course may sign out the space to present their own work, or curate an exhibition of the work of others.