Rowan University expands into Philadelphia after rescuing Ph.D. in Creativity and Pig Iron MFA

Rowan University’s College of the Arts celebrated the next chapter for two of its nationally distinctive graduate programs on Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting at the Village of Industry & Art (VIA) on S. Broad Street, marking the new home of its Ph.D. in Creativity. The event also celebrated the continuation of the Pig Iron MFA in Devised Performance, a second program Rowan University stepped in to secure after the sudden closure of the University of the Arts (UArts) in June 2024.

When UArts closed, most students were able to transfer to other institutions. But the Ph.D. in Creativity and the MFA in Devised Performance, offered in partnership with Philadelphia’s Pig Iron School, were one-of-a-kind programs, leaving students with nowhere to go. Through the quick work of University leadership and program partners, Rowan was able to secure program approval and restore both programs with only a one-semester interruption.

"Given the choice, I wish that the University of the Arts was still here," said Rick Dammers, dean of the College of the Arts. "But unfortunately, that is not the reality in which we find ourselves. We quickly found that these programs, where learners are encouraged to forge their own path and push the limits, were a natural fit for Rowan University." 

The Village of Industry & Art in Philadelphia, formerly known as UArts' Hamilton Hall. Photo by Audrey Ellis.

The Ph.D. in Creativity, Rowan’s first humanities Ph.D., is now a tenant of VIA, the building last known as UArts’ Hamilton Hall and redeveloped by the urban design firm Scout in 2025. The MFA in Devised Performance maintains its original studio space in Old Kensington and is exploring residency opportunities within VIA's planned artist housing. 

Everett Abitbol, director of development at Scout, said the company had not originally planned to acquire the historic building, once home to a metal shop, foundry, and ceramics studios, but moved to purchase it through encouragement by partners, including Rowan.

“I think what resonates the most in our partnership with Rowan is that there's a shared belief here that the arts are infrastructure for our city, and investing in the arts is so critical to how we all experience Philadelphia,” Abitbol said.

For students and faculty, the ceremony was as much a homecoming as a celebration. The Ph.D. in Creativity is a transdisciplinary, dissertation-focused program built around bespoke, cross-institutional dissertation committees; its graduates' work spans books, award-winning documentaries, and Guggenheim Fellowships. Frank Machos, a member of the program's first cohort and now deputy chief for the arts and creative learning at the School District of Philadelphia, recalled first walking into the building as a prospective student of UArts three decades ago.

"It's really important that we understand what this symbolically does," Machos said. “We've missed all of the arts and culture and creativity that closing these buildings left behind. I can't thank everybody in this room enough for bringing it back.”

Quinn Bauriedel, program director of the MFA in Devised Performance and co-founder of Pig Iron Theater Company, described the programs' rescue as the product of collective effort, much like the collaborative process of making devised performance. 

"When I tell people that we basically got back up and running with only one semester of a delay, people think of that as an absolute miracle," Bauriedel said. “And what it has meant is that students who are taking the risk to dedicate themselves and their lives to making something beautiful for this world, to give us meaning in our own existence through performance, they now can see that it is possible.”

Provost Voki Pophristic speaking at the ribbon-cutting event for the new home of the Ph.D. in Creativity in the Village of Industry & Art, September 29, 2026. Photo by Rowan University.

Dr. Voki Pophristic, Rowan's provost, said the programs reflect the university’s broader commitment to creative fields.

"The Ph.D. in Creativity and MFA in Devised Performance offer a place for creative leaders to ask big questions and look at them from entirely new angles," Pophristic said. "Each program demands rigor, commitment, a little or a lot of playfulness, and a deep well of curiosity." 

The Ph.D. and MFA programs join Rowan's expanding footprint in Philadelphia, which also includes a BFA partnership with Studio Incamminati at the Bok Building, and research partnerships with local glass recycling initiatives, the University City Science Center and Navy Yard trade unions.