Breaking news: University of the Arts, Amsel's alma mater, closing June 7th

This project has taken me so long because so many things have been at play concerning the ownership of Richard Amsel’s original work. And every time I manage to cross over one hurdle, another one rears its ugly head.

This morning I had sent a letter via certified mail to Kerry Walk, the president of the University of the Arts. I won’t disclose the details of my letter at this time, suffice to say it concerns the extensive collection the university has of Amsel’s original work, which I had been requesting access to for nine years. (Amsel attended there from 1965-1969, when it was known as The Philadelphia College of Art.)

Well, I don’t know if it’s fate, karma, destiny, or just another round of rotten luck…but some shattering news just broke over an hour ago: The University of the Arts will be permanently closing its doors on Friday, June 7th.

What this means for the Richard Amsel archive, I don’t know. Where will it go? Who will own it? Your guess is as good as mine.

Looks like Howard Feinberg and I have another big fight ahead of us, but we're not going to give up.

(NOTE: As of 6/14/24, there is a critical update to this story. UoA's Amsel collection was transferred to Margaret Herrick Library at end of 2023. More info can be found here.)

News links:

The Philadelphia Inquirer

NBC 10 Philadelphia

AOL News