Dear Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) Board of Trustees and Senior Staff:

We, the alumni, students, faculty and concerned citizens of Philadelphia and the greater surrounding areas, write this petition to express our deepest concerns regarding the closing of the degree-granting BFA and MFA programs at PAFA.

We feel that the students, faculty and alumni are the most passionate and invested persons who care about the future of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. We have spent years there, and have entrusted our choice of college to your organization, feeling confident that the school programs had stood the test of time. By cancelling these programs without public discussion, we feel that trust has been broken. Many of us will spend decades of our lives paying out for programs that no longer exist. This, among our passion for our art and the legacy of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, makes us have a vital interest in the fate of the school.

Our goal of this petition is two-fold.

First, propose that an independent group of professionals perform an honest and open audit of the decisions, policies, actions, and inactions of the leadership at PAFA over the past years that has led to the closure of the BFA and MFA programs.

Only a wide-ranging and deep audit of the financial, educational and policy decisions made by the administration and trustees will reveal the true reasons for the financial issues.

Second, a path and plan must then be set and implemented to restore and rejuvenate PAFA as one of the premier degreed schools in the nation. We believe that the BFA and MFA programs are worth sustaining.

While the Certificate program has been lauded as one of the finest technical trade schools for artists, it was closed in 2016 due to lack of students. The lack of students was due to the non- accredited Certificate program not being eligible for Federal loans, which disqualifies the majority of students from the certificate program, unless they have all funds available. Because of this, it is of great concern that the certificate program may not be the financial solution, as its lack of eligibility for Fedral loans will be a major barrier for new students.

The public also needs to know the reasons, actions, decisions and financial conditions that drove the downward trend of enrollment and income for the school.

Only then can a creative plan be set to repair the financial damage that has occurred.

The audit and plan of restoration should include the voices, desires and creative ideas of the alumni, students, art professionals and faculty to restore the prestige PAFA once earned by teaching and fostering the creation of truly magnificent art.

We have invested significant time, effort and money into the programs at PAFA and we have a right to protect that investment.

A new set of "checks and balances” must be created to repair the decisions, policies and actions that caused the failures at PAFA. Once done, this will create a school atmosphere that will be a magnet to students, professionals, professors and administrators, and will, by its very nature, increase revenues and profitability.

We propose:

1. Independent Audit. A coalition of professional be formed, including auditors, accountants, art professionals and accredited alumni, faculty and students, to perform an independent audit of the actions, decisions, policies and programs that led to financial collapse of PAFA. There must be accountability and transparency.
2. PAFA should solicit engagements/proposals from qualified auditors to perform the required audit to determine the reasons and factors that drove the failures at PAFA. Specific deliverables should be defined and required of the team as part of the audit results. All records, including personnel records, financial records, educational programs, salary information and decisions regarding policies, should be available for review.
3. Create a Plan to Restore the Reputation of PAFA and Degree Programs.The deliverables from the audit should include recommendations for the rejuvenation of PAFA, a renowned school that has existed and prospered for over 200 years.
4. The BFA and the MFA accreditation programs need to to be restored and retained if at all possible, in order to retain the value of the degrees for the thousands of alumni who invested in them.
5. For this coalition to be a strong shaping factor in any program born out of these changes at PAFA, including the Certificate Program if that is the only viable option.
6. Implement Plans and Programs to Repair the Honor and Reputation of PAFA and Create Transparency.
   1. Maintain a more dynamic outreach and support to alumni, in the form of career workshops, exhibitions and speakers. This will create a stronger sense of goodwill and loyalty in alumni, which will generate more donations.
   2. Accreditation options should be fully explored, especially for the MFA, such as having a low-residency program and cutting costs in other areas.
   3. Be transparent with students by notifying them of any major changes in programs at least 3 months in advance.
   4. Engage art professionals, galleries, auction houses, alumni and teachers for their own creative ideas to solve the school’s challenges and failures.
   5. Host quarterly meetings that all alumni and those with school connections have to address financial issues and find solutions before they become a crisis.

We are passionate about restoring PAFA’s name and reputation and taking it into its next century with strength, positivity and inspiration.

Thank you for your attention to these important requests.

Sincerely,

Concerned Artists