Tyler's Mission

Mission and Vision

The Tyler School of Art and Architecture educates and inspires students to be active participants in society with the highest aspirations for creative and social achievement, individual expression, scholarly discovery and innovation.

Learning at Tyler is a profoundly transformative process in which students exceed their own expectations as creators, scholars, educators and active citizens. Tyler prepares students to make valuable contributions in a range of fields through the strength of their creative and technical skills, their ability to visualize solutions to problems and their personal vision informed by social and civic responsibility.

Who we are
We are a community of makers and thinkers from many practices, cultures and backgrounds inspired and connected by the shared experience of transformative learning. We are part of a large, urban, public research university where students and faculty engage with the world’s most urgent and complex issues. Our students learn how to be leaders prepared to navigate the opportunities and challenges of local and global societies as artists, designers, educators, scholars, organizational leaders and in newly emerging occupations.

Our core values

• Equity and inclusivity. We understand diversity as a strength and are committed to challenging prejudice and inequality within our school and in society at large.
• Accessibility. We create opportunity that includes those who otherwise would not consider art, education and design as career paths.
• Public engagement. We believe creative practice plays a critical role in addressing the collective concerns of our city and our global environment. Education must actively engage with relevant cultural and ethical issues.
• Exploration. We encourage curiosity, divergent thinking and multiple approaches to problem solving. We seek to understand and play a part in the ongoing global evolution of the roles of creators and scholars.

How we teach and learn

• Students develop sophisticated practical skills, using both state-of-the-art equipment and traditional materials, and learn how to navigate multiple public and private-sector worlds without sacrificing individual creativity.
• The Tyler experience integrates research and production with professional practice and civic engagement, collectively and individually, through fieldwork, internships, service learning projects and entrepreneurial activities. We draw on our home city of Philadelphia for rich, accessible cultural and historical resources and offer unique opportunities for meaningful engagement with important urban issues.
• Undergraduates explore a breadth of experiences, media and technologies that provides a foundation for intensive study within a chosen discipline. Graduate students have access to a unique array of physical and intellectual resources within and beyond their chosen fields of study. All students explore the histories and theories of their disciplines and a wide spectrum of material, theoretical, technological and aesthetic approaches.
• Students and professors work side-by-side on projects and research with historical, aesthetic, environmental and social impact. Through their own work, faculty members demonstrate how creative practice and scholarship are process-oriented and research-based.