It may have taken 42 years, but the latest and, sadly, the last issue of DUCKWORK is out!
DUCKWORK was a short-lived newspaper “CREATED FOR THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF ART COMMUNITY” back in the early 1980s. It lasted a handful of issues until the school pulled the plug on the funding. It was more funny pages than news which was probably a factor in consigning the paper to its doom.
13th Floor of Anderson Hall facing South
The recent, shocking collapse of The University of the Arts which used to be PCA prior to 1987 was the inspiration for this illustration. That event and my meager attempts at digging up the still mysterious reasons for the school’s failure has set me careening down memory lane revisiting times both good and bad. While I was ambivalent about attending PCA particularly my junior and senior years which were slogs, being part of DUCKWORK is among my fondest memories of that time. I remember seeing the cartoon ducks on the early issues of the paper and thought “those guys are ripping off Howard the Duck — they must like comics!” 
I headed up to their tiny office on the 13th floor of what was Anderson Hall, and it was like finding my tribe — a group of comic book nerds and science fiction freaks who understood one another. Unfortunately, it was not to last. The fun went out of art school when the axe fell on the paper and the Ducks dispersed for schoolwork and/or real life. Some of the main figures behind DUCKWORK dropped out of school or graduated to real life to make independent comics publishing history with Comico. I continued on with my education always hoping that the next semester would be better than the last until finally I was awarded a degree.
In case you’re completely confused by the illustration, the unicorn kicking the anthropomorphic water fowl across Broad Street was the mascot of The University of the Arts. Yeah, they went with a nonexistent, mythical creature favored by grade school girls as their mascot. Kind of fitting.
If you’re looking for a history of DUCKWORK, check out the links below:
Gerry Giovinco who was the editor in chief of DUCKWORK had written his own terrific history of that paper in the now defunct website CO2 Comics. Fortunately, I was able to find it archived in a couple of locations. You can find it at The Wayback Machine or Archive.is.
Howdy Joe. I’m not sure we ever met but I shared a couple of classes with Tina. Cannot remember which ones. I do remember her as a super friendly, kind, fun loving person.
I, also, with the demise of UArts, have been taking long trips down memory lane. The good and the bad. Your description of your time served pretty much matches mine. lol. I could see your Duckworks signage from the street. The way you were treated somewhat mirrors current events.
I have a collection art, photos, 16mm film and writings from my time in Philly. c1980-91. I’d be happy to share. I also have some current work. It would be fun to put together a nationwide tribute to those of us who still care. There are many super talented artists in the Arco Park group. Let’s hit em up. ✌️
Thanks for commenting, Don!
I was the year after you and Tina. I don’t remember you from school, but don’t take it personally. I don’t remember Tina from school either. She claims to remember seeing me in the hallways. I commuted to school which maybe the reason why. We got to know each other when I was working in art supply stores and she was a customer. I used to shoot her stats.
Yes, I am curious to see your work. Absolutely share them!