American Academy of Arts and Letters and an annual exhibition of works by newly elected members and recipients of honors and awards. A permanent exhibit of the recreated studio of composer Charles Ives was opened in 2014. The auditorium is sought out by musicians and engineers wishing to record live because the acoustics are considered among the city's finest. Hundreds of commercial recordings have been made there. The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters was formed from three parent organizations. The first, the American Social Science Association, was founded in 1865, at Boston. The second was the National Institute of Arts and Letters, which
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences as Arts and Sciences undergraduates. In addition, the School of Arts and Sciences educates 15% (over 1,500) of the University’s graduate and graduate professional students, making it the largest graduate program in the Pittsburgh area. Founded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge as the Pittsburgh Academy and chartered in 1787, the School of Arts and Sciences may have originally grown out of a school that was active before the charter was granted, perhaps as early as 1770. Thus the SAS began its life as a preparatory school, presumably in a log cabin, in what is now downtown Pittsburgh, which was then on