The PAFA Archives was accumulated as a result of the institution's primary activities: training artists and collecting, preserving, and exhibiting works of art.
Because many important artists have been associated with PAFA—as students, instructors, directors, and exhibitors—the Archives is now a unique and important research facility, documenting the history of PAFA as well as the development of the fine arts and art education in America.
The value of the PAFA Archives has long been recognized. Starting in the early 19th century, the institution designated secure storage for important papers, arranged for convenient reference, leaving an almost complete series of records in many areas. In 1976, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the PAFA became one of the nation's first museums to have professionally administered archives.
Guide to the Institutional Archives:
“In the Service of Art:” A Guide to the Archives of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts"
by Cheryl Leibold.
This 76-page document provides lists of record types and inclusive dates for PAFA's departments (Management, Museum, School, Events, Administration & Finanace, the Fellowship, the Women's Board, and its Buildings. The Guide was published in book form in 2009. To order call 215-972-2075, click here for our online shop, or email shop@pafa.org.
Click here to download this guide as a pdf.
Overview of Manuscripts Collections:
The PAFA Archives houses collections of papers of a number of early Philadelphia art organizations and of various individual artists. Detailed inventories of these collections are available from the Archives, but a summary is available here as a PDF. The PDF contains the following sections:
- Papers of Other Art Organizations
- Pamphlets and Auction Catalogues
- Personal Papers of Artists
- Miscellaneous Photographs
Click here to download this overview as a pdf.