Historic Landmark Building
Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building
Student Housing
Digital Lab
Exhibition Galleries
Office of Liberal Arts
Auditorium and Conference Room
Student Lounge and Cafe
Future Studio and Classroom Space
Historic Landmark Building
The historic landmark building, a High Victorian Gothic building, was constructed in 1876 and designed by Frank Furness and George W. Hewitt. Identified as a National Historic Landmark, this building, together with the Museum's collection, is one of the nation's cultural treasures. Its design incorporates gallery space with six historic studios and an anatomical drawing studio.
The Academy’s Museum houses a collection of:
- more than 1,700 paintings
- 400 sculptures
- 14,000 works on paper
- hundreds of manuscripts, photographs, sketches, and other primary source material from the mid-1700s to the present. Read more…
PAFA has an active program of acquiring exemplary pieces of contemporary art—including work of Academy students, alumni and faculty.
Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building
The majority of the Academy's classrooms and studios are situated on floors 4 through 10 of the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building:
- The third floor of the Hamilton Building houses administrative staff, the Office of Student Affairs, and the Library.
- The fourth floor houses student studios, classrooms, the offices of the Department of Liberal Arts, two large studio classrooms and a large-scale critique room.
- The sixth floor houses the Printmaking studios, a drawing classroom, the Student Store and more student studios.
- The seventh floor houses student studios and the Sculpture studios and classrooms, including the foundry, various shops and the clay modeling studios.
- The eighth floor houses the studios and offices of the Graduate program, and graduate student studios.
- The ninth floor houses student studios and seminar classrooms, and a frameshop.
- The tenth floor houses the painting program offices and classrooms, individual student studios and two large skylit studios for life painting.
- The eleventh floor houses the student lounge and exhibition areas.
Read more about our Studio Art Facilities…
Student Housing
While PAFA does not maintain official residence halls on campus, the Offices of Admissions (for new students) and the Student Services Office (for current students) work individually with students who seek housing. Read more…
Digital Lab
The new digital lab in the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building is supported by a wireless network and has:
- 17 workstations, equipped with both Dell Pentium 4s and Apple G5s
- large-format printers
- 3 digital flatbed scanners
- 4 DeskJet printers
- 2 stations dedicated to high-end graphics usage
- a ceiling mounted projector.
Exhibition Galleries
Each spring, the Museum galleries are cleared to make room for the Annual Student Exhibition.
The School Gallery: Gift of the Women’s Board is a gallery within the Museum that is devoted to the faculty and alumni of the Academy. Its purpose is to mount exhibitions that exemplify the Academy’s teaching mission and its School programs.
The Student Gallery 128, located on the first floor of the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, mounts rotating exhibitions of student work from the Certificate, Graduate, and Continuing Education Programs, as well as from alumni and faculty.
Office of Liberal Arts
The fourth floor houses the Office of Liberal Arts, and features a number of seminar rooms and auditoriums, including:
- 2 seminar rooms
- a large seminar and critique room
- a large classroom space.
Auditorium and Conference Room
The Academy auditorium and Conference room are available for liberal arts classes.
Student Lounge and Cafe
There is a student lounge area and restaurant facility on the top floor of the Samuel M. V. Hamilton building and access to a rooftop terrace with wonderful views of the city.
Future Studio and Classroom Space
Plans are being finalized for another studio floor in the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building. In addition to many more student studios, there will be at least two more large classroom spaces made available for the new BFA program.