News

Acrylic on canvas painting in various bright colors depicting a boy holding grapes, a goat, flowers, and the fruit that the boy is weighing.

Philadelphia, PA — The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) presents Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo, a groundbreaking exhibition that, for the first time, brings together the work of three pioneering Japanese American artists whose lives and careers…

Press Release
Cindy Shaw Headshot

Philadelphia, PA — September 15, 2025 — The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Cindy Shaw as Chief Development Officer. Shaw brings more than 25 years of experience in business, education, and the nonprofit sector, with expertise in advancement…

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Hamilton exterior

Philadelphia, PA — September 12, 2025 — The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is pleased to announce a new partnership with Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Beginning October 15, Tyler will lease space in PAFA’s Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, expanding academic…

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Oil painting titled Garden Before Nancy’s House by Rose Naftulin

PHILADELPHIA, PA — September 2, 2025 — The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) proudly announces the Diamond Jubilee Celebration honoring the 75th Anniversary of the Women’s Committee, held on September 28, 2025. Since its founding in 1950 the Women’s Committee has played a transformative…

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Harry Philbrick standing between two people at the Willaim Villalongo Opening Reception

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)’s Interim Museum Director, Harry Philbrick, has accepted the position of Director at the Newport Art Museum, effective September 2025. This new opportunity will allow Mr. Philbrick to return full-time to Rhode Island, where he grew up and currently…

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A solitary house stands against a dramatic seascape with crashing waves under a gray sky, painted in oil on canvas.

Philadelphia, June 17, 2025 – Two of America’s most esteemed cultural institutions—the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)—today announced A Nation of Artists, a historic collaboration with the private Middleton Family Collection that will unite

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A textured mixed media artwork by William Villalongo depicting a silhouetted Black figure surrounded by intricate cutouts and symbolic elements in acrylic, velvet flocking, and paper on wood panel.
William Villalongo: Myths and Migrations is on view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) from May 15 to August 31, 2025. This mid-career survey highlights over 20 years of Villalongo’s work exploring themes of Black presence, identity, and cultural memory through richly layered…
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photo of a woman in front of foliage and stone structures

PHILADELPHIA (Feb. 4, 2025) – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the first museum and school of fine arts in the United States, today announced Lea C. Stephenson as the next Kenneth R. Woodcock Curator of Historical American Art, effective Feb. 10, 2025. In this role, Stephenson will…

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Tony Rosati sitting in a chair in an open room with a fireplace

Join us for an enlightening lecture on printmaking by print scholar and PAFA Printmaking Professor Anthony (Tony) Rosati organized by the Brodsky Center at PAFA and funded through a generous grant from the International Fine Print Dealers Association Foundation (IFPDA).

IFPDA Foundation Logo

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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People standing in a gallery featuring historic objects on display.

By Alissa Falcone, November 6, 2024

"In Philadelphia Revealed: Unpacking the Attic, the newest exhibition from the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel University, there are multiple Drexel University connections found in the more than 600 objects showing 350 years of Philadelphia history.

Some of those…

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Anne Minich, Vermillion, 1991, mixed media including polychrome wood and metal, 29 ¾ x 20 x 1 ¾.
PAFA opens Making Strange: Sacred Imagery and the Self, an exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture, and works on paper from the collections of PAFA and the Brodsky Center that highlight the art historical concept of "making strange.” The exhibition opens November 14, 2024 and is on view through…
Press Release
headshot of Anna Marley

TOLEDO, Ohio – Anna Marley, Ph.D., currently the Chief of Curatorial Affairs and the Kenneth R. Woodcock Curator of Historical American Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), has been named the Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA). In her new role, Marley…

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About PAFA

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the United States’ first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers a world-class collection of American art, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and educational opportunities in the fine arts. The PAFA Museum aims to tell America's diverse story through art, expanding who has been included in the canon of art history through its collections, exhibitions, and public programs, while classes educate artists and appreciators with a deep understanding of traditions and the ability to challenge conventions. PAFA’s esteemed alumni include Mary Cassatt, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.