Monthly Calendar

Educators' Evening Event:  Henry Ossawa Tanner

Help us kick-off PAFA’s special evening hours by attending this Educators’ Evening event.

From its beginning as a haven for English Quakers in the colony William Penn founded in 1681, the city of Philadelphia prospered, becoming a leading port in the English Atlantic World and a center of American culture and politics. Richly illustrated with new photography and an array of early American art, George Boudreau’s new book walks its readers through the streets of this august city and the lives of its residents and visitors, exploring the stories of the diverse people - enslaved and free, women and men, rich and poor, patriot and Tory -- who made Philadelphia's unique history.

Experience Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit  during these extended hours every Wednesday night.

Desiring to confront the essentials of nature and self, Rick Bass and his painter friend Elizabeth Hughes retreat to the most remote location he can think of – northwest Montana’s Yaak Valley. This journal provides a warm exploration of a very cold time of year and will have you looking at Winslow Homer’s “The Fox Hunt” or John Twachtman’s “Snow” in a very personal way.

Docent-led tour of the permanent collection featuring some of American art's finest paintings and sculptures.We recommend you call on the day of to confirm these times.

Docent-led tour of Henry Ossawa Tanner:  Modern Spirit.  

Several generations after Henry Tanner, contemporary American artists like Willie Cole offer powerful commentaries on the African American experience. Known for his unique approach of scorching steam iron marks onto a variety of media, Cole’s work is currently on view in PAFA’s “After Henry Tanner” exhibition and this talk will introduce more of the themes and media he’s been interested in.

Create a touchy-feely valentine for your sweetheart. Collagraph is a textured print made from everyday objects like lace, beans, twigs, keys, and bubble wrap. Come join us to try this unique printmaking technique in order to make your cards more special for that special someone!

PAFA's 2nd Blood Drive. Check your emails soon for details on signing up.

The long tradition of figurative work at PAFA makes it an especially exciting place to examine the role that figuration plays in twenty-first century art.  From Bill Viola’s Oceans Without a Shore (2007), a recent addition to the Academy’s collection, to Lisa Yuskavage’s Triptych (2011), a tour de force of figurative-based painting today, Matthew Palczynski, explores why the figure continues to magnetically appeal to such a wide variety of artists.

The PAFA Alumni Sales Gallery will present an exhibition of new work by alumnus Moe Brooker. Please join us for the opening reception.

The PAFA Alumni Sales Gallery will present an exhibition of new work by alumnus Moe Brooker.

On February 10, 2012, PAFA will host its annual Open Studio Night in the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building.

Experience the world travels of Henry Tanner for yourself with a sensational Mediterranean dance performance by the Mosaic Dance Theater Company that will take you from Istanbul to Cairo. While they perform, learn from artists how to capture the human body as it sways and swirls and bends and twirls.   

Take a journey aboard a joyous dance caravan to the lands of the Middle East, where artist Henry Tanner found some of his greatest inspirations. The Mosaic Dance Theater Company presents a beautifully costumed and energetically danced program highlighting the diversity of this exciting region of the world. Stay after for an interactive workshop with the Family Arts Academy program.

This talk explores how the first modern globalization wave around 1900 profoundly altered notions of time, space, and simultaneity. In 1884, Greenwich Mean Time was adopted as a new universal time standard. Clocks and watches became more affordable and proliferated among ordinary people and as a consequence, new understandings of personal time management, punctuality and time efficiency emerged. Vanessa Ogle, from the University of Pennsvlvania, traces these heated and controversial debates about time to such destinations as France, British India, German colonies in Africa, and trading hubs like the port city of Beirut in present-day Lebanon.

You’ll always want to find your beam of sunlight to sit in after decorating your windows with these faux stained glass designs. See how easy it is to fill your home with dancing colors every day by creating your own Tiffany-inspired paper window hangings.

Artist and PAFA faculty member Moe Brooker has been instructing young artists for almost forty years. Brooker’s philosophy of art-making includes the belief that process determines product, focusing specifically on how studio practices and choice of materials determines the types of images that an artist creates. This talk by Brooker, at the same time that an exhibition of his work is on view in PAFA’s Alumni Gallery, highlights his own process of creation and tracks the influences and themes of his lauded career

Join us for a conversation with Sande as she discusses her years of leadership in the Philadelphia art community.

Celebrate Black History month by exploring the studio process of artist Jacob Lawrence and then trying it for yourself. Mine your everyday experiences for an inspiring scene and then move through color stations in the studios to bring it to life, one bright shade at a time.

Pattie McCarthy’s latest poetry project led her to compose new poems about several of Tanner’s “Marys” and this program will inspire you to create original poetry of your own. Join us for a reading of her poetry followed by a workshop on ekphrastic poetry, the long tradition of writing about visual art, led by a poet, Temple professor and recent Pew Fellowship winner.

Henry Ossawa Tanner lived a life between two shores of the Atlantic – America and France – and his navigation of these national boundaries deeply affected his art. Tanner pursued his prolific body of religious paintings solely during this time “in between,” never painting a religious scene on American soil, and in this talk, Jeff Richmond-Moll, a Lecturing Fellow at PAFA, discusses how a Transatlantic vision of space and a precedent of “betweenness” in theology can enhance our understanding of the artist’s biblical scenes.