USArtists American Fine Art Show & Sale is the major annual fundraising event created, organized and chaired by the Women’s Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) to benefit PAFA’s mission to educate and promote American artists. USArtists, the world’s largest show and sale of American art is now held at PAFA in the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building in Center City, following 17 years at the 33rd Street Armory in Philadelphia.
Established in 1950, the Women’s Board has a long and distinguished history of developing and producing successful programs that raise funds for PAFA. In 1990, members of the Women’s Board sought an annual fundraising event that would introduce PAFA to a larger audience. The concept of an exposition and sale focused on American art seemed natural for an event that would benefit the nation’s first museum and school of fine arts. With the show now held on the PAFA campus, the exposure of PAFA to our audience is greatly increased.
In celebration of American artistic talent, USArtists reflects the vitality, history and uniqueness of our nation’s art. Since USArtists debuted in 1992, critics have praised it as “the premier American art fair.” USArtists is an opportunity for collectors and art lovers to see, all under one roof, what is available in the art market from leading dealers across the country.
With the exception of taking one year off in 2009 to prepare for the move to the Academy, USArtists has had a profitable and steady growth since its inception. The financial success of USArtists has enabled the Women’s Board to support numerous PAFA programs, and most importantly, student scholarships.
The first of its kind, USArtists’ Special Needs Program offers docent-led tours of the show to people who are visually impaired. As an outgrowth of this program, the Women’s Board established PAFA’s first Special Needs Scholarship Endowment Fund in 1997.
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is America’s first museum and school of fine arts. PAFA’s museum collections and exhibitions display the work of distinguished American artists including Benjamin West, Charles Wilson Peale, Thomas Eakins, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Robert Henri, John Twachtman, Georgia O’Keeffe, Richard Diebenkorn and Helen Frankenthaler.
Click here for photo gallery of USArtists 2008
Click here for photo gallery of USArtists 2007