News

SaraNoa Mark

During her time at PAFA, PAFA alum SaraNoa Mark '15 traveled to Europe thanks to a Women's Board Travel Scholarship. The experience whet her appetite for more research-oriented travel as part of her art practice. Now based in Chicago, Mark is preparing to uproot herself again and spend nine months…

Brian Boutwell

Certificate program alum Brian Boutwell '04 spent fourteen years in the Navy working in operations and planning, so he’s no stranger to mounting large-scale events. As PAFA's School Exhibitions Coordinator, he's tasked with making sure the school's largest event—the Annual Student Exhibition—comes…

Marie Manski

Whether you taste her homemade tahini honey ice cream or her take on the banana split or wander through one of her labyrinths, Marie Manski wants people to put themselves in her work. It isn’t enough to just look at her art—she wants you to experience it. As an admissions counselor for PAFA’s MFA…

Justine Ditto

After graduating from PAFA, printmaker Justine Ditto (BFA ’17) wanted to keep learning. While studying at PAFA, Ditto’s work evolved from figurative imagery to more architectural explorations. She will spend the next ten months working in the print shop at Millersville University through the…

Marcus Zotter

Marcus Zotter (BFA '13) mainly works in street art and graffiti but relies on the fine art education he received at PAFA to create. “PAFA really molds the greatest artist in the United States teaching us how to do the fine arts, the most complicated work out there,” he said. “Being in Philly I was…

Katherine Volpe

Katherine Volpe carries the experiences of her childhood with her every day. Her father was a 9/11 first responder who survived, and she uses her painting as a way to reflect on an event that shaped so much of her life.

Inga Kimberly Brown

Inga Kimberly Brown (BFA ’14) likes to keep busy. Whether she’s creating work for an exhibition at the Amelia Center Gallery in Florida or working on commissions, she always tries to have a paintbrush in her hand. The PAFA graduate recently completed a work for the 3rd Regiment United States Colored…

Liza Samuel

Liza Samuel (BFA '17) traveled to California, Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas with the help of the J. Henry Schiedt Memorial Travel Scholarship. The scholarship allowed her to spend 30 days collecting materials such as dirt, burnt wood, and rocks, which she used to make her own paint.

Jonathan Chase

“One of my favorite things about the program in my time here was that I was able to sort of make the mistakes that maybe I wouldn’t have been able to do as freely if I were at another program. The faculty and my peers were open to sharing ideas and having a dialogue. I thought that was really…
Madeline Peckenpaugh

Madeline Peckenpaugh

In the fall of 2016, Peckenpaugh spent a month in Nepal through the PAFA Fellowship’s Patan Museum Residency. On the last day, she inadvertently drank contaminated water and contracted typhoid. Making the most of a situation to better her work is Peckenpaugh’s style—read more to learn how that…

Emmitt Smith

“I liked the location [of PAFA], and I liked the museum history paired with contemporary context. People encourage you to push the boundaries of your ideas."

Abigail Gray Swartz

When Abigail Gray Swartz’s illustration of a reimagined Rosie the Riveter graced the cover of The New Yorker in 2017, friends and family kept saying she had won the artist lottery.

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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.