Museum Education

Conservation Lecture with Mary McGinn

Free Events at PAFA this September

From free museum days to lectures with artists and family art-making classes, PAFA has a full calendar of free events for everyone this month.
Summer Academy student Max Brenneman works on a sculpture during class.

A Family Connection Draws High School Student to PAFA

16-year-old Max Brenneman is following in his older sister’s footsteps. In 2017 after his sister Sophie graduated from the MFA program, Brenneman began taking art classes at PAFA. This summer, Max dives further into his artistic practice by taking classes through the high school Summer Academy…
Stories
Mark Stockton, "The Poet in His Bedroom or Walt Whitman in repose amongst a chaos of papers in Camden in 1891" (2018). Graphite on Arches paper, 52 x 42 inches (framed), 50 x 40 inches (unframed). Museum Purchase (2018.43) 2018

History Influences a New Work in the Permanent Collection

There are several Walt Whitman-related artworks in PAFA’s collection, but in celebration of Whitman’s 200th birthday, contemporary curator Jodi Throckmorton thought there was room for one more Whitman work in the permanent collection. She commissioned artist Mark Stockton to create a drawing of the…
Stories
"Street View (Hoagiefest)" 2019 by Alex Da Corte Courtesy the Artist, Karma, NY and Sadie Coles HQ, London

Contemporary Pieces Force a Second Look in "Ancient History of the Distant Future"

At first look, an over-sized Wawa Hoagiefest donut might appear out-of-place in PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building. In the Rotunda "Street View (Hoagiefest)" by Alex Da Corte, a phototex of the artist’s hand clutching a Wawa donut is layered on the wall behind a painting by Thomas Birch. PAFA’s…
Stories
"Falls of Niagara" by William Russell Birch

Landscapes Are Not Neutral, but Rather Perspectives of Power

The waterways depicted in "From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic" are most well-known by their current Euro-American names, but are situated in the homelands of the Lenape people. “Some visitors to PAFA may have heard of the contemporary 'museums are not…
Stories
Image: Tailinh Agoyo via The Warrior Project

Philadelphia Citizen | PAFA Event Celebrates Local Indigenous Culture Missing From Art

PAFA’s new landscapes exhibit is the jumping-off point for this weekend’s celebration of the people missing from those paintings: Local Native Americans.

Image: Tailinh Agoyo via The Warrior Project

 

In the News
installation view

Broad Street Review | A Lifetime in One Stroke

The Broad Street Review examines the legacy of Helen Frankenthaler as seen through the lens of the current exhibition, At One Stroke: Prints by Helen Frankenthaler, now on view in the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building.
In the News
Youth Council member Sophia Becker guides journalists through the Helen Frankenthaler show

KYW 1060 AM | Positively Philadelphia: Local High School Student Helps Curate Exhibit at PAFA

KYW Newsradio spoke with Youth Council member Sophia Becker about her experience of being part of the curatorial team behind At One Stroke: Prints by Helen Frankenthaler.
In the News
PAFA From Home graphic from 6-ABC

6-ABC | PAFA Goes Online for Conversation and Classes

6-ABC's Natalie Jason interviewed PAFA's Vice President of Public Engagement and Education, Monica Zimmerman, about our digital offerings.
In the News
Attributed to Joseph John, "Homestead of James and Margaret Green, Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania"

NBC 10 | Celebrate the Arts At Home

NBC Philadelphia takes a look at some of the most exciting ways to virtually engage with arts and culture in Philadelphia, including the PAFA From Home initiative.
In the News
summer art camp

Good Housekeeping | 30 Best Virtual Summer Camp Ideas

Good Housekeeping lists PAFA's Summer Art Camp for Kids as a top pick for online summer camps this season.
In the News
Clarity Haynes, with her painting "Janie" (left), at the “Taking Space:

The Philadelphia Inquirer | For ‘Taking Space’ at PAFA, women artists are as monumental as they want to be

Megan Voeller reviews Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale for The Inquirer, in a piece that artist Clarity Haynes made her "feel seen and understood." Read about the generation-spanning artists and works, including Haynes, Deborah Willis, Faith Ringgold, Ana Mendieta…

In the News
Gallery view of Jerusalem in museum

William Wetmore Story’s Marble "Jerusalem" Moves for First Time in 30 Years

Watch a timelapse video of the process. Weighing nearly 3,600 pounds and with a pedestal that is roughly between 2,300-2,600 pounds, and made of breakable marble, the statue risks damage if not handled with the required care and expertise.
Stories
Camp Still Life

New Partnership with the Satell Institute

PAFA has partnered with the Satell Institute – a Philadelphia-based Think and Do Tank dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility - in their YES (Youth Enrichment Series) Initiative in 2021, to provide free scholarships to any student who wanted to learn safely and socially online over the summer…

Joan Semmel's Centered Oil on canvas 48 x 53 in

"Joan Semmel: Skin in the Game" is First-ever Career Retrospective of Iconic Painter

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) presents the first-ever retrospective of iconic painter Joan Semmel in a career-spanning exhibition, Joan Semmel: Skin in the Game, October 28, 2021 through April 3, 2022. With over 50 works that will trace the artist’s career from early abstract…
Press Release
banner image of photo of artwork

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Opens Determined To Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden, the First Comprehensive Retrospective of African American Sculptor John Rhoden

PHILADELPHIA – Aug 29, 2023 - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) celebrates 20th century African American sculptor John Rhoden (1916-2001) with the exhibition, Determined To Be: The Sculpture of John Rhoden, the first comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s work. The exhibition…

Press Release
banner image of red, orange, and green imitating rising sun

Collaborative Exhibition “Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America” Extended Beyond October 2023

To commemorate the exhibition, the African American Museum in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts have published an exhibition catalogue that will be released September 2023.

PHILADELPHIA – The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the…

Press Release
eakins, gross clinic

Anatomy Academy: Graduate Symposium

Frederic Edwin Church, "Valley of Santa Ysabel, New Granada" (1875)
Special Tours

Learning to Look

Harriet Hosmer
Art At Noon

Subversion in Stone: Understanding Harriet Hosmer and Heteropatriarchy

rashaad newsome, black magic

Rashaad Newsome: Black Magic

scms

2D Animation

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Artist/maker unknown, Chinese, for export to the American market, " Cup and saucer showing the Philadelphia Waterworks" (1825). Hard-paste porcelain with cobalt underglaze, decoration, and gilt. Cup: 2 5/8 x 4 3/8 x 3 5/8 in.; saucer: 1 1/8 x 5 1/2 in. | Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Transfer What? Transferware: A Hands-On Workshop

students

Drawing for Comics

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