From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic

Transfer printing was the medium of choice during the 19th century and artists used the print technique to decorate plates, bowls, teapots, and vases in order to spread imagery and patterns around the globe.

Learn more about this popular technique with a gallery walkthrough of transferware currently on view with Curator of Historical American Art, Dr. Anna O. Marley and Curator of Artistic Programs at the Clay Studio, Jennifer Zwilling.

After the tour, learn to make your own transferware plate inspired by the exhibition. Each guest will take home their fired plate after the workshop has concluded.

Online registration is now closed. Walk-up spots are available.

In City Water, City Life, historian and author Carl Smith explores the development of the first successful waterworks systems in Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago between the 1790s and the 1860s. Smith shows how the discussion, design, and use of waterworks reveal how Americans framed their conceptions of urban democracy and how they understood the natural and built environments, individual health and the well-being of society, and the qualities of time and history.

Smith is the Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English & American Studies at Northwestern University.

This program is presented with the Philadelphia Water Works.

Registration for this event is now closed.

Where does our tap water come from? Where does our wastewater go?

Join the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center for a behind the scenes bus tour of the Philadelphia Water Department’s drinking water system. Learn how it’s connected to our rivers, including past and present-day infrastructure that brings us clean and safe drinking water every day.

The Schuylkill River has run through the dreams and ambitions of Philadelphia and her guests—the walkers, the rowers, the philosophers and politicians, and scientists.

Philadelphia-area writer Beth Kephart has been writing the river for more than a decade—in an “autobiography” called Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River, in Centennial-era novels, in works of journalism and in essays. Kephart will share river-rich scenes of her own before opening the conversation to participants to share river stories of their own.

Join Urie Ridgeway (Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape), Paula Mirabal (Taos Pueblo), and Tailinh Agoyo (Narragansett) for a panel discussion focused on the importance of land and water to Indigenous people past and present. The panelists will also discuss environmental issues Indigenous communities are facing today. Urie and Paula will focus on their homelands and their community’s successes and challenges, while Tailinh will share about her photo series, The Warrior Project, which tells the story of Indigenous children’s concern for the future of their homelands and waterways. Following the discussion, We Are the Seeds dance troupe will perform and renowned artist Tchin will speak to the significance of wampum jewelry, which will also be available for purchase.

After the panel and performance, a special reception will be held at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) from 3:30-5:00 pm. Located just a short walk from PAFA at 1214 Arch Street, all are welcome to come and

Landscapes show more than just the beauty of the natural environment—they also reveal the biases, agendas and historical problems of the times from which they come. This afternoon of expert talks sought to acknowledge the missing stories and difficult narratives embedded in early American landscape traditions of representation, bringing to the foreground the role of native populations, women, and people of color during the early years of the American experiment. Moderated by Dr. Anna O. Marley, Curator of Historical American Art. 

Join Brooke Davis Anderson, the Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum, for an intimate look at PAFA’s major exhibition project From the Schuylkill to the Hudson and learn about the insights, surprising contexts and unanticipated questions that have been most compelling during this historic exhibition project.