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PAFA Fall 2021 College Plans

The 2020-21 school year was an extraordinary time, and PAFA students, faculty & staff faced it with creativity and resilience. Thanks to the diligent efforts of everyone on campus, the PAFA community remained safe and strong, and because of those efforts, the campus will be open this fall.  As…

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Global Optimization Diagram installed in Taking Space

MFA Alum Ana Vizcarra Rankin '12 Speaks to Camera on her Work in the PAFA Museum Exhibition "Taking Space"

Artist Ana Vizcarra Rankin graduated from the Master of Fine Art program in 2012. She received the Judith McGregor Caldwell Purchase Prize at the Annual Student Exhibition in May 2012 for her work Global Optimization Diagram. The painting is on view at the museum in “Taking Space: Contemporary…

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Perspectives
Artwork documentation of Man in Blue Looking Eileen Neff

MFA Resident Critic Eileen Neff Finds the Beauty Behind the Curtain at Philadelphia Museums

If you visit this weekend, you can find a man in a blue hazmat suit within the walls of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He isn’t concerned with an airborne virus; rather his suit protects him from toxic fumes of arsenic that float around his meticulously designed surroundings. This man inhabits a…

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Perspectives
Florine Stettheimer, (1871-1944) "Picnic at Bedford Hills" (1918)

Philadelphia Inquirer | Women take over the walls at pair of PAFA shows

Thomas Hine's review of the recently opened exhibition Women in Motion: 150 Years of Womens Artistic Networks at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will delight the art history lovers.

"The premise of the show, as suggested in its subtitle, is that women needed to develop networks — which…

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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.
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Perspectives
Painting by Nasir Young Day to Day

Almost Looking in Reverse: Nasir Young '21

Nasir Young had a busy start to the summer. He opened his first full collection at PAFA’s Annual Student Exhibition, sold all 13 pieces, and graduated as the Undergraduate Commencement speaker.

Nasir’s collection for ASE featured numerous Philadelphia cityscapes, many in oil. “I’m still stumped…

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Perspectives
Anne E. McCollum profile

Anne E. McCollum Announced as Chairperson of the Board of Trustees

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is pleased to announce the election of Anne E. McCollum as the organization's new chairperson of the Board of Trustees. McCollum will succeed Kevin Donohoe as the first female leader of America's first art museum and school. Donohoe will remain on the board…
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Press Release
Lenfest-plaza-night

COVID Vaccination Requirement for College Students

As we noted in April, the College is planning to be more fully on campus this fall and a return to near-normal capacities in Stiles Hall. We also want to be part of the solution to ending this pandemic, just as our campus has played a meaningful role in containing the virus’s spread. As a critical…

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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…

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In the News
jill adler mfa ase install

MFA Student Jill Adler '21 Reflects on Her Art Practice and Community

The graduation class speaker reflects on what it means for an artist to have access to a skilled community, from The Brodsky Center papermaking studio at PAFA to greater Philadelphia.
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Perspectives
broad

PAFA Announces Organizational Changes as reimagining and Presidential Search begins.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) announced that on the heels of a nationwide search for its next President & CEO, it has paused the Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum position to reimagine its work post-pandemic.
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Press Release
PAFA's Buildings at Night

Honoring Hospital Workers with Free Admission Days

In honor of National Hospital Week, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the Barnes Foundation, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Franklin Institute, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art jointly announce Free Admission Days for Hospital…
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Press Release

About PAFA

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is America's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the fine arts, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and a world-class collection of American art. PAFA’s esteemed alumni include Mary Cassatt, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Thomas Eakins, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.