News

sign for Making American Artists that feature Winslow Homer's Fox Hunt.

Adventures in American Art: A Curator's Trip to Albuquerque

A Travel Log with Dr. Anna O. Marley

As a museum curator, when the opportunity arises to embark on new adventures, you not only seize it but relish every moment. In late May, PAFA Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Kenneth R. Woodcock Curator of Historical American Art, Dr. Anna O. Marley got to travel…

Perspectives
open attic space

Philadelphia Inquirer | Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ new HVAC project is just the start of work — if millions more can be raised

"Key to the institutional retooling are repairs to one of the crown jewels in the relatively small inventory of surviving Frank Furness-designed structures — PAFA’s historic landmark building just north of City Hall. The Academy has about $5.5 million in hand for a $10 million project to replace the…

In the News
Hubert Davis, Spring in the Coal Regions, 1944, oil on canvas, 26” x 36”, 1945.2.

Broad Street Review | The World’s Oldest Mountains Get a Gallery at Last, PAFA presents Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment

Lately, museums have been exploring our complicated, often rapacious relationship with the natural world. DC’s National Portrait Gallery is currently showing Forces of Nature: Voices that Shaped Environmentalism, and last year the Brandywine Museum of Art mounted an exhibition titled Fragile Earth…

In the News
headshot of Anna Marley

Toledo Museum of Art and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Announce New Role for Anna Marley, Ph.D.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Anna Marley, Ph.D., currently the Chief of Curatorial Affairs and the Kenneth R. Woodcock Curator of Historical American Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), has been named the Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA). In her new role, Marley…

Press Release
Photo of the commencement speaker.

Yes I Can, and I Will: Clarity Haynes' Inspiring Words at PAFA 2024 Commencement

If you don’t see it in the world, you have to make it.

—Clarity Haynes, 2024 PAFA Commencement Address

Incredible words of wisdom and inspiration from artist and #PafaAlum Clarity Haynes (Cert. ‘03) during this year's commencement ceremony deeply resonated with the graduates, making this milestone…

Perspectives
HLB exterior

The Historic Landmark Building (HLB) at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Goes “Offline” for Renovations

PHILADELPHIA – June 28, 2024 | The iconic, Frank Furness-designed Historic Landmark Building (HLB) at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), 118 North Broad Street, will be temporarily “offline” for planned renovations to its HVAC system. The building will be unavailable to the public…

Press Release
Hubert Davis, Spring in the Coal Regions, 1944, oil on canvas, 26” x 36”, 1945.2.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Opens Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment

PHILADELPHIA–June 24, 2024 - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) opens Layers of Liberty: Philadelphia and the Appalachian Environment, on view June 27 through November 7, 2024, in the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building at 128 North Broad Street. Curated by Ali Printz, PAFA’s Terra…

Press Release
Anna Bogatin Ott standing in front of a painting hung on the wall.

“I just want to share beauty and be who I am…” | Art as Experience with Anna Bogatin Ott

Anna Bogatin Ott shares her journey and inspiration, reflecting on her painting "Everglades," influenced by her visit to Everglades National Park after emigrating from the Soviet Union. Her work, now in PAFA's permanent collection, marks her transition from drawing to painting. Bogatin Ott…
Perspectives
Maggie Bosco (MFA 2023), Arch on Broad, 2023, 48 x 60 in., oil on linen, photographed by Adrian Cubillas.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Opens its Annual Student Exhibition, Showcasing nearly 1000 Student Artworks

PHILADELPHIA – May 3, 2024 - The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) opens its 123rd Annual Student Exhibition (ASE), a capstone exhibition celebration of the Academy’s student artists. A unique chance to view and purchase works by the art world’s emerging talents, ASE opens with the Previe…

Press Release
an adult helping a kid at a arts and crafts table during the Spring Festival

PAFA Celebrates Art and Community with FREE Spring Family Festival, Sunday, April 28

PHILADELPHIA – April 17, 2024 – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) holds its annual free Spring Family Festival, celebrating art and community, Sunday, April 28, 1:00-3:00 pm in Lenfest Plaza, 118-128 N. Broad Street. A raffle to win a free week of Summer Art Camp will be held during…

Press Release
Oil on canvas painting with spot glitter and mirror marker depicting two guinea fowl in a blue and yellow circle, with a purple rhombus shape in the background.

Art Herstory: The Painting Driven Life of PAFA Alum Barbara Sosson

Featured image: Barbara Sosson, GUINEA FOWL, 2023, oil on canvas with spot glitter & mirror marker, 48 x 36 inches. © Copyright, Barbara Sosson, Philadelphia, PA USA.

PAFA is deeply intertwined with the life stories of numerous artists, including Barbara Sosson, the president and treasurer of the…

Perspectives
Installation view of Artists as Cultivators looking through a doorway to the Washington Foyer and another doorway

River Towns Magazine | Birthplace of the American Art Museum

River Towns Magazine | Spring 2024
"Birthplace of the American Art Museum" By Patti Zielinski

"The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia, holds a dual distinction as America’s first art school and first museum of fine arts. Inside the museum, visitors will find a world-class…

In the News

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.