News

Graphic of gold dots and thumbnails of art

Alumni Awarded 2023 Wind Fellowships

Pafa Alumni Dara Haskins (BFA '19), Athena Scott (MFA '22), and Meg Wolensky (BFA '14) have been awarded 2023 Wind Fellowships. Join their virtual artists’ talk on February 2nd.
Alumni News
students standing and eating in open gallery area with elevators and large window behind

Rachel Saunders (MFA ’23) Creates Moments of Inspiration with Gallery 8

Rachel Saunders’s favorite space on the campus lies nestled away from the public eye on the 8th floor of the Hamilton Building, surrounding the elevators that transport her and her fellow MFA students from the streets of Philadelphia up to a haven of artist studios.
Perspectives
painting of people on a beach

Art Keeps Him Young: CBS News Interviews Alumni Philip Cohn

CBS News interviews the artist for the exhibition Philip Cohn: My Life's Work on view in the Alumni Gallery, in "99-year-old Philly artist shows how fine arts keeps him young."

"The important big deal is me getting in front of the canvas and working today, that's the big deal, not the show,"…

Alumni News
Two men in yellow shirts assist artist in assembling white sculpture molds

Zofia Chamera (MFA ’22) Writes a New Story on White Pages and Paper

For her culminating work at PAFA, Zofia Chamera (MFA ’22) created Shedding Fear, a 7-foot paper figure which debuted at the Annual Student Exhibition in the spring of 2022 and then showed in Italy two months later for the Lucca Biennale, an art, architecture, and design exhibition dedicated to paper…
Alumni News
print with drawings of figures

WHYY | Gift/Deeds exhibit at PAFA highlights selections of 20th century art

WHYY Host Priyanka Tewari sat down with Philadelphia-based artist, activist, and collector, Ofelia Garcia and Dr. Brittany Webb, curator of Gift/Deeds: Collectors at PAFA, to speak on how and why people collect art.
In the News
Brittany Webb headshot

Curator Brittany Webb is Juror to Select Artist to Honor Marian Anderson

Peter Dobrin reports in The Philadelphia Inquirer that the artist Tanda Francis has been chosen to create a statue of the renowned vocalist Marian Anderson from South Philadelphia, to stand outside of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

PAFA curator, Brittany Webb was on the jury panel that…

In the News
Anna Marley standing in front of landscape painting with fox in snow and crows above

Philadelphia Inquirer | Is this painting of a fox one of the greatest works of American art?

Julia Shipley reports on several national art scholars' favorite selections from the exhibition, including The Fox Hunt by Winslow Homer, as well as works by Harriet Hosmer, May Howard Jackson, and Georgia O'Keefe.
In the News
gallery with Making American Artists text and two large portrait paintings

Rewriting the Story of American Art with Making American Artists

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts rewrites the story of American Art with Making American Artists: Stories from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1776–1976. (October 6, 2022—April 2, 2023)
Press Release
Power Players in Education Eric Pryor

Eric Pryor in Metro Philadelphia's List of Education Power Players

PAFA President Eric Pryor is in Metro Philadelphia's list of Education Philly Power Players today. Eric spoke about the personal growth inherent in an art education, and the necessity to champion equity in arts education.

"When I meet with PAFA students, I am consistently impressed with how the…

In the News
gallery with small works on paper

Curator Brittany Webb Art Watch Interview

Dr. Brittany Webb, Evelyn and Will Kaplan Curator of Twentieth Century Art and the John Rhoden Collection, spoke to Art Watch about her current exhibition Gift/Deeds: Collectors at PAFA. Art Watch is a radio show with Constance McBride in conversation with culture producers—artists and creative…

In the News
Woman sits on stoop in front of white wooden door

Animation Chair Amy Lee Ketchum on Building a Dream Program

When she began her position as PAFA’s chair of animation in 2019, Amy Lee Ketchum found herself with the unique opportunity to build a program in which students follow their interests and emerge able to make a career of those interests, no matter the field.

“I got to envision ‘What is my dream…

Perspectives
hanging mobile sculpture

Philadelphia Inquirer | Where to find 10 extraordinary artworks by the Calder family on display in Philadelphia

The Calder Foundation has unveiled its vision for "Calder Gardens" in Philadelphia, a new home to showcase three generations of Philadelphia artists. In anticipation, Stephen Salisbury includes PAFA's ties to the Calder family in the Philadelphia Inquirer, highlighting where to view their work even…

In the News

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.