PAFA awarded $35,000 "Art Works" Grant from National Endowment for the Arts, supporting upcoming exhibition

PHILADELPHIA (January 15, 2020) -- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is the recipient of a $35,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), it was announced today. This grant will support PAFA's major upcoming exhibition, Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale, which will be on view from July 16—Dec. 6, 2020.

"We are thrilled that the NEA has recognized the importance and artistic quality of this timely exhibition," said Brooke Davis Anderson, Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum. "In an art world where women artists consistently find their work sidelined from museum collections and exhibitions, Taking Space—which is comprised entirely of artwork from our permanent collection—provides a platform for contemporary artists whose large-scale work demands to be seen."

One of PAFA's 2020–2022 exhibitions devoted to women artists, Taking Space invites viewers to consider how size and repetition can be interpreted as political gestures in the practices of many women artists. Co-curated by Jodi Throckmorton and Brittany Webb, this exhibition examines the approaches of women artists for whom space is a critical feature of their work, whether they take the space on a wall, the real estate of a room through sculpture and installation, engage seriality as a spatial visual practice, cast a wide legacy in art history or claim the space of their body.

"Taking Space is an important exhibition for PAFA, and it expands our strong curatorial focus on women artists and artists of color," said Webb. "I am so pleased that the NEA is offering support to this project, which will help us to tell a more multifaceted, inclusive story of American art."

Featured artists in Taking Space include María Berrío, Joan Brown, Elizabeth Colomba, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Eiko Fan, Mary Frank, Viola Frey, Hope Gangloff, Nancy Graves, Clarity Haynes, Ellen Harvey, Orit Hofshi, Barbara Kruger, Leah Modigliani, Elizabeth Murray, Wangechi Mutu, Dona Nelson, Louise Nevelson, Ebony G. Patterson, Debra Priestly, Faith Ringgold, Brie Ruais, Betye Saar, Miriam Schapiro, Mira Schor, Alyson Shotz, Sylvia Sleigh, Becky Suss, Mickalene Thomas, Marie Watt, and Deborah Willis.