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PAFA Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant for William Villalongo: Myths and Migrations Exhibition

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is proud to announce its selection as a recipient of a prestigious National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grants for Arts Projects award. PAFA will receive funding to support William Villalongo: Myths and Migrations, an innovative exhibition that embodies PAFA’s commitment to fostering the intersection of art, culture, and community engagement.

This NEA grant is part of nearly $36.8 million in funding awarded nationwide to support artistic projects in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC. As one of 1,127 awardees in the Grants for Arts Projects category, PAFA joins a distinguished cohort of organizations dedicated to enriching the cultural landscape of their communities through the arts.

About William Villalongo: Myths and Migrations

This exhibition presents 20 years of work by New York-based artist William Villalongo, including figural and narrative paintings, works on paper, and sculpture that incorporate flocking, cut paper, and collage. Villalongo’s practice is informed by research in the natural and social sciences, mythologies and folklore, popular culture imagery, and the history of art — particularly African objects and their appropriation in Euro-American art movements — exploring invisibility and revelation of Black presence against the backdrop of race. Bodies, objects, and interstitial spaces in Villalongo’s work help navigate ideas about seeing and being seen, while also connecting contemporary concepts of presence and erasure with their antecedents through time and across cultures.

William Villalongo is an assistant professor at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York. In 2016, he co-curated Black Pulp!, a traveling exhibition of a collection of printed media produced by Black publishers, Black artists, and non-Black artists, with fellow artist Mark Thomas Gibson. Villalongo is a 2021 recipient of the Rome Prize in the visual arts, awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art; the Denver Art Museum; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Princeton University Art Museum; the Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC; the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC; and the Yale University Art Gallery, among others.

The artist received his B.F.A. from The Cooper Union School of Art, NYC, and his M.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia.

National Endowment for the Arts: Grants for Arts Projects

Grants for Arts Projects (GAP) is the NEA’s principal grantmaking program, supporting a diverse array of artistic disciplines and initiatives that strengthen the nation’s arts and cultural ecosystem. This funding facilitates public engagement with the arts, arts education, and the integration of the arts into community development and well-being strategies.

This year, the NEA awarded $31.8 million to GAP projects, with all grants requiring a 1:1 nonfederal cost share/match. PAFA’s receipt of this grant underscores its role as a leader in advancing the arts and its ongoing dedication to serving as a hub for creative collaboration and innovation.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent federal agency that provides funding and support to encourage the arts and creative expression nationwide. To learn more about NEA grants and programs, visit www.arts.gov.

 

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Featured image: William Villalongo, Specimen, 2023. Stenciled linen pulp paint, black abaca, and collaged inkjet prints on black cotton base sheet, 21 in. dia. Grinnell College Museum of Art Collection.

Last Updated
January 21, 2025 - 3:25 PM

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.