News

painted illustration of carnations by rosa m towne

Edward Tabor shares the discovery of hidden illustrated books in Harvard's Botanical Museum and how it connects to Shakespeare and a PAFA student, Rosa M. Towne (1827-1909), who painted illustrations of  plants mentioned by Shakespeare.

From Tabor: 

"She wrote that she had decided to do the…

In the News
Hiro Sakaguchi sits in studio with crossed arms and artwork in background

Perhaps few of us can sympathize with a fish. A drawer and painter—and self-described as awkward and imaginative—PAFA’s continuing education instructor Hiro Sakaguchi is one of those few. 

One of Sakaguchi’s most-seen paintings depicts Niagara Falls with a bear catching one of several airplanes in…

Alumni News
Artist Eustace Mamba stands on top of marble balcony

Originally from Manhattan, N.Y., Eustace Mamba entered PAFA in 2016. He received a BFA in illustration and is currently pursuing his MFA. Among other prizes, Mamba has received the 2019–2020 Raymond D. & Estelle Rubens Travel Scholarship. His “Weighing Escape Options” was acquired through the Judith…

Alumni News
Camp Still Life

PAFA has partnered with the Satell Institute – a Philadelphia-based Think and Do Tank dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility - in their YES (Youth Enrichment Series) Initiative in 2021, to provide free scholarships to any student who wanted to learn safely and socially online over the summer…

Custom sheets of paper in yellow, orange, and red dry on a large table

“I’m primarily a painter”—an understatement from PAFA alumna Sarah McEneaney, whose autobiographical paintings can be seen in permanent collections from coast to coast—"but I have made some sculpture in the past throughout the years and they've mostly been animals. I think that’s because I live with…

Alumni News
Al Gury stands in front of group of students, leading in-studio lecture

Al Gury wears many hats, to say the least. At PAFA alone he chairs the painting department, teaching at the undergraduate, high school, and continuing education levels, and directs the After-School Studio Art Program for young people in the city. He also works with Mural Arts Philadelphia, people…

Stories
Global Optimization Diagram installed in 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 Women…
Alumni News
Artwork documentation of Man in Blue Looking Eileen Neff

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…

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

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…

In the News
Gallery view of Jerusalem in museum
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.
Stories
Anne E. McCollum profile
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…
Press Release
Clarity Haynes, with her painting "Janie" (left), at the “Taking Space:

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…

In the News

 

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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.