Helping young artists grow is a responsibility Sculpture department chair Rob Roesch doesn’t take lightly. Roesch has taught sculpture at PAFA for 35 years. In his time at the academy, he has watched the department expand, and worked to give students the same experiences he’s had as an artist.
MFA graduate Ha Ninh Pham came to PAFA from Vietnam, looking to grow his ideas. For his next journey, Pham is headed to Maine for the 2018 Skowhegan Summer Residency program. After this residency, Pham hopes to build up his body of work and experience so he can eventually return to Vietnam and teach…
Mario Scarlato (BFA '18) didn’t think PAFA was for him when he was deciding which art school to attend. But by his second year at UArts, Scarlato realized he wanted more painting instruction and transferred to PAFA.
Student walls at the Annual Student Exhibition are an expression of how artists have developed and changed during their time at PAFA. Candace Jensen (MFA ’18) and Rachel Means (MFA ‘18) discuss the path their work has taken as students in the MFA program.
PAFA's After-School Studio Arts Program for High School Students educates 200-300 Philadelphia students each year. The program, which has been running for more than 20 years, is completely free to students. Every week, classes in drawing, oil painting, illustration, comics, life drawing, and anatomy…
In 2018, PAFA took over responsibility for more than 275 works by the late African American sculptor John Rhoden. As the curator of the John Rhoden collection, Brittany Webb is being tasked with stewarding Rhoden’s legacy through a major exhibition at PAFA and distributing the artist’s work among…
Kathy Putnam’s art was always on the backburner as she focused on raising her family and a career in finance, but she kept returning to PAFA. An interest in painting led her to take PAFA's Continuing Education classes 25 years ago, which lead to participating in the school's Post-Baccalaureate…
Blinded in a car accident at the age of 21, sculptor Kathy Faul hasn’t let the disability slow her down. Faul built up her art skills alongside sighted students through Community Education classes. Her sculptural work focuses on carving animals out of stone.
As he graduates from PAFA, Aubrey Brown (Cert. '18) receives the Anne Bryan Memorial Award, named for the first friend he made at the Academy. Bryan’s young life was tragically cut short when she was killed in the Salvation Army Thrift Store building fire and collapse on June 5, 2013, at 22nd and…
Tossing aside his prepared remarks, artist Nick Cave spontaneously took questions from PAFA’s newest alumni at this year's Commencement ceremony. He urged students to take charge of their careers, continue making work, listen to their creative instincts regardless, and challenge themselves as they…
Sculpture professor Jody Pinto has taught at PAFA since 1978 and for 40 years she has pushed her students to seek out new experiences. The chance to explore is what drew Pinto to PAFA as an art student during the early 1960s. Pinto is now stepping away from teaching to focus on her work.
Connections are key to artist Doron Langberg’s (Cert. ‘10) work. His work often features Langberg’s friends, family, and lovers in everyday settings. He hopes by sharing his connections and relationships that people will see him as accessible and relatable.
Alumni 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, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.
