Founded in 1805 as the first school and museum of fine arts in the United States, PAFA is a National Medal of Arts recipient that celebrates the transformative power of American art and art-making through its collections, exhibitions, and education programs.
Carefully restored, cared for and added to, the cast collection at PAFA is one of the few great collections in the United States. The objects in the collection are superior in craftsmanship, often being first castings from the original sculptures, and are now very rare.
Vincent Desiderio has played a major role in reclaiming painting as a valid and significant medium in late 20th-century art. He started out as an abstract painter before he focused on representational work.
As a contemporary painter, Barkley L. Hendricks has made pioneering contributions to African American portraiture and conceptualism. He is best known for his striking and provocative life-sized portraits.
Award-winning illustrator Kate Samworth studied traditional painting and drawing at an atelier, then transferred to PAFA for her BFA. She credits PAFA's printmaking and sculpture facilities as playing an important role in developing her creative voice: “[They] gave me the chance to experiment in new…
Jon Laidacker was the lead muralist on the 85,000-square-foot "How Philly Moves" image that graces the Philadelphia International Airport parking garage walls near Interstate 95.
“As a recent Fulbright Senior Scholar, my latest work in Nepal has inspired a renewed appreciation of my debt owed to PAFA. ... The school was crucial to my development as a global artist."
Passersby outside the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building are seeing PAFA in a whole new way: through the windows of the new Broad Street Studio, a permanent space dedicated to demonstrating the creative process that happens every day in studios and classrooms.
The oldest art museum and art school in the United States, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is dedicated to training fine artists from around the world and collecting, exhibiting, and researching the history of American art. If we were to borrow one work of art from the vast…
This fall, Didier William will become the new Chair of PAFA’s MFA program. He brings to PAFA’s two-year, interdisciplinary program an accomplished background, having served as Graduate Critic at Columbia University and Yale University, and Visiting Assistant Professor at Vassar College. Hailing from…
Njideka Akunyili Crosby was born in Enugu, Nigeria. Her paintings, characterized by rigorous figuration, explore the artist’s complex relationship to both Nigerian and Western culture. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe and is in the collections of PAFA…
In November, PAFA’s School and Community Partnership Program received an enormous boost--a $300,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation. The grant will provide the Museum Education Department the opportunity to continue developing what has already become a robust educational program, both at the…
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at visitorservices@pafa.org — we’d love to help!
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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.
