News

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

Painting Faculty Al Gury Finds Reward in Advocacy

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

Video: Ana Vizcarra Rankin (MFA '12) on her Work in the PAFA Exhibition "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

MFA Resident Critic Eileen Neff Finds the Beauty Behind the Curtain at Philadelphia Museums

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
Gallery view of Jerusalem in museum

William Wetmore Story’s Marble "Jerusalem" Moves for First Time in 30 Years

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
jill adler mfa ase install

MFA Student Jill Adler '21 Reflects on Her Art Practice and Community

The graduation class speaker reflects on what it means for an artist to have access to a skilled community, from The Brodsky Center papermaking studio at PAFA to greater Philadelphia.
Alumni News
David Clyde Driskell, "Flowing Like a River" (1996-97)

Remembering Dr. David C. Driskell (1931–2020)

Dr. David C. Driskell (1931–2020) passed away on April 1. Dr. Driskell was an artist, art historian, and curator who was deeply influential in bringing wider recognition to African American art in the United States. Members of the Museum's curatorial staff have chosen to share their remembrances.
Stories
ashley garner poses with one of her soft sculptures

Ashley Garner '20: Expanding Creative Horizons

PAFA MFA candidate Ashley Garner '20 will expand her artistic practice at MassMOCA's highly competitive emerging artist residency program. Garner was drawn to the residency because of the similarities to PAFA's interdisciplinary and communal MFA program.
Stories
wharton esherick desk and chair

Wharton Esherick: The Art of Form and Function

Step into the exhibition "Wharton Esherick: An Artistic Legacy Through Necessity," in PAFA's Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, and you'll be greeted by an object that you might not expect to see in a fine art gallery. Esherick studied painting at PAFA in the early 20th century, but he is best known for…
Stories
"Street View (Hoagiefest)" 2019 by Alex Da Corte Courtesy the Artist, Karma, NY and Sadie Coles HQ, London

Contemporary Pieces Force a Second Look in "Ancient History of the Distant Future"

At first look, an over-sized Wawa Hoagiefest donut might appear out-of-place in PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building. In the Rotunda "Street View (Hoagiefest)" by Alex Da Corte, a phototex of the artist’s hand clutching a Wawa donut is layered on the wall behind a painting by Thomas Birch. PAFA’s…
Stories
"Falls of Niagara" by William Russell Birch

Landscapes Are Not Neutral, but Rather Perspectives of Power

The waterways depicted in "From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic" are most well-known by their current Euro-American names, but are situated in the homelands of the Lenape people. “Some visitors to PAFA may have heard of the contemporary 'museums are not…
Stories
Taylor Freeman (BFA '22) in Lenfest Plaza

Taylor Freeman '22: Sculptor Gains A Community of Mentors

Sculpture student Taylor Freeman is looking to his PAFA professors for guidance as he embarks on a career as an artist. “I really like Steve Nocella, he is my favorite teacher. He’s taught me a lot about welding and plaster sculpture and bronze pours. I want to learn all of that stuff and soak it up…
Stories
Andrew Snow (MFA '20) in his studio

Andrew Snow (MFA '20): Turning Parking Tickets into Self-Portraits

Second-year MFA student Andrew Snow is turning memories tossed aside by others into art. Discarded Philadelphia Parking Authority tickets become self-portraits for Snow: “It’s playing off of memory and kind of the ghost of a memory.”
Stories

 

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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.