Alumni Exhibitions
PAFA exhibits artworks by alumni from all of its matriculating programs through a full calendar of Alumni Exhibitions. By building connections between PAFA’s alumni and current students, these exhibitions highlight the histories, lineages, and legacies shared by the school community.
Alumni Exhibitions can be found in the Historic Landmark Building's Alumni Gallery and the Hamilton Building's School of Fine Arts Gallery. Alumni Exhibitions offer a contemporary view of PAFA’s longstanding traditions in art-making and are always free and open to the public.
Current & Upcoming Alumni Gallery Exhibitions
Current & Upcoming Alumni Gallery Exhibitions
Past Exhibitions
Downriver in the Multiverse
In Downriver in the Multiverse, eight PAFA alumni—Donna Backues, Gregory Brellochs, Chenlin Cai, Maureen Drdak, Amy Herzel, Karey Kessler, James Lloyd, and Tad Sare—draw on nature in a variety of ways.
Phantom Landscapes
In Phantom Landscapes, PAFA alumni Alyssa B. DeVille (MFA '12), Georgette L. Veeder (Cert. '78) and Samuel Thuman (BFA '17) portray scenes of personal experiences and open subconscious realms through painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Held Dear
Melissa Joseph (MFA '18) and Chelsea Nader (MFA '18) consider what is valued, forgotten, cherished and taken for granted in Held Dear, an exhibition of drawings, prints, and interactive sculptures.
Impossible Archive
Chosen through an open call juried by PAFA’s Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Museum, Brooke Davis Anderson, and Director of Exhibitions, Judith Thomas, the works of seven PAFA alumni—Kaitlyn Basta, Rosemarie Chiarlone, Jacintha Clark, Emily Elliott, SaraNoa Mark, Kate McCammon, and Ana Vizcarra Rankin—question how one might place themselves within the vast, complexity of existence.
Ghost in the Machine: Video in the Ream of Objects
The Alumni Gallery at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts presents the works of David Dempewolf, Alexandria Douziech, Tyler Kline, and Ashley Wick in GHOST IN THE MACHINE: Video in the Realm of Objects. Subjective worlds of experience, love stories, wandering thoughts, and ruminations on the self and civilization manifest as moving images and moving paintings.
Love Letters to Earth
PAFA’s Alumni Gallery is pleased to present a selection of works by Philadelphia artist, Marguerita Hagan (MFA '10). Inspired by the sea, Hagan’s work is informed by extensive research down to magnifying the networking of micro marine organisms, our planet's champion primary producers.
Drift: Paintings about One Thing and Another
The works of six PAFA Alumni [1979 - 2017] - Philippa Beardsley, Ryan Busch, Mariel Capanna, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Sarah McEneaney and Joseph Rha fit comfortably into an imaginative yet simplified figuration seen frequently at PAFA, inspired in part by the influence of Hobson Pittman [PAFA Faculty 1949 - 72].
Responders
RESPONDERS exhibits work by Binglin Li, Melissa Joseph and Katherine Volpe the 2017 winners of The Fourth Wall competition. Each of these artists recognizes the need for human connection and generates works which address historical incidents and shared traumas.
Take it Away, Keep it Together
Take it Away, Keep it Together showcases altered books and fabrics that share common threads of intimacy and fragility. Kate McCammon and Noah Steinman embrace the reclamation of familiar objects and materials into new and tactile objects, and create an intimate experience for viewers.
Murray Dessner: Illuminations
Celebrated artist and art educator Murray Dessner (1934-2012) was born in Philadelphia and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he went on to teach painting and drawing from 1970 to 2012, shepherding and inspiring countless young artists.
Anne Minich: Boat Series
The PAFA Alumni Gallery presents Anne Minich: Boat Series, a companion exhibition to The Truth of Being Both/And in the Richard C. von Hess Foundation Works on Paper Gallery. Minich, who attended PAFA in 1954 and 1955, is known for her abstract, mixed-media paintings on wood that are often inspired by architectural elements.
Alumni: Stay In Touch
As the first art museum and school in the United States, PAFA is proud of its 7,000 alumni across the globe, who continue to inspire the next generation of artists.
Whether you're newly graduated or celebrating your 50th reunion, your connection to PAFA does not end upon graduation.