Dr. Anna O. Marley

Chief of Curatorial Affairs and the Kenneth R. Woodcock Curator of Historical American Art,  Anna O. Marley joined PAFA in March of 2009. Marley is a scholar of American art and material culture from the colonial era to 1945 and holds a B.A. in Art History from Vassar College, an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware.

At PAFA, Marley has curated over 16 exhibitions, including Public Treasures/Private Visions: Hudson River School Masterworks (2009); Anatomy/Academy (2011); "A Mine of Beauty:" Landscapes by William Trost Richards, editing the accompanying catalog, as well as the touring retrospective Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit (both 2012), and editing the acclaimed accompanying catalog, published by the University of California Press. Marley's more recent exhibitions at PAFA include Spiritual Strivings: A Celebration of African American Works on Paper (2014); the 5 venue nationally touring Artists Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement, 1887-1920 (2015) and the accompanying catalog published by University of Pennsylvania Press; Thomas Eakins: Photographer (2016); From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic (2019); "Women in Motion: 150 Years of Women’s Artistic Networks at PAFA" (2021); and "Making American Artists: Stories From PAFA, 1776 - 1996" (2022) which will embark on a six-venue national tour in 2023. 

Marley’s professional affiliations include serving as former Chair of the Association of Historians of American Art (2014-2016); US Liaison, AAMC Foundation Engagement Program for International Curators (2016-2018); Visiting Professor, Mellon Foundation Curatorial Track Ph.D., University of Delaware (2017); Center for Curatorial Leadership Fellow (2020); Advisory Board Member of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College (2015-2020) and current Advisory Board Member of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art Journal.