Making Community: Prints from Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Brodsky Center at PAFA, and Paulson Fontaine Press

Exhibition Info
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Fisher Brooks Gallery
Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building
Curated by
Paola Morsiani, Director of the Brodsky Center at PAFA
Making Community explores the special kind of collaboration enabled by printmaking, between the artists and master printers, in the artistic studios and workshops where they create prints. It highlights the intimate partnership between artists and master printers in the realization of technically complex works.

Making Community: Prints from Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Brodsky Center at PAFA, and Paulson Fontaine Press celebrates printmaking, a longstanding ever-expanding artistic form, especially at PAFA. This exhibition brings together an exceptional group of nearly one hundred artworks from PAFA's Permanent Collection, selected from nearly two hundred artworks in this medium that have recently been acquired by PAFA. Presented together, the prints contribute a compelling overview of contemporary American printmaking over the past forty years, through a rich range of traditional techniques and technologically new formats, by four generations of influential artists whose work is not frequently seen in American art museum collections. 

Making Community: Prints from Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Brodsky Center at PAFA, and Paulson Fontaine Press  includes the following artists:

Terry Adkins, Emma Amos, Eleanor Antin, Edgar Arceneaux, Nancy Azara, Radcliffe Bailey, Louisiana Bendolph, Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta P. Bennett, John Biggers, Camille Billops, McArthur Binion, Willie Birch, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Ed Clark, Sonya Clark, Betsy Damon, Mary Beth Edelson, Allan L. Edmunds, Melvin Edwards, Lauren Ewing, Howard Finster, Charles Gaines, Harmony Hammond, Barkley L. Hendricks, Curlee Raven Holton, Lonnie Holley, David Huffman, Margo Humphrey, Richard Hunt, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Wadsworth Jarrell, Samuel Levi Jones, Byron Kim, Joyce Kozloff, Samella Lewis, Alvin Loving, Kerry James Marshall, Clarence Morgan, Tanya Murphy-Dodd, Diane Neumaier, Odili Donald Odita, Pepón Osorio, Loretta Pettway, James Phillips, Howardena Pindell, Robert Pruitt, Martin Puryear, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, John T. Scott, Miriam Schapiro, Carolee Schneemann, Joan Semmel, Gary Simmons, Sylvia Sleigh, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Kiki Smith and Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, Vincent Smith, Joan Snyder, Nancy Spero, May Stevens, Athena Tacha, Janet Taylor Pickett, Hank Willis Thomas, Lava Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Richard Tuttle and John Yau, June Wayne, Stanley Whitney, Carl Joe Williams, Deborah Willis, Fred Wilson, and Martha Wilson.  

Explore More

Allan Edmunds Interview

Printmaker Interviews

Discover the printmakers of Making Community in these interviews, archived on PAFA's YouTube channel.

Exhibition Support

Making Community: Prints from Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Brodsky Center at PAFA, and Paulson Fontaine Press is generously supported by Laura and Richard Vague. Additional support is provided by Ralph Citino and Lawrence Taylor, Jules and Connie Kay, Howard Sacks and Vesna Todorović Sacks, Linda Seyda and Robert Boris, and an anonymous donor.

 Special Exhibitions are generously supported by Emily and Mike Cavanagh, Jonathan L. Cohen, Ro and Martin King, Robert E. Kohler and Frances Coulborn Kohler, John and Leigh Middleton, Maggie and Brien Murphy, and Dorothy and Ken Woodcock. Additional support is provided by the Armand G. Erpf Fund and the PAFA Annual Exhibition Fund.

News and Press

Philadelphia Inquirer | Shows at PAFA Spotlight Two Generations of Black Artists

Reporter Thomas Hine looks at two current PAFA exhibitions, "Awakened in You" and  Making Community, for the Philadelphia Inquirer, calling the shows "intimate" and "communal".

Philadelphia Inquirer | Spring 2020 Art Museums Preview

The Philadelphia Inquirer highlights PAFA's spring exhibitions, Making Community, At One Stroke, "Awakened in You", and Invisible City—for its roundup of Spring 2020 programming.

Philly Influencer | PAFA celebrates 40 years of American printmaking and Helen Frankenthaler with new exhibits

Philly Influencer reviews PAFA's newest exhibitions: "The world-renowned institution has flawlessly assembled an astounding group of artists in these new showcases, which collectively feature more than one hundred pieces of art."

PAFA Announces Partnership With Paulson Fontaine Press Making It the East Coast Repository for Editions by African American Artists

During its most recent Collections Committee meeting, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) announced a relationship with the Paulson Fontaine Press to be the only East Coast repository for all of its prints by African American artists. The museum also added nearly 40 historic, modern and contemporary works to its permanent collection of American art at the quarterly meeting.
Related Events
Member Program

Member Preview: Making Community

PAFA Members get to enjoy an exclusive first look at our newest exhibition celebrating the art of printmaking before it opens to the general public.
Member Program

Member Preview: Making Community

See the exhibition, which celebrates printmaking as a longstanding ever-expanding artistic form, free and first before it opens to the public.

Making Community Panel Discussion

Walk-Up Tickets Available at the Door

Celebrate the opening of Making Community and the longstanding but ever-expanding artistic form of print-making. Panelists will dive into the history and future of the print and its role in creating space for different voices with comments from Allan Edmunds of Brandywine Workshop and Archives, Judith Brodsky of the Brodsky Center at PAFA, and Pam Paulson and Rhea Fontaine of Paulson Fontaine Press. This conversation about the unique opportunities created through collaborative print-making will be moderated by the Curator of Making Community, Paola Morsiani.

Special Tours

Making Community: Breakfast Tour Celebration!

Meet, greet and breakfast alongside prominent artists featured in Making Community followed by a tour of the exhibition with the curator of Making Community, Paola Morsiani, during opening weekend.

Ticket includes admission to the panel discussion at 2:00 PM.

Sold Out
Special Tours

Papermaking Workshop with Nicole Donnelly

Inspired by Helen Frankenthaler’s prints on hand made paper, learn how to make sheets of paper by hand and then "paint" on it with pigmented paper pulp. Note: participants will be taking home wet sheets of paper, space is limited, and tables for papermaking are at a tall height. For any accessibility questions about this workshop please contact Abby King at (215) 301-4806.

Printmaking Today: Helen Frankenthaler’s Legacy

Ruth Fine, a former curator at the National Gallery of Art, explores Helen Frankenthaler’s printmaking accomplishments in conversation with fellow art world legend Judith Brodsky, founder of the Brodsky Center at PAFA. By highlighting Frankenthaler’s prolific career as an experimental printmaker, Brodsky and Fine will dive into the lasting impact of Frankenthaler as a painter, printmaker, and fellow pioneering artist.
Canceled
Continuing Education

Jennifer Baker: Hand-Printed Monotype Workshop

Seen in the work of Edgar Degas, Michael Mazure and others, learn monotype printmaking methods that do not require a press or shop facilities through PAFA's Continuing Education program. This workshop begins on March 5th and runs for five weeks in the evenings.
Continuing Education

Lisa Hamilton: Introduction to Screenprinting Workshop

Join PAFA's Continuing Education program for a one-day screenprinting workshop with Lisa Hamilton. No experience necessary. Register by February 28th to save your spot.
Canceled

Philadelphia Print Collaborative: Conversations and Community

Philadelphia has long been a hub for printmaking, from Ben Franklin’s broadsides, to the 1970’s founding of Brandywine Workshop, to 2010’s Philagrafika, all the way to the present. Come meet local printshops and printmakers from the Philadelphia area- all in one place! Hear their stories, see their prints, and watch live demos. Followed by a panel discussion on Philadelphia’s future as a creative city with panelists Cindi Ettinger, Amze Emmons, and Paola Morsiani.

Canceled

Lonnie Holley

Lonnie Holley is a man of many myths and talents. Self-taught artist, musician, and filmmaker, he started carving sculptures from sandstone and then settled on his preferred material: found objects. Holley was born 7th of 27 children during the Jim Crow era in Birmingham. Come hear about Holley’s improvisational music, art, and his unique story when you take your seat at this Director’s Table event.

Canceled
PAFA Performances

Lonnie Holley: Performance and Artist Talk

Experience an evening with the artist, including a screening of Holley’s film "I Snuck Off the Slave Ship" and a short musical performance. A conversation with Holley and his collaborator Matt Arnett follows.
Canceled
Continuing Education

Dan Miller: Woodcut Workshop

Join PAFA's Continuing Education program for a 2-day woodblock printing workshop with artist Dan Miller. A PAFA faculty member for over 50 years, Miller will guide participants through all aspects of the woodblock printing process. Register by March 6th to save your spot.