PHILADELPHIA (May 8, 2019)--The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) has appointed Amy Lee Ketchum faculty and Chair of Digital and Time-based Media. Ketchum, who will lead the development of this new area of study at the school, was selected for the position following a national search and will begin at PAFA on August 1, 2019.

In this new position, Ketchum will help develop PAFA’s current digital media offerings and will collaborate with faculty, students and staff to develop an undergraduate curriculum in animation and time-based media, as well as new classrooms and digital labs.

“PAFA has a long history of time-based media, including Charles Willson Peale’s 'moving pictures,' David Lynch’s famous vision for a 'moving painting,' which led to his first moving image piece made at PAFA, and our many current students and faculty who work in various forms of video and animation,” said Clint Jukkala, Dean of the School of Fine Arts. “I am extremely excited to have Amy’s expertise and leadership at PAFA as we continue to develop this exciting tradition.”

Ketchum brings to the position a strong vision that bridges fine art, independent filmmaking, and commercial approaches, and an interdisciplinary perspective that connects the handmade traditions of PAFA with digital technology and time-based media. As a teacher, she emphasizes experimentation, digital skill building, professional practices, and an understanding of historical and contemporary art making.

Ketchum received her BA in Art and Architecture from UC Berkeley and her MFA in Animation from the University of Southern California (USC). Her independent films have been screened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Centre Pompidou web channel, and at numerous national and international film festivals. She has directed commissioned animations for documentary television for organizations including the ACLU and The Atlantic. She is a member of the Tiger Strikes Asteroid art collective and has taught animation, drawing, and moving image at the University of Pennsylvania and the Tyler School of Art.

“It is a dream to join PAFA as chair of digital and time-based media,” Ketchum said. “I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and privilege. I’m excited to develop a program that mobilizes the characteristic skill and creative energy of PAFA students towards creating evocative works in time-based media. I look forward to helping uphold the school’s legacy of combining conceptual and technical rigor while cultivating a new community of moving image artists at PAFA.”

You can learn more about Ketchum’s work at amyleeketchum.com.