PAFA Introduces New Summer Residency for Undergraduates

Currents: The Summer Residency at PAFA is an innovative six-week residency for rising undergraduate seniors; includes studio space, housing, much more

June 11 - July 21, 2017

PHILADELPHIA (February 27, 2017) – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is excited to announce a new six-week summer residency to provide undergraduate students with an rigorous art-making experience that includes individual studio space and student housing, lectures and critiques, museum and gallery visits, and much more.

Currents: The Summer Residency at PAFA, created by the graduate school, provides an intensive summer studio residency for rising undergraduate seniors.

“It is often during the transition between the third and fourth year of their undergraduate tenure that many students demonstrate the most significant evolutions and reach new levels of maturity in their developing studio practices,” said Didier William, Chair of MFA Programs. “Our program is committed to providing the safest, most challenging space where such profound material, conceptual, and emotional transformations can take shape.

The Currents residency is structured to provide the space, time, and critical rigor that can sustain and support students working in all media. Students can expect a schedule and rhythm that aligns closely with the atmosphere provided by most MFA programs. Through scholarship support provided by PAFA, Currents offers students an affordable option for focused summer study. The program fee of $1750 includes tuition for the six-week program plus housing in PAFA's Stiles Hall.

Additionally, three full scholarships, in memory of Dina Wind, will support the admission of women artists working in sculpture, installation, assemblage or video.

The deadline is March 17, 2017. Information on the program and application requirements can be found at www.pafa.edu/currents.

Currents will also include individual studios for each student, local museum and gallery visits, trips to New York City exhibitions, group and individual critiques, conversations with visiting artists, as well as intensive studio coursework in painting and drawing; print and digital media; and sculpture and installation. Students will have full access to PAFA's generously furnished print shop, woodshop, foundry, and digital lab.

“We’re excited to offer this opportunity for students across the country to take advantage of the diverse critical, cultural, and professional resources that PAFA and Philadelphia have to offer,” said Clint Jukkala, Dean of the School of Fine Arts.

This year’s Currents faculty and critics include Didier William, Colleen Asper (Program Director), Troy Michie, Clint Jukkala, Astrid Bowlby, Sarah Peters, Jodi Throckmorton, and Kelli Morgan. Visiting artists will join for lectures and critiques.

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Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the 2005 National Medal of Arts, PAFA is a recognized leader in fine arts education with a world-class permanent collection of American art.