Sculpture professor Jody Pinto has taught at PAFA since 1978 and for 40 years she has pushed her students to seek out new experiences. The chance to explore is what drew Pinto to PAFA as an art student during the early 1960s. Pinto is now stepping away from teaching to focus on her work.
Connections are key to artist Doron Langberg’s (Cert. ‘10) work. His work often features Langberg’s friends, family, and lovers in everyday settings. He hopes by sharing his connections and relationships that people will see him as accessible and relatable.
For PAFA, the summer exhibition "Infinite Spaces: Rediscovering PAFA's Permanent Collection" is the next step in the museum's commitment to highlighting the work of women artists. "Infinite Spaces" showcases objects from PAFA’s historic collection that have rarely been exhibited, as well as newly…
The Student Docent Program trains high school students from nearly a dozen area high schools and community groups to leading their peers through PAFA's galleries. The program is free to participating students thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
For Stuart Shils (Cert '82), artistry and vision are synonymous. He teaches students to see as a professor in the Painting department and encourages PAFA students to extend the skill of seeing as they develop themselves as young artists.
While finishing up community college in Florida, Ellana Cohen (Cert '18, BFA '19) knew she wanted to leave her hometown of Miami and continue studying art. The breadth of PAFA's work, along with its faculty, brought Cohen to the school as a transfer student.
PAFA's exhibition, “First Academies: Benjamin West and the Founding of the Royal Academy of Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art” looks at the history of the institution, of eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century American artists, and the development of monumental history paintings…
The communal space in the Sculpture department is more than an area to make work for Natalie Mallinoff (BFA '21). It’s where she carved out her place in the PAFA community. Mallinoff was drawn to the school and decided to pursue sculpture after attending PAFA's Summer Intensive program for high…
Luna Garisto (BFA '21) decided to attend the Summer Academy the summer before their senior year of high school to try out PAFA and to build a portfolio that would eventually get them accepted. Summer Academy participants receive the Next Steps Scholarship, which provides financial support to…
In high school, Ivonne Perez (BFA '19) thought she might become a doctor. But after two weeks attending a community college biology program, Perez knew she needed a change and switched to studio art. After receiving her Associate's degree, Perez arrived at PAFA as a transfer student to pursue a…
Professors and faculty members see their students grow as artists and as people during their time at PAFA. For over 30 years, Tony Rosati has led the Printmaking Department at PAFA, he’s seen students struggle and succeed in their work since the introduction of the program in the early 1980s.
Katie Weidlein (MFA '19) embroiders marriage market models onto the dresses, juxtaposing the emotionally charged dresses with examples of behavioral economics. The models attempt to predict the number of marriages. It’s a unique pairing but combining art with economics comes naturally to Weidlein…
About PAFA
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the United State's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the fine arts, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and a world-class collection of American art. PAFA’s esteemed alumni include Mary Cassatt, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.
