News

wharton esherick desk and chair

Wharton Esherick: The Art of Form and Function

Step into the exhibition "Wharton Esherick: An Artistic Legacy Through Necessity," in PAFA's Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, and you'll be greeted by an object that you might not expect to see in a fine art gallery. Esherick studied painting at PAFA in the early 20th century, but he is best known for…
Perspectives
joan semmel

Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Awards PAFA $100K Exhibition Grant

PAFA is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a $100,000 grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This grant will support PAFA's upcoming retrospective exhibition of work by the pioneering American painter Joan Semmel. This is PAFA's second $100,000 grant from the…
Press Release
Deborah Will, "I Made Space for a Good Man" (2009)

National Endowment for the Arts Awards PAFA $35K Exhibition Grant

PAFA is the recipient of a $35,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. This grant will support PAFA's major upcoming exhibition, "Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale" (July 16—Dec. 6, 2020), which invites viewers to consider how size and…
Press Release
Image: M. Edlow for Visit Philadelphia

Visit Philadelphia | North Broad Street Neighborhood Guide

PAFA is a pick in Visit Philadelphia's January 2020 guide to North Broad Street, an area of the city that is full of significant transformation.
In the News
Jonathan Lyndon Chase, "For you For us Come back soon" (2019). Seven-color plate lithograph on Somerset Satin white paper, 38 x 30 ⅜ inches. Edition of 10.  Collaborating Master Printer: Peter Haarz. Published by the Brodsky Center at PAFA, Philadelphia.

Brodsky Center Publishes New Lithograph by Jonathan Lyndon Chase '16

The Brodsky Center at PAFA is pleased to publish a new lithograph by the Philadelphia-based artist Jonathan Lyndon Chase (MFA '16). For you For us Come back soon (2019) is the second print that Chase has created as the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Brodsky Center at PAFA.
Press Release
Henry O. Tanner, "Pomp at Philadelphia Zoo" (ca. 1880-86)

PAFA Announces Latest Additions to Permanent Collection

PAFA is pleased to announce the addition of 39 historic, modern, and contemporary works to its permanent collection of American art. Works by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Minerva Cuevas, and Doron Langberg are among the new additions to the permanent collection.
Press Release
David Lynch, Unified Field (Photograph by Matt Rourke / AP / Shutterstock)

New Yorker | The Top Thirty Cultural Moments of the Twenty-Tens

The New Yorker's Troy Patterson selects PAFA's 2014 exhibition of David Lynch's work, The Unified Field, as one of his top cultural moments of the decade:

I see that a certain sort of film critic, possibly possessive, possibly possessed by a bias against the tube, insists upon claiming the third…

In the News
PAFA Image Placeholder

PAFA Welcomes Jill Holler Durovsik to the Board of Trustees

PAFA is pleased to announce that Jill Holler Durovsik has been appointed to the Board of Trustees. Durovsik has had a long and distinguished career in business, and was founder of the consumer services company Corporate Concierge, Inc.
Press Release
Minerva Cuevas The End

Philly Style | The Latest and Greatest to See at Philly's Art Museums

Ancient History of the Distant Future was featured as one of Philly Style magazine's art picks for December 2019.
In the News
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A Message to the PAFA Community

As a museum and school committed to artistic exploration and development, PAFA's first priority is always the safety and well-being of our students and community members. PAFA has strict and publicly accessible policies in place to enforce compliance with Title IX and the Violence Against Women Act…

Arcmanoro Niles for Cultured Magazine | Photo: Aubrey Mayer

Cultured | Arcmanoro Niles '13 Paints Our Internal Lives

Arcmanoro Niles '13 has been selected as one of Cultured Magazine's fourth annual "30 Under 35" list.
In the News
installation view of ancient history of the distant future

Broad Street Review | The Archive of Now

With "Ancient History of the Distant Future," PAFA transforms itself into a meta museum, opening the grand doors to influences unknown at the institution’s 1805 founding. Not long from now, their work will join the ongoing archive, to be considered by artists not yet born. And the conversation will…
In the News

About PAFA

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the United States’ first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers a world-class collection of American art, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and educational opportunities in the fine arts. The PAFA Museum aims to tell America's diverse story through art, expanding who has been included in the canon of art history through its collections, exhibitions, and public programs, while classes educate artists and appreciators with a deep understanding of traditions and the ability to challenge conventions. 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.