News

Low-Res MFA student Christine Belton painting

Christine Belton '21: Learning for Herself and Her Students

Usually Christine Belton (MFA ’21) is leading a class but this past summer she traded her regular role of teacher for a seat as a student. “I love to teach. For me, my personal practice supports my teaching and my teaching supports my personal practice and it makes this fantastic circle,” she said…
Perspectives
MFA Sara Havekotte in her studio

Sara Havekotte (MFA '20): An Artist Weaves a New Path

Sara Havekotte initially came to Philadelphia in 2018 to study painting and making paintings for collage. But as Havekotte took classes, her work stayed in a material and textile base. She now weaves and sculpts with found objects. “Things began to sort of compact in a singularity of home and…
Perspectives
Adrián Villar Rojas, A study from the series “Two Suns,” 2015. Ceramic sculpture, 7 x 11 x 32 inches. KADIST Collection. Image: KADIST

"Ancient History of the Distant Future" Opens at PAFA September 26th

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is pleased to announce the opening of Ancient History of the Distant Future, a major exhibition featuring work by contemporary artists installed in spaces throughout PAFA's 19th century Historic Landmark Building and in conversation with selections…
Press Release
Alumni Erin Addie '18 and Gary Pergolini '18 move the replica Justice Bell into the Rotunda of the Historic Landmark Building.

Silent No More: Replicating the Justice Bell

Alumni Erin Addie '18 and Gary Pergolini '18 are back at PAFA. The pair recently installed their replica of the Justice Bell in the Rotunda of the Hamilton Building for a temporary exhibition.
Alumni News
Lyn Townes (MFA '19) installs work in the School of Fine Arts gallery.

Lyn Townes '19: Saying It All With Silence

For the past three summers, Lyn Townes '19 been coming to PAFA for the Low-Res MFA program from her Baltimore home to work in silence and explore it. The program is ideal for students who desire the community, support, and rigor of a traditional MFA, but with a flexible structure to fit their lives…
Perspectives
Pax Formicella (BFA '21).

Pax Formichella '21: Exploring PAFA’s Drawing Legacy

Pax Formichella '21 is co-curating a drawing exhibition in the Anne Bryan Gallery. "A Good Habit Formed" focuses on the history of drawing at PAFA from the school’s founding to the present, and features old textbooks, sketchbooks from PAFA’s archives, as well as current student work.
Perspectives
thomas birch, fairmount water works

Washington Post | PAFA Makes the Case for a Schuylkill River School

From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic comes with a provocative and fascinating thesis: that there was indeed a Schuylkill River School, centered in Philadelphia, exploring themes and ideas that would be taken up by far more famous figures, including Thomas Cole…

In the News
Summer Academy student Max Brenneman works on a sculpture during class.

A Family Connection Draws High School Student to PAFA

16-year-old Max Brenneman is following in his older sister’s footsteps. In 2017 after his sister Sophie graduated from the MFA program, Brenneman began taking art classes at PAFA. This summer, Max dives further into his artistic practice by taking classes through the high school Summer Academy…
Perspectives
PAFA Image Placeholder

Getty Foundation Awards Grant to PAFA for Traveling Seminar on Contemporary Prints for New Curators

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) has received a $134,000 grant from the Getty Foundation to offer a traveling seminar on contemporary prints for early-career curators, organized by the Brodsky Center, and to be held in April 2020. This initiative’s primary focus is on training and…
Press Release
PAFA Image Placeholder

PAFA Announces New Board Members

PAFA is pleased to announce the election of five new members to its Board of Trustees: Valentine James "Jim" Link, Jr., Kenneth Mitchell, Sandra "Sandy" Norcross, Joel Koppelman, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby (Cert. '06).
Press Release
Joan Brown, "Self-Portrait" (1977). Oil on canvas, 84 x 72 inches. Museum purchase. © Estate of Joan Brown, courtesy of George Adams Gallery, New York.

Making "Eye Contact"

It might feel like you’re being watched in the Salon Gallery this summer. That's because PAFA's current exhibition of contemporary self-portraits by artists, "Eye Contact," explores how we see, judge ourselves to each other, and take control of a theoretical artistic concept known as gaze.
Perspectives
george beck

More Than 100 Artworks Added to PAFA’s Permanent Collection at Recent Collections Committee Meeting

PAFA has acquired 111 historic, modern, and contemporary works to its permanent collection—including one of the earliest painted views of the Schuylkill River by artist George Beck. In addition, PAFA added works by the Brandywine Workshop, Helen Frankenthaler, Charles Grafly, John Rhoden, Aaron…
Press Release

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.