After the successful pilot return of PWYW Friday Nights during the final three weekends of Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 (November 8, 2025–February 16, 2026), the museum extended PWYW Friday Nights for A Nation of Artists (on view until July 5, 2027) to celebrate the museum’s 150th anniversary and America’s 250th. This expanded access began on the exhibition’s opening weekend, April 10, 2026, and was originally set to end this Friday, September 4, 2026.

“Pay What You Wish admission is central to the museum’s mission of connecting more people across the region with art,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Since the museum reinstated Pay What You Wish, we have seen a remarkable increase in attendance at Friday Nights. This important initiative needs to remain a key part of our commitment to the community.”

Since the PWYW offer returned on April 10, 2026, Friday Nights visitation has increased by 87% compared with attendance on Friday Nights during the same period in 2025 when admission was $15 for adults. Attendance on Friday evenings to date has reached 36,411 visits, surpassing last year’s attendance of 19,513.

This continued commitment to accessibility is made possible by an anonymous donor along with the William Penn Foundation. Their generous gifts will offset reduced admissions fees, ensuring that visitors have an affordable opportunity to engage with the arts.

Media Contact
Carolynn McCormack | carolynn.mccormack@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseumart

Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2026 — The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Joanna Robotham as the John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Curator of Contemporary Art and Colm Peare as Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. Robotham comes to the PMA from the Tampa Museum of Art, where she has worked for the last ten years. Peare joins the PMA from the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

“Welcoming Joanna and Colm to the museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art department marks an exciting new chapter for our curatorial programming,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Their fresh perspective and vision strengthen our commitment to supporting living artists and expanding the conversations our institution can foster.”

Robotham will lead the exhibition, interpretation, cultivation, and strategic growth of the museum’s contemporary art holdings. In dialogue with the PMA’s modern collection, the contemporary art collection traces the evolution of artistic experimentation across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It is comprised of approximately 1,200 works of painting, sculpture, film, and digital media and holds major works by artists including Agnes Martin, Cy Twombly, Barkley Hendricks, Jasper Johns, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Nauman, Bob Thompson, Ellsworth Kelly, Eva Hesse, and Robert Rauschenberg, among many others.

As the Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tampa Museum of Art, Robotham oversees the modern and contemporary collection of approximately 7,000 objects, including robust acquisitions of Caribbean, regional, and women artists. She recently organized Jun Kaneko: Silence Before Sound, the 2025 survey of the Japanese-American master ceramicist in conjunction with the acquisition of one of the artist’s monumental Dango sculptures. Past curatorial projects at the Tampa Museum of Art include Suchitra Mattai: Bodies and Souls (2024); Pepe Mar: Myth and Magic (2023); Frank Stella: What You See (2020); Ordinary/Extraordinary: Assemblage in Three Acts: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Purvis Young, and Haitian Vodou Flags (2019); Vapor and Vibration: The Art of Larry Bell and Jesús Rafael Soto (2018); and Mernet Larsen: Getting Measured, 1957-2017 (2017). Robotham previously held the Neubauer Family Foundation Assistant Curator position at the Jewish Museum in New York City.

Robotham received her Master of Arts in Curatorial Studies from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Political Science from the University of Washington.

“The Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of the nation’s premier art institutions, and it is a privilege to join its staff as the John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Curator of Contemporary Art. I am delighted to work with Eleanor Nairne, the Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art, to advance the contemporary art initiatives and scholarship at PMA. I am also drawn to Philadelphia’s extraordinary creative community, and I look forward to meeting the artists who call the city home,” noted Robotham.

As the Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Peare will organize special exhibitions and commissions, and propose acquisitions. Most recently, Peare was the Assistant Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he worked on exhibitions including Simone Leigh (2027), Painting the French Riviera (2026), Rose Wylie (2026), Michael Craig-Martin (2024), and In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930s (2024). Previously, Peare worked on exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery including Lucy Raven: Rounds (2025) and Noah Davis (2025). Peare received his Master of Philosophy in English Studies from the University of Cambridge and his Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art.

Robotham will begin her new role at the museum on September 8, 2026. Peare joins October 5, 2026.

Media Contact
Carolynn McCormack | carolynn.mccormack@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseumart

Image (L to R): Joanna Robotham, Colm Peare.

Tartsinis will lead the museum’s Department of Costume and Textiles, advancing its distinguished program of acquisitions, exhibitions, research, and public engagement. She will oversee one of the most significant collections of its kind in the United States, comprising works across cultures, geographies, materials, and historical periods, and will guide the department’s continued exploration of fashion, historic dress, textiles, and fiber art as vital expressions of artistic innovation, cultural identity, and social history.

Her appointment comes at a meaningful moment for the department, as the museum honors the extraordinary legacy of Dilys E. Blum, the Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles, who passed away on December 27, 2025. Blum retired in June 2025 after four decades of leadership and was subsequently named Curator Emeritus in recognition of her profound contributions to the Museum and to the field. Building on that foundation, Tartsinis will help shape the department’s next chapter, carrying forward its scholarly rigor while expanding opportunities for audiences to engage with costume and textiles across historical and contemporary contexts.

“Ann is an exceptional curator whose scholarship, vision, and leadership will bring new energy to one of the museum’s most important collections,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “She understands the power of costume and textiles to illuminate histories of culture, identity, creativity, and exchange, and we look forward to the work she will lead as the department enters its next chapter.”

Tartsinis brings to the Philadelphia Museum of Art a curatorial and scholarly practice grounded in fashion and textile history, material culture, craft, and modern and contemporary art. She currently serves as Assistant Curator of Architecture & Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where her work includes leading the research and curation of a major exhibition opening in spring 2027, and contributing to Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture, an expansive presentation exploring the powerful role of athletics in our communities, among other significant projects. Previously she was an Associate Curator at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery, where she worked on a wide range of exhibitions and publications including An American Style: Global Sources for New York Textile and Fashion Design, 1915–1928 (2013); Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette (2015); Carrying Coca: 1,500 Years of Andean Chuspas (2014); and Knoll Textiles: 1945-2010 (2011).

Her scholarship includes the recent book Mondrian’s Dress: Yves Saint Laurent, Piet Mondrian, and Pop Art, co-authored with Nancy J. Troy; “Fashion Studies: The State of the Field,” a special issue co-edited with Sarah Scaturro for Toronto Metropolitan University’s journal Fashion Studies; and writings on numerous subjects ranging from modern craft and Indigenous textiles to fashion photography and bohemian dress. Tartsinis was a Visiting Professor in the Curatorial Studies MA program at the California College of the Arts and has held teaching appointments at the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University. She is currently completing a PhD in Art History at Stanford University and holds an MA in Design History from the Bard Graduate Center.

“It is an extraordinary privilege to lead the Costume and Textiles Department and to steward the PMA's internationally renowned collection,” noted Tartsinis, “I step into a role that was shaped through the pioneering work of former Senior Curator Dilys Blum, whose 40-year career transformed the collection and the field. I am deeply honored to advance her legacy of intellectual integrity and curatorial excellence, while guiding the department into its next phase. I look forward to partnering with colleagues across the museum and engaging with communities throughout Philadelphia to uncover new perspectives on the collection, foster unexpected connections across disciplines and audiences, and ensure that these remarkable objects continue to inspire curiosity, creativity, and critical inquiry.”

Selected from an international pool of accomplished applicants from a search led by Judith Pineiro Consulting, Tartsinis will be part of the curatorial division overseen by Jessica Smith, the Pappas-Sarbanes Chief Curator. She will begin her new role at the museum on September 21, 2026.

Media Contact
Carolynn McCormack | carolynn.mccormack@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseumart

Philadelphia, July 16, 2026–The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce Americana: Photographs 1850-1950, an exhibition exploring how individuals and communities used the camera to document their lives and define their place within a changing nation. On view alongside A Nation of Artists and marking 250th anniversary of American independence, Americana will highlight the diverse histories and perspectives that photography has helped record and sustain.

On view from July 23 – October 11, 2026, Americana will reveal an expansive and complex vision of American identity. From its earliest years in the 1840s, Americans embraced photography as a medium that brought self-representation within reach of more people than ever before. Spanning a century marked by the Civil War, the nation’s centennial, industrialization, mass immigration, and two world wars, this exhibition will present a wide range of photographic practices and formats. Many images were made not by celebrated photographers, but by unknown professionals and amateurs whose images preserve experiences that might otherwise have been lost to history.

“This summer marks a momentous time in Philadelphia as we welcome visitors from around the world,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Americana highlights the strength and diversity of the museum’s photography collection, including compelling depictions of people and communities historically overlooked or ignored in dominant narratives of American identity. The exhibition opens a timely discussion of what it means to be an American as the nation celebrates its semiquincentennial.”

Americana places a spotlight on several of photography’s most important popular formats, beginning with tintypes, which are among the most ubiquitous photographs from the 1800s due to their inexpensive and durable nature. By the late 1850s, most portrait studios offered tintypes, and many itinerant practitioners traveled with their wares, setting up tents at carnivals, fairs, and town centers for a few days before moving on. These traveling photographers primarily made portraits, but were often commissioned to take pictures of homes, businesses, and other scenes. Many of the tintypes in this exhibition were collected by the artist and art dealer Paul Cava, who focused on large-format examples and sought out subjects with mysterious and charged qualities.

By 1907, a fad for photographic postcards took hold in the United States. For a small fee, the Eastman Kodak Company printed any photograph for its customers on postcard stock, with room for senders to include stamps, addresses, and personal notes on the back. Millions of these postcards were made and sent over the subsequent few decades. Their subjects are innumerable, ranging from notable local landmarks to prank images and mundane home scenes for far-away friends. The exhibition includes a group that record small-town baseball teams, which had become a near-universal presence in communities across the land by the early 1900s.

Also on display will be rare examples of American collage, highlighting three particularly large and ambitious productions donated to the PMA by Jennifer Anne Tucker and Gerald Lang, and Robert Yoskowitz and Elissa Orlandi-Young.

“What makes something quintessentially American? The term ‘Americana’ often conjures artifacts, traditions, and symbols preserved as distinctly American—apple pie, baseball, and ideals such as democracy, simplicity, hard work, and civic engagement. But these references are often selective, elevating certain stories and experiences while obscuring others,” said Peter Barberie, Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center. “This exhibition aims to invite an open-ended, ever-evolving definition of what it is to be American.”

Media Contact
Carolynn McCormack, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

Curators
Peter Barberie, the Brodsky Curator of Photographs and Head of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
Renée Brown, the Horace W. Goldsmith Curatorial Fellow in Photography

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseumart

“Jennifer Thompson brings the curatorial expertise and essential perspective required as we envision the future of the museum together. Under her guidance, she will ensure that our most ambitious ideas are supported by the operational capacity needed to deliver them, allowing us to create exhibitions that are meaningful and innovative while maintaining the highest level of care across these core departments,” said Daniel Weiss, George D. Widener Director and CEO. “It is a privilege to welcome Thompson to the senior leadership team at this pivotal moment in the institution’s history.”

Since joining the PMA in 2001, Thompson has played an essential role in interpreting, displaying, and developing the museum’s collections of European painting and sculpture. She began her career as a research assistant and curatorial fellow before becoming Associate Curator of European Painting and Curator of the Rodin Museum (2008-2015) – a city-owned site and collection administered by the PMA – as well as the Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting & Sculpture, Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Department Head (2015-2026). Most recently, Thompson served as the Gisela and Dennis Alter Curator of European Painting, Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Head of European Art. In June 2026, she oversaw the opening of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow, an exhibition that brings together two of Vincent van Gogh’s sunflower paintings, one on loan from the National Gallery, London, and one from the museum’s own collection. The exhibition remains on view through October 11, 2026.

Thompson has published widely on Impressionism and the history of collecting, and has organized notable exhibitions including: Mary Cassatt at Work (which traveled from the PMA to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Honolulu Museum of Art in 2024-25); The Impressionist’s Eye (2019); Old Masters Now: Celebrating the Johnson Collection (2017): Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting (which traveled to the PMA from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris and the National Gallery, London in 2014-15); Van Gogh Up Close (which traveled to the National Gallery of Canada in 2012); and Late Renoir (which traveled to the PMA from the Grand Palais, Paris and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2009-10).

In her role as Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, Thompson has been responsible for stewarding over 1,200 Italian, Dutch, Netherlandish, and French paintings assembled by the prominent Philadelphia lawyer and bequeathed to the city in 1917. She earned her M.A. in Art History and Medieval History and her Ph.D. in Art History at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Thompson started as Deputy Director of Collections and Exhibitions on July 1, 2026.

Media Contact
Carolynn McCormack | carolynn.mccormack@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseumart

“We have always delighted in seeing how visitors to Philadelphia flock to the Rocky statue on the museum steps. Rising Up has offered deeper engagement with the statue and launched conversations around art, sports, popular culture, and the role of monuments,” said Daniel Weiss, George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “As Semiquincentennial celebrations and World Cup matches, and watch parties continue this summer, providing even more access to Rising Up in its final weeks, and all museum spaces, reaffirms the museum’s commitment to being an inclusive place for everyone.”

In addition to Rising Up, visitors will also enjoy access to ongoing special exhibitions including A Nation of Artists, an exhibition uniting three collections of American art—the Philadelphia Museum of Art  the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Middleton Family Collection, and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow, which brings together two Sunflower paintings, one from the National Gallery, London and one from the PMA’s collection. Opening July 12, Workshop of the World: Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia will explore the city’s distinctive contributions to the Arts and Crafts movement following the Centennial Exposition of 1876, when artists, designers, and craftspeople working across media sought to address the perceived aesthetic decline and social problems that they traced to industrialization.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a world-class collection for visitors from around the world to see. The museum will continue to offer Pay What You Wish admission on Friday evenings through September 4, 2026 (5:00–8:45 p.m.) and admission for the first Sunday of every month is always Pay What You Wish. Accessibility is and will remain a priority. 

To ensure that everyone is welcome, the art museum offers various discounts for seniors, students, and youth. General museum admission for adults is $30. Children 18 and under are always free. 

 

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Carolynn McCormack | carolynn.mccormack@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7859

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org.

Instagram/Facebook/TikTok/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum

Support
Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments is made possible by the Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, IBEW Local 98 / NECA, The Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, and The Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions, and other generous supporters. 

Sponsored by

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.

Admission to Rising Up is generously supported by Zoë S. Pappas.

 The upcoming series of events will offer families a summer of fun and learning through unique hands-on activities in a dynamic and imaginative setting. Centered on themes inspired by the PMA’s current exhibition, A Nation of Artists (on view until July 5, 2027), the programs will encourage children to experiment with materials, share ideas, and discover how art connects to everyday life.

 With drop-in activities in the Art Kids Studio, Pay What You Wish Family Festivals, family tours, storytime for toddlers, and one-day workshops, weekends at the museum will offer something engaging for artists of all ages.

“Art Kids Summer is about welcoming families into the museum and creating joyful opportunities for kids to explore, experiment, and make art together,” said Lindsey Bloom, Associate Director of Family Programs. “Whether families visit once or return throughout the summer, these programs invite everyone to see themselves as artists.”

The Art Kids Summer programs include: 
 

Family Festivals

Join the celebration at two Pay What You Wish Family Festivals on Sunday, July 5, and Sunday, August 2, featuring hands-on art-making, performances, gallery activities, and family-friendly spaces throughout the museum.

Family Festival: Stars, Stripes, & Sprinkles
Sunday, July 5 | 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Art Kids Summer kicks off with a festive, all-ages celebration. Families can whip up mixed‑media “treats” in the Art Kids Studio, decorate larger‑than‑life collaborative cakes with teaching artist Sue Liedke, enjoy a celebratory sing‑along with Ry Noss, designed especially for younger museumgoers, and jam to the talented, non-stop energy of Philadelphia’s School of Rock.

Family Festival: Patchwork Plains & Painted Skies
Sunday, August 2 | 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Traverse the natural wonders of American landscapes. Highlights will include stories with Thembi Palmer, art-making with students who participate in the museum’s Teen Programs, a gallery activity in A Nation of Artists, and an epic performance by Pat Finnerty and Friends’ Tom Petty appreciation band. Take a break in the Sensory-Friendly Quiet Zone in the Eli Kirk Price Room on the ground floor.

Summer Programming

Art Kids Studio
Friday–Sunday | 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

North Vaulted Walkway, ground floor

Experiment with new materials, tools, and techniques in this drop-in art-making program inspired by A Nation of Artists. Projects, artists, and themes will change every few weeks:

July 5–July 19 | Stars, Stripes & Sprinkles

July 24–August 9 | Patchwork Plains

August 14–August 23 | Face to Face

Art Kids Tours
Friday–Sunday | 11:00 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.

Meet in the North Vaulted Walkway, ground floor

Look, discover, and tell us what you think on these playful tours for families.

Little Art Kids: Story Time 
Every Friday | 10:30 a.m.

Meet in the Great Stair Hall, second floor

Toddlers and their grownups can embrace playful, interactive storytime while surrounded by art. 

 

Art Kids Workshops
Days and times vary. Registration required.

Museum teachers will guide children through engaging gallery experiences followed by hands-on projects in the Education Classrooms. No experience is required, and all materials will be supplied. Workshops are one-day classes designed for specific age groups and class sizes are limited. Workshops cost $15 per student, per class ($12 for members). Tuition assistance may be available upon request.

Saturday, July 11 | A Piece of Cake! 
Ages 5–6: 10:30 a.m.–noon
Ages 7–8: 1:00–2:30 p.m.

Saturday, July 25 | Fabric Stories
Ages 5–6: 10:30 a.m.–noon
Ages 7–8: 1:00–2:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 8 | Clay Play
Ages 7–8: 10:30 a.m.–noon
Ages 9–10: 1:00–2:30 p.m.

For a full list of Art Kids Summer offerings, visit philamuseum.org/kids.

Support

Art Kids is supported by 

 

With additional support from The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jennifer and David Cardy, Julius and Ray Charlestein Foundation, Ellen T. and Ronald L. Caplan, Lori and Matthew Espe, Mr. And Mrs. D. Christopher Le Vine, Marrazzo Family Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Leo W. Pierce, Jr., The John J. Pohanka Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7364

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Batiancila is an accomplished philanthropy and civic leader with more than 25 years of experience advancing fundraising initiatives, building high-performing teams, and strengthening mission-driven institutions. His key responsibilities will include leading the museum’s comprehensive advancement strategy; partnering closely with the museum’s Director, Board of Trustees, and Advancement Committee; and championing a culture of collaboration, accountability, and donor-centered engagement in support of the museum’s strategic priorities. 
 

“I am delighted to welcome Neil to the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Neil brings a rare combination of strategic foresight, deep fundraising expertise, and a longstanding commitment to this region. I am confident that his leadership will strengthen the museum’s advancement efforts and help position the PMA for its next chapter of growth and impact. Neil’s appointment marks the completion of the museum’s new senior leadership team, reinforcing the institution’s vision and strengthening its capacity to advance the mission.” 
 

Batiancila joins the PMA from Philadelphia Zoo, where he served as Chief Development Officer, the first in the Zoo’s history. As a member of the senior management team, he oversaw all contributed revenue activities, including charitable operations and government affairs, as well as the Zoo’s marketing and communications. During his tenure, Batiancila played a significant role in leading the Zoo’s most ambitious fundraising efforts and expanding its visibility as a cultural and civic institution. 
 

Previously, Batiancila served as Executive Director, Campaign Operations at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Foundation, where he led For Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs: The Campaign for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a multi-year, multi-faceted $1 billion comprehensive campaign. The effort supported groundbreaking research, innovative community initiatives, education for future leaders in pediatric care, and major expansions of clinical operations including the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care. 
 

Before joining CHOP, Batiancila served as Director of Community Relations at Aramark, where he executed the company’s community involvement strategy and advanced its corporate citizenship efforts. 
“I am honored to join the Philadelphia Museum of Art in this role,” Batiancila said. “The museum is one of the greatest cultural institutions in the world, and I am inspired by its commitment to excellence, education, and access. I have spent my career working with some of the most prestigious organizations in the region, and I look forward to the opportunity to work alongside the museum’s Board, leadership, staff, and supporters to advance the museum’s mission and ensure its continued vitality for generations to come.” 
 

Batiancila earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. 
 

Batiancila will begin his new role at the museum on June 8, 2026.
 

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art | Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

McMath Turner is a dedicated public servant with more than 25 years of experience as a catalyst for change across museums and higher education. Her key duties will include overseeing, planning, and managing all human resource functions; providing strong leadership for the human resources team; and being a champion of the PMA’s core values and commitment to attract, retain, advance, and support the institution’s diverse workforce.

Most recently, McMath Turner served as The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (The Met) first Chief Diversity Officer since 2021. While there, she was the driving force behind integrating DEIA into the museum’s strategy, culture, governance, and operations.

“I am thrilled to welcome Lavita and her expertise to the PMA,” said Daniel Weiss. “Our museum has a great team, and we are looking forward to making it even stronger. We are continually striving to be a more inclusive and equitable institution, and I am extremely confident that Lavita will make a meaningful impact on our executive team. I have had the pleasure of working with her during my previous role at The Met and I know she will be an invaluable addition to our leadership.”

Previously, McMath Turner served as the Assistant Dean for Equity, Inclusion, and Experiential Learning at Stella & Charles Guttman Community College, City University of New York (CUNY), where she led strategies to shape the college’s equity, diversity, and inclusion plans, and provided solutions to equity gaps for students from diverse backgrounds. She was also the first Director of Government Relations at CUNY’s Kingsborough Community College where she spearheaded civic engagement efforts and was a tireless advocate for more equitable access to education. McMath Turner’s background also includes managing the Brooklyn Museum’s government relations department for six years, securing millions in public funding for capital projects, and enhancing the museum’s efforts to engage more deeply with the Brooklyn community.

 “I am honored that the museum has entrusted me with this role,” McMath Turner said. “The PMA’s staff includes some of the best art professionals in the world. I am making a commitment to foster a collaborative, efficient, and respectful working environment, and I look forward to beginning this new chapter.”

In addition to her professional work, McMath Turner serves as a board member of ArtTable, a professional organization dedicated to fostering a welcoming and inclusive arts community, where she advocates for leadership opportunities for women and nonbinary professionals in the visual arts.

McMath Turner holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education from The Graduate Center, CUNY; a Master of Science in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from the New School for Social Research; and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.

McMath Turner will begin her new role at the PMA on July 1, 2026.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art | Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Philadelphia, April 6, 2026– The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to present the first major U.S. retrospective in more than 50 years dedicated to the work of Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968). On view in the Dorrance Galleries from October 10, 2026–January 31, 2027, the exhibition will feature a chronological display of approximately 300 works from a career spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film, printed matter, and the unclassifiable works known as readymades.

The last major U.S. Duchamp survey took place in 1973–74, co-organized by the PMA—home to the world’s largest Duchamp collection—and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Co-organized by the same two institutions, this exhibition will reappraise an oeuvre that transformed the very idea of what art could be.

“We are delighted to join forces once again with The Museum of Modern Art to present an ambitious retrospective of Marcel Duchamp’s work,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, PMA. “Remarkably, Duchamp himself played a key role in guiding the distinguished art collection of Louise and Walter Arensberg, his principal patrons, to the PMA as a gift in 1950. That act made Philadelphia the artist’s permanent home, and today, the PMA holds the world’s most significant assembly of works by Duchamp—comprising some two hundred paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, as well as the most extensive archives relating to the artist’s life and work.”

“When, in 1913, Duchamp produced the first readymade, making use of ordinary, mass produced, commercially-available items, he defied fixed beliefs about the nature and definition of art itself. He also brought forth new ways of being an artist,” said Matthew Affron, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art, PMA. “This retrospective will reintroduce contemporary audiences to Duchamp’s complex ideas, his elusive personae, and his revolutionary approach to making art.”

Duchamp was associated with three of the 20th century’s radical art movements—Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism—yet his practice was one of continuous reinvention, impossible to consolidate under any singular label. Marcel Duchamp will present a chronological survey of the entirety of the artist’s career, from 1900 to 1968. The exhibition’s opening sections will explore Duchamp’s early development: his fledgling efforts as a cartoonist working for the satirical press, his apprenticeship in the various styles of French modern art, and his first flashes of public recognition as a member of the Cubist group in Paris in 1911 and 1912. The rejection of Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) (1912) by his own Cubist associates, and the scandal provoked by its display at the 1913 Armory Show in New York, cemented both the painting’s iconic status and its maker’s enduring reputation as an artistic provocateur.

In 1912, Duchamp began to question his occupation and, remarkably for a young artist who was having his first brush with fame, decided to abandon the craft of oil painting to imagine more independent ways of being an artist. This led to the creation of his magnum opus, the monumental painting on glass titled The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass) (1915–23). One section of the exhibition will offer a rare opportunity to study the full range of materials and approaches that Duchamp employed in his precise planning and execution of The Large Glass. The exhibition will also look at the  invention of the readymades through many of the early examples that remain extant, including With Hidden Noise (1916), Apolinère Enameled (1916–17), and one of the best-known images of the 20th century: L.H.O.O.Q. (1919), Duchamp’s irreverent defacement of a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with added moustache, beard, and a vulgar phonetic pun.

Around 1920, Duchamp began talking about shifting his vocation from art to chess, which he thought had a higher form of abstract beauty. He also took on the female alter ego known as Rrose Sélavy. The exhibition will go on to explore Rrose Sélavy’s work in different specialities. One was language games: aphorisms, puns, tongue twisters, and spoonerisms, or sentences with sounds or letters transposed to humorous effect. The other was machines for producing optical illusions, or visual images with no material reality. 

By the mid-1930s, Duchamp became interested in revisiting his own life’s work in the form of reproductions. The centerpiece of the exhibition will be the work known as Box in a Valise (1935–41), Duchamp’s “portable museum” of his own drawings, paintings, works on glass, and readymades. Not only did the Box in a Valise embody Duchamp’s work in miniature; it also epitomized the positive paradox of his art by advancing his lifelong exploration of originals, copies, and the nature of art in the era of mechanical reproduction. This will be the most extensive presentation of the Box in a Valise to date. The exhibition will feature three deluxe examples, a complete set of standard copies assembled between 1941 and 1971, and a large, never-before-seen selection of preparatory materials detailing the work’s genesis and assembly.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Duchamp gained unprecedented visibility through lectures, interviews, television appearances, publications, gallery exhibitions, and his first museum retrospectives. These exhibitions were made possible, in part, because Duchamp changed his mode of working yet again: he allowed the proliferation of his work via the creation, often by others, of full-scale replicas. The exhibition will feature a comprehensive group of readymade replicas, including iterations of Bicycle Wheel (1913), Bottle Rack (1914), In Advance of the Broken Arm (1915), and the notorious Fountain (1917), the porcelain urinal laid on its back and signed with a pseudonym.

In the final twenty years of Duchamp’s life, when it was generally assumed that his work was complete, Duchamp labored in secret to create Étant donnés: 1° la chute d’eau, 2° le gaz d’éclairage . . . (Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas . . . ) (1946–66), a room-sized diorama with a sculpted female figure in a landscape. The exhibition will conclude with artworks and studies that supported the creation of this final major work (the alter ego of The Large Glass), which was installed at the PMA in 1969, according to Duchamp’s wishes. Visitors will be invited beyond the Dorrance Galleries to visit Galleries 281-283 where The Large Glass and Étant donnés are on permanent display.

Marcel Duchamp is organized by Matthew Affron, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art, PMA; Ann Temkin, the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; and Michelle Kuo, Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, MoMA, with Alexandra “Lo” Drexelius, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; Helena Klevorn, Curatorial Assistant, Department of the Chief Curator at Large, MoMA;  Danielle Cooke, Exhibition Assistant, PMA; and Julia Vázquez, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, PMA.

The exhibition in Philadelphia will follow its presentation at MoMA (April 12–August 22, 2026). A related exhibition will travel to the Grand Palais in Paris in Spring 2027, where it will be organized by Jeanne Brun, Deputy Director, Musée National d’Art Moderne, with Pauline Créteur, Research Assistant to the Deputy Director.

Marcel Duchamp will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue published by MoMA and authored by the PMA and MoMA co-curators, offering a panoramic view of the artist’s work in all mediums. The catalogue essay addresses Duchamp’s museum-like approach to working with private collections, his role as co-founder of the exhibition society known as the Société Anonyme, Inc., his close association with MoMA during its early decades, and his decision to make the PMA the permanent repository of his work.

Media Contact
Laura Coogan, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7864 

Organizing Information
Marcel Duchamp is organized by the Philadelphia Art Museum and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, with the generous collaboration of the Centre Pompidou.

Exhibition Support
This exhibition was made possible through the generous support of the Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, the Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, the Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, the Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for Special Exhibitions, Jaimie and David Field, the Harriet and Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions, the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fund for Exhibitions, Barbara A. Podell and Mark G. Singer, and Jack Shear.

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong

Curatorial Credits
The exhibition is organized by Matthew Affron, The Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; and Michelle Kuo, Chief Curator at Large and Publisher, MoMA; with Danielle Cooke, Exhibition Assistant, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Julia Vázquez, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Alexandra “Lo” Drexelius, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; and Helena Klevorn, Curatorial Assistant, Department of the Chief Curator at Large, MoMA.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, go to philamuseum.org.

Morgan, Korman, and Field Galleries (150–155)

Philadelphia, March 17 - The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce Workshop of the World: Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia, a landmark exhibition exploring the region’s distinctive contributions to the Arts and Crafts movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as its enduring influence upon contemporary makers. A highlight of PMA’s 150th anniversary year, the exhibition will reveal how industrial Philadelphia shaped the achievements of artists, designers, and manufacturers following the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, through more than 250 objects, including ceramics, furniture, metalwork, textiles, and stained glass as well as paintings, drawings, and printed works.

Workshop of the World will reveal how American handcraftsmanship and industry—typically seen as opposing methods of production—were in fact closely intertwined. It will also address how local makers responded to the Arts and Crafts movement’s idealistic drive to improve the quality of manufactured goods and the possibilities of artistic living. The Centennial Exhibition galvanized local support for design reform and education, resulting in the foundation of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art in 1876 (now PMA and the former University of the Arts). Workshop of the World will spotlight the school as an incubator for Arts and Crafts principles, presenting the work of artists who studied and taught at the school, including Samuel Yellin, best known for his intricate ironwork. Yellin’s wrought iron will be shown alongside objects whose makers followed the same ideals of handcraftsmanship and the honest treatment of materials, including earthenware tiles by Henry Chapman Mercer’s Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, oak furniture by Edward Maene, and stained-glass designs by Violet Oakley.

“For generations, makers in the Philadelphia region have sought to mobilize the decorative arts in the service of recovering values of craftsmanship, artistic harmony, and cultural cohesion,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Workshop of the World will demonstrate the unique role that this city played – and continues to play – as a center of innovation and global capital of craft.”

While many Arts and Crafts practitioners worked in large workshops and contributed to architectural commissions across the city, others found refuge in utopian rural communities outside Philadelphia. These communities included Bryn Athyn, where specialized workshops for medieval-inspired stained glass, woodwork, and forged metalwork were organized, and Rose Valley, a community founded on British artist William Morris’s belief that urban environments were antithetical to art making. Works produced in these small-scale artisan workshops will offer insight into how these communities fostered creativity as an essential part of daily life, from Donald Stephens’s oak and wrought iron sideboard (c. 1915) to Frank Jeck’s cherry wood crib (1922) and Bible cabinet (c. 1926).

As the city dealt with the impacts of World War I, craft ideals evolved in the face of rapid modernization. Highlights from this period will include documents of America’s Sesquicentennial Exposition of 1926—an event that underscored national tensions between industry and tradition—and Wharton Esherick’s geometric Radio and Phonograph Cabinet (1936–37), a forward-looking design made by hand yet intended to house technologies that were potent symbols of modernity.

The exhibition’s final section will explore the work of contemporary artists, demonstrating how Philadelphia continues to be an international craft capital. Ceramics by Syd Carpenter and Roberto Lugo, fiber art by Ted Hallman, and a stained-glass work by Judith Schaechter, among others, will show how modern sensibilities and personal convictions are applied to traditional methods, and how contemporary makers have expanded and mined the core principles of Arts and Crafts’ revival, survival, and reformation.

“We are excited to present the first museum exhibition to feature Philadelphia’s creative contributions to the Arts and Crafts movement in the United States,” said David Barquist, the H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., Curator of American Decorative Arts. “A special aspect of Arts and Crafts in this region was the number of communities established outside the city with handcraft production as a primary goal.”

Media Contact
Laura Coogan, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7864 

Curators
David Barquist, the H. Richard Dietrich, Jr. Curator of American Decorative Arts 
Colin Fanning, the Louis C. Madeira IV Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts; 
Elisabeth Agro, the Nancy M. McNeil Curator of Modern and Contemporary Craft and Decorative Arts 
With: Humberto Morales-Cruz, Andrew W. Mellon Post- doctoral Fellow 
Additional support provided by James Miller, Mellon Graduate Fellow, Haley Kane, Center for American Art Summer Fellow, and Erin Dowding, Center for American Art Summer Fellow 

Exhibition Support
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Katie Adams and Tony Schaeffer, Art and Debra Castelbaum, and Martha Hamilton and I. Wistar Morris III. 

Funding for the catalog is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Scholarly Publications at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Decorative Arts Trust, and Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Wein is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of private sector experience working with nonprofit and governmental entities, as well as 18 years of financial, operating, and administrative leadership. He most recently served as the Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Operating Officer at the Brookings Institution. Wein comes to the museum with a robust and proven record of expertise to ensure sound operational and financial decision making.

“I am thrilled to welcome Mitch Wein as an integral member of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s executive management team,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “The fiscal and operational health of our museum is critical, and Mitch has the perfect blend of experience, wisdom, and commitment to our mission to ensure the institution’s bright future.” 

At Brookings, he worked in partnership with the president, was a key member of the executive leadership team and served in the leadership role for the institution’s financial and operating activities. Wein took on the combined responsibilities of a chief financial, chief business, and chief operating officer for one of the most cited think-tanks in the world.

“I’m honored and eager to join the executive team at the PMA,” Wein said. “As one of the greatest cultural institutions in the world, it is a privilege to ensure the continued success of the museum. I look forward to this new chapter.”

Wein has also served in executive administration roles for more than 15 years at national liberal arts colleges, including as the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance at Haverford College and a similar position at Lafayette College. Before his experience in higher education, he worked in the private sector for 20 years as a Managing Director in investment banking with UBS Investment Bank/UBS PaineWebber, and PNC Capital Markets.

A longtime resident of the Philadelphia region, Wein will begin his new role on April 22, 2026.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org
 

 The museum is presenting this expanded access—named Independent Fridays—as it celebrates its 150th anniversary and prepares to welcome local, national, and global audiences for a landmark spring and summer for America’s 250th anniversary.

“We are proud and grateful as an institution to have served the people of Philadelphia for 150 years, and the best way to honor our mission is to make our galleries and programming even more accessible,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Independent Fridays is our birthday gift to Philadelphia, and a reaffirmation of our mission of bring art to people and people to art in Philadelphia.”

This expanded commitment to accessibility is made possible by PMA’s board chair, Ellen Caplan and her husband Ron Caplan, and by the William Penn Foundation. Their generous gifts will offset reduced admissions fees, ensuring that lower-income residents and guests, including families and children, continue to have meaningful, affordable opportunities to engage with the arts.

 The museum recently piloted a return to PWYW Friday Nights for the final three weeks of the exhibition, Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100, resulting in an overwhelming 128% increase in attendance compared to the prior three weeks of January 2026, and an almost 20% increase in the admission revenue over the same three-week period. Previously the museum had a pay what you wish Fridays tradition for many years, which was discontinued in 2024, replaced by a reduced-admission program.

“The energy and delight from our visitors on these Friday evenings is palpable—and connecting with our community is exactly what the museum stands for,” said Ellen Caplan, chair of the board of trustees of the museum. “The Pay What You Wish program is how I was first introduced to the museum as a child. It’s an honor for me and the entire board to support Dan and the museum for these exciting months ahead. There’s no better way to turn 150 than to say thank you to our city.”

This spring and summer, Philadelphia will take on a vibrant new energy as the city marks its semiquincentennial. At the heart of this landmark season, the museum will showcase two major exhibitions that define the moment. Opening on April 12, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts present A Nation of Artists, a landmark exhibition and collaboration with the private Middleton Family Collection. The dual-venue exhibition brings together an expansive range of works that highlight the creative vision and cultural diversity that shaped the United States from its founding through the present. Then opening April 25 will be Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, an exploration of the iconic Rocky statue. Together, these exhibitions anchor a full season of programs that celebrate Philadelphia’s creativity, history, and global spotlight.

For many years, PWYW Friday Nights drew thousands of visitors and served as one of Philadelphia’s most cherished traditions. The return of PWYW Friday Nights reaffirms the museum’s commitment to making art accessible to all.

Visitors can also enjoy the museum’s PWYW Friday Nights signature experience, featuring locally sourced cocktails, light bites, gallery tours, and live music from our DJs-in Residence. With galleries open late, guests can unwind from the week, explore favorite works, and discover new ones.

After September 4, the museum will continue to offer its regular half-off discounted rates on Friday nights at $15 for general admission. Admissions for the first Sunday of every month are always Pay What You Wish.

As the museum celebrates its 150th anniversary, it honors not only its world‑class collection but the millions of people who have shaped its history. Ensuring that everyone feels welcome remains a core priority: children 18 and under are always free, and discounted admission is available for seniors, and students.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7364

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum
TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Philadelphia, February 12, 2026 – The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) present A Nation of Artists, a landmark exhibition and collaboration with the private Middleton Family Collection, on view from April 2026 to September 2027.

Organized in conjunction with America’s 250th anniversary, A Nation of Artists examines how artistic production in the United States has been shaped by creativity, exchange, expansion, conflict, and innovation. At PAFA, works made from the late 18th century to today will be arranged thematically to explore scenes of westward expansion, the rise of industry, and international exchange. At PMA, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026, visitors will encounter a chronological display of American art from 1700 to 1960, revealing the global connections that spurred artistic and technological innovation, as well as makers inspired by the natural world, western expansion, and dramatic shifts in economic abundance and disparity.

Installed throughout PAFA’s recently restored Historic Landmark Building and PMA’s newly renovated American art galleries, the exhibition will chart America’s history from 1700 to the present day through more than 1,000 paintings, photographs, sculptures, decorative arts, and more. Across both museums, more than 120 rarely seen works from the Middleton Family Collection—one of the nation’s most significant private holdings of American art—will be on public view for the first time.

Collective highlights from A Nation of Artists will include:

• Large-scale portraiture and figurative paintings, from Charles Willson Peale’s self-portrait and portrait of George Washington to Thomas Eakins’s famous Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross (The Gross Clinic).
• Lush landscapes and scenes of the natural world by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, Winslow Homer, Rookwood Pottery, and Georgia O’Keeffe.
• Explorations of the Civil War period, including a monumental jar made and inscribed by the enslaved potter Dave, who later took the name David Drake.
• Textiles, ceramics, and sculpture by Native American artists from Haida, Hodínöhšö:ni:h (Iroquois Confederacy), Diné, Hopi, and Pueblo nations and contemporary Lenape artist Laura Watters Maynor (Delaware Tribe of Indians, Wolf Clan).
• Impressionist paintings by Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Daniel Garber, and John Singer Sargent, as well as work by modern masters such as Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol.
• Contemporary artists such as Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Rina Banerjee, María Berrío, Willie Cole, Clarity Haynes, Gisela McDaniel, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Catherine Opie, Stephanie Syjuco, Mickalene Thomas, and Kara Walker, and many more.

“Our aspiration is that this exhibition is for everyone—no prior knowledge of art or history required,” noted John S. Middleton. “We believe in the power of storytelling to connect people and are thrilled to partner with these two storied institutions to share the works that have brought our family so much joy and inspiration. Like baseball, art has the power to bring people together and surprise us when we least expect it. With every viewing, there’s something new to discover. It’s an honor to help bring American art to life in a new way during this very special 250th commemoration of our country’s founding.” 

“This is a transformative moment for PAFA and for Philadelphia,” said Kristen Shepherd, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. “As PAFA celebrates its 220th anniversary as America’s first art museum and school and the reopening of the Historic Landmark Building, we invite audiences into a renewed experience—one that reflects our storied legacy as the nation’s first art school and museum, while offering a powerful setting for a reimagined installation of our collection, enriched by works from the Middleton Family Collection. In collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, we are proud to present A Nation of Artists in a way that is deeply rooted in PAFA’s history, yet forward-looking in its exploration of what defines American art today.”  

“Commemorating the country’s semiquincentennial and PMA’s 150th anniversary, we are honored to collaborate with the esteemed Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the rarely seen Middleton Family Collection,” said Daniel Weiss, George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “A Nation of Artists will span three centuries of art to trace the ever-evolving story of American creativity. This exhibition, a cultural milestone, will bring together voices from around the country through innovative programs, partnerships, and scholarship.”

• For expanded details about the exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, download a supplemental guide HERE.
• For information on the learning, engagement, and programming offered throughout the duration of the exhibition, download a supplemental guide HERE.

To learn more about A Nation of Artists, including exhibition details, programming, and visiting information, visit ANationofArtists.org

Media Contacts

• Rees & Co, Megan Miller |  megan.miller@reesandco.com
• Philadelphia Museum of Art | Laura Coogan | pressroom@philamuseum.org
• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |Lisa Willis |  lwillis@pafa.org 

Notes to Editors

• A Nation of Artists will run from April 12, 2026 to September 5, 2027 at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and from April 12, 2026 to July 5, 2027 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• A joint press preview will be held at both institutions on April 10, 2026.
• Visitors are encouraged to experience both venues, each requiring separate but discounted admission.
• A Nation of Artists will be accompanied by a program of live events including community murals, classes, talks, guided tours, performances, and workshops throughout the year.

Exhibition Support
Support for A Nation of Artists is organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Lead support for the exhibition and programs is provided by The Middleton Family. Major support is offered by the Connelly Foundation, Citizens Bank, and The Victory Foundation. Gratitude also goes to The City of Philadelphia and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, Comcast NBCUniversal, Asplundh, the Henry Luce Foundation, Schoelkopf Fine Art Advisors, Grace and Andrew Schoelkopf, the 25th Century Foundation, Lawrence H. and Julie C. Berger, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Nyheim, Marsha and Richard Rothman Family Foundation, an anonymous donor, and other generous supporters.

The renovation and reinstallation of the American galleries was provided by Robert L. McNeil Jr., Leslie Miller and Richard Worley, Laura and William C. Buck, Kathy and Ted Fernberger, Joan and Victor Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Nyheim, Lyn M. and George M. Ross, Marsha and Richard Rothman, and other generous donors.

 Ongoing support for American Art initiatives and programs is provided by the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, established by Robert L. McNeil Jr..

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.

This exhibition is sponsored by
 

Funding for the publication is generously provided by

The exhibition celebration at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is generously sponsored by

 
 

About the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America’s first museum and school of fine arts. A world-renowned institution, PAFA fosters the study of American art and the training of artists while offering a diverse collection of American painting, sculpture, and works on paper from the 18th century to the present day. PAFA’s museum and school provide an environment for learning, critical inquiry, and making art. To learn more, visit www.pafa.org.

Facebook: @PAFAcademy / Instagram: @pafacademy

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org.  

Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum. TikTok: @philaartmuseum. 

About the Middleton Family Collection
John S. Middleton, widely admired as the managing partner of the Philadelphia Phillies, and his wife Leigh Middleton, a champion in the fight to end homelessness, have been passionate art collectors throughout their nearly 50-year marriage. Presented publicly for the first time, more than 120 works from the Middleton Family Collection, assembled over five decades, will bring added depth and dimension to A Nation of Artists. Works not previously available for public exhibition will offer fresh perspectives on the story of American creativity and history.

June 6–October 11, 2026  
Colket Gallery 251  

Philadelphia, February 11, 2026 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art is pleased to present Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow, a rare presentation of two of Vincent van Gogh’s celebrated sunflower paintings side-by-side. From June 6 to October 11, 2026, the installation will provide a unique opportunity to view two treasured works, one completed in August 1888, on loan from the National Gallery in London, and one from 1889 from the museum’s own collection.

Van Gogh’s sunflowers have never been the subject of a focused study in Philadelphia, and the five large-scale canvases in existence today—held in collections in London, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, Munich, and Tokyo—have only been seen together in the United States twice, in Chicago in 2001 and Philadelphia in 1954. Their international display is rare, and this exhibition will offer a fresh look at Van Gogh’s fascination with the subject, as well as his motivations and ambitions behind the series.

In a single week in August 1888, Van Gogh painted four sunflower works, vertical canvases of varying sizes dominated by yellow and orange bouquets, and silhouetted against resplendent green, royal blue, turquoise, and yellow backgrounds. The ubiquity of the sunflower paintings today disguises their initial role as exercises in color and brushwork, intended to decorate the modest building in Arles, France that housed the artist’s studio. Encouraged by fellow artist Paul Gauguin’s reaction to the canvases, and intent on new decorative schemes, Van Gogh returned to sunflowers five months later. His creative framing and display of the canvases in the eighteen months that followed has established their centrality to Van Gogh’s artistic identity.

“Van Gogh imagined creating 'a symphony in blue and yellow’ with a dozen paintings of sunflowers,” said Jennifer Thompson, the Gisela and Dennis Alter Curator of European Painting, Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Head of European Art. “While he never painted that many canvases of his favorite flower, the exhibition will offer an unparalleled chance to study two Sunflowers and consider how he used color and brushstrokes to such expressive effect.”

The exhibition will be supplemented by an audio guide, placing the canvases in conversation with one another and within the artist’s wider practice. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers will also be accompanied by a book of essays and illustrations offering insight into the artist’s ambitions, his relationship with Gauguin, and the ways in which he framed and presented the sunflowers.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7364

Exhibition Support
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow is made possible by the Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for SpecialExhibitions and the Harriet and Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions.

Curator
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers is curated by Jennifer A. Thompson, the Gisela and Dennis Alter Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Head of European Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum
TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Paul’s appointment marks a homecoming, bringing deep familiarity with the Philadelphia Museum of Art collection and institutional history to this role, as she previously served as Assistant and Associate Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art at the PMA from 2002 to 2008. 

“After a thoughtful and extensive search, we are thrilled to have Katherine rejoin the museum’s curatorial team to lead the Indian and Himalayan Art department,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “She brings a breadth of experience, years of scholarly focus on South Asian art, as well as extensive knowledge of the museum’s collection.”

Most recently, Paul served as the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art, a position she has held since 2019. Since 2021, she also served as the museum’s Lead Curator, overseeing the curatorial vision. During her tenure, Paul reinstalled the Asian Art galleries and secured significant acquisitions, including a 200-object gift from the Harish K. Patel collection. Her earlier experience includes roles at the Newark Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and The Textile Museum. Paul holds a PhD in languages and cultures of Asia from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and brings exceptional linguistic expertise, with extensive working knowledge in nearly ten languages and scripts.

Widely respected for her research and public-facing work, Paul has written and contributed to multiple publications and curated notable exhibitions, including Silver & Ceremony from Southern Asia 1830–1930, the Harish K. Patel Collection at the Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham Museum of Art, 2025); Ways of Seeing: The Art of Travel, Trade, and Transportation (Birmingham Museum of Art, 2021–22); Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen (originated at Birmingham Museum of Art, 2022–23, traveled to Phoenix Art Museum and San Antonio Museum of Art); and Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam through Time & Place (originated at Newark Museum of Art, 2016, traveled to Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Phoenix Art Museum, Philbrook Museum of Art and the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University). Throughout her career, she has emphasized sustained collaboration with Asian and Asian American communities at the local, regional, national, and international levels.

“I am delighted to rejoin the superb institutional team at the PMA,” Paul said. “The spectacular architectural galleries, phenomenal collections, and engaged communities—both in Philadelphia as well as regional, national, and international partners—are all extraordinary. I am eager to contribute, connect, and reconnect with them all.”

Paul joins the museum following a comprehensive international search led by Judith Pineiro Consulting.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art | Laura Coogan | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7834
 
About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum
TikTok: @philaartmuseum

“An essential part of brand stewardship is innovating, and also listening,” said Daniel Weiss, George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The new logo, with the griffin, is a bold, yet historical approach that we are heartened to see is being embraced by the public. Returning to the name that is beloved by staff, trustees, and members is an important gesture. We now have a system that our entire community can rally around—so we can dedicate ourselves to the important opportunities of our mission.”

The brand updates will be introduced incrementally over the coming weeks. An updated griffin logo will use the “Philadelphia Museum of Art” name, as will an updated wordmark. The museum’s URL, its email addresses, and its social channels will return to “philamuseum.” The PhAM acronym will no longer be used.

Survey findings reflected a strong preference among staff and trustees to return to the prior name, and equally strong views from the public perceiving the griffin logo as a bold symbol that encourages engagement with the museum.

“The board of trustees fully supports these updates and voted unanimously to embrace the task force’s recommendations,” says Ellen Caplan, chair of the museum’s board. “Dan and the entire team have quickly and importantly found a way to embrace the heritage of the museum, and provide a platform to widen our audience.”

Media Contact
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@philamuseum.org | 215-684-7364

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org

Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum
TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Dreamworld has received critical praise from multiple outlets including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.  Philadelphia is the exclusive U.S. venue and the final stop on the exhibition’s international tour. During these Pay What You Wish Friday Nights, visitors can also enjoy the art museum’s signature Friday Nights experience, featuring a special surreal cocktail, light bites, and live music from resident DJ, yōsukeDj. Capacity is limited and last entry is at 8:15 p.m.; visitors should plan to arrive early to make the most of their experience.  

“We are thrilled to have brought Dreamworld to Philadelphia – and that many thousands of visitors have already enjoyed this important celebration of Surrealism,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Art Museum, “Providing even more access to this exhibition in its final weeks is precisely in the spirit of our museum’s mission.” 

Curated by Matthew Affron, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art, Dreamworld traces the evolution and influence of Surrealism across six thematic sections. The Philadelphia Art Museum’s presentation includes a unique exploration of the artists who fled Europe during World War II and developed new creative practices in Mexico and the United States. The show highlights artists who expanded the visual imagination through experimentation, global dialogue, and bold new forms of expression. 

With the galleries open late, guests can unwind from the week, explore highlight artworks, and discover new favorites. On February 6, the Philadelphia Ballet will perform Connection, a sculptural and hypnotic pas de trois choreographed by Juliano Nunes in 2020 that explores what it means to be connected. The final Pay What You Wish Friday Nights will land on February 13, the same evening as the art museum’s Black History Month celebration. Visitors can enjoy a special live performance by Indigo Ensemble, a pop-up studio session with Oluwafemi, communal art-making inspired by Julie Mehretu’s prints in Gallery 251, and the opportunity to learn more about local organizations and art institutions around Philadelphia. 

After February 13, the art museum will continue to offer its regular half-off discounted rates on Friday evenings at $15 for general admission. Admission for the first Sunday of every month is always Pay What You Wish. 

The Philadelphia Art Museum has a world-class collection for visitors from around the world to see. Accessibility is and will remain a priority. To ensure that everyone is welcome, the art museum offers various discounts for seniors, students, and youth. Children, 18 and under, are always free. 

Media Contact
Philadelphia Art Museum, Laura Coogan | pressroom@visitpham.org

About the Philadelphia Art Museum: 
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.visitpham.org.

Facebook / Instagram / Threads / TikTok / X / YouTube: @visitpham

“Dilys Blum leaves a remarkable legacy,” said Daniel Weiss, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Art Museum. “Through decades of scholarship and curatorial rigor, she transformed this museum’s Costume and Textiles department into a program respected around the world. Her work expanded the very idea of what belongs in an art museum and ensured that these objects are appreciated as vital expressions of culture and identity. We are profoundly grateful for her contributions and the foundation she built for the future.”

After joining the museum in 1987, she shaped the department into a center of education, creativity, and connoisseurship. A curator and trained textile conservator with a global perspective, having studied at the University of Manchester and the Courtauld Institute in London, Blum brought a rare combination of technical expertise and cultural insight into her work.

Her career began with roles at the Museum of London, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Chicago Conservation Center, before she assumed her role at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Under her leadership, the museum’s costume and textiles collection grew into one of the most wide-ranging collections in the United States, encompassing Renaissance velvets, contemporary fashion, kantha quilts of Bengal, Asian textiles, and African American quilts. This international reach and historical breadth reflect Blum’s expansive curatorial vision and decades of dedication to research, acquisition, conservation, and interpretation. She was also considered the world’s leading authority on the work of Elsa Schiaparelli.

Over the course of Blum’s tenure, she curated more than forty exhibitions that redefined how fashion and textiles are understood in museums: as works of art, as vessels of identity, and as mirrors of social change. Landmark exhibitions included Best Dressed: 250 Years of Style (1997), Shocking!: The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli (2003), Roberto Capucci: Art into Fashion (2011), Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love (2014), Off the Wall  (2019), and most recently Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s (2025). Her projects celebrated textile traditions, avant-garde fashion, and African American quiltmakers, among many others.

 Blum was also a prolific scholar, authoring and contributing to numerous publications, including The Fine Art of Textiles (1997), Shocking!: The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli (2003), Roberto Capucci: Art Into Fashion (2011), and Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love (2021), which received an honorable mention for the Costume Society of America’s Millia Davenport Publication Award in 2023. She also wrote essays for major exhibition catalogues such as The Arts in Latin America, 1492–1820 (2006) and the upcoming Workshop of the World: Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia, which opens in July 2026. Blum’s writing consistently amplified the makers and wearers of extraordinary objects, and their intertwined relationships.

Beyond her curatorial work, Blum served on editorial boards for leading journals and was an active member of professional organizations, including the ICOM Costume Committee and the Association of Art Museum Curators. She was a generous mentor and a committed advocate for her field, leaving an enduring legacy woven through the art museum and the generations of scholars and visitors who now see costumes and textiles as central to the story of art.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues. Dilys Blum’s vision and passion will continue to inspire the museum and the world of costume and textiles for years to come.

Media Contact
Philadelphia Art Museum, Laura Coogan | laura.coogan@visitpham.org

About the Philadelphia Art Museum: 
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.visitpham.org.

Facebook / Instagram / Threads / TikTok / X / YouTube: @visitpham

Bringing together over 60 works, this landmark survey will chart Noah Davis’s (1983–2015) practice across painting, curating, and community-building, marking the final stop on an international tour organized with DAS MINSK in Potsdam, Germany, the Barbican in London, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Davis’s unique vision captures the intricacies of life with tenderness and depth, linking personal and collective narratives in ways that profoundly resonate with our times. Displayed chronologically, the exhibition will feature work made from 2007 until his death in 2015 at the age of 32, exploring the artist’s take on politics, current affairs, family histories, racism in American media, architecture, and visual culture. His paintings—which fluidly move between styles and techniques to depict dreamlike, joyful, and melancholic scenes—will be shown alongside experimental sculptures and works on paper that speak to the conceptual foundations of the artist’s career.

Full press release.

A Nation of Artists 
April 12, 2026–July 5, 2027 
American Art Galleries 
Press Preview: Friday, April 10, 2026

Three collections of American art—the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Middleton Family Collection—will unite to present A Nation of Artists, an extraordinary exhibition to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary. On view at the art museum in renovated American Art galleries and at the Academy in the newly-refurbished Frank Furness building, with rarely-seen loans from the Middleton Family Collection at both venues, A Nation of Artists spans three centuries of art tracing the ever-evolving story of American creativity. The art museum’s collections will be shown side by side with furniture, decorative arts, painting, and sculpture from the Middleton Family Collection. Charles Willson Peale’s life-size portrait of George Washington will anchor the colonial and early national period, while spectacular, rarely seen landscapes and portraits ranging from the realism and Impressionism of the 1800s through the expressionistic movements of the twentieth century will offer a fresh take on American art.

Full press release.

Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments 
April 25-August 2, 2026
Dorrance Galleries  
Press Preview: Thursday, April 23, 2026

In a moment of reckoning and reimagining for monuments around the world, this major exhibition, timed to the 50th anniversary of the film franchise, will explore the creation, context, and communities that orbit around the legendary Rocky statue. Organized by guest curator PaulFarber, Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab and host of the acclaimed podcast The Statue from WHYY/NPR, Rising Up will offer an art history of the Rocky statue, unpacking how this movie prop turned a public art icon into a site of global pilgrimage. The exhibition will showcase over 150 works by more than 50 artists and artifacts spanning more than 2,000 years in an investigation of the changing role of monuments across time. Blending the worlds of art, sports, and popular culture, Rising Up takes on the life of monuments by exploring the profound meanings and mythologies of the Rocky statue.

Full press release.

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: A Symphony in Blue and Yellow
June 6–October 11, 2026 
Colket Gallery 251 

In August 1888, Vincent van Gogh began painting sunflowers spilling from earthenware pots set against yellow and blue backgrounds. Initially intended to decorate Paul Gauguin’s bedroom in the four-room house that Van Gogh rented in Arles, the flowers fascinated Van Gogh and soon took on greater dimensions. This display will bring together two Sunflower paintings, one completed in August 1888, from the National Gallery, London,  and one from January 1889, and will consider how the artist used color and brushwork for different expressive effects.

Full press release.

New Eyes: American Landscape Drawings 
June 6–November 2026
Korman Galleries 221-223

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, New Eyes: American Landscape Drawings speaks to the broad artistic, cultural, and spiritual pursuit of looking “at the world with new eyes,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his seminal 1836 essay, "Nature". The wide range of subjects and styles of these works reveals the diversity of both the American terrain and the responses it inspired among artists of varied cultural backgrounds and visual traditions. Presenting rarely seen drawings from the museum’s collection of works on paper, New Eyes gathers together the forests and deserts, waterfalls and cityscapes that drew artists outdoors to register fleeting impressions of the American landscape; and displays recent acquisitions by Edward Mitchell Bannister and John Singer Sargent.

Workshop of the World: Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia
July 12–October 11, 2026 
Morgan, Korman, and Field Galleries (150–155) 
 
As industrialization reshaped life in the late 1800s, artists, designers, and manufacturers in the Philadelphia region embraced the Arts and Crafts principles of handwork, simplicity in design, and truth to materials with the goal of transforming the objects we live with. This exhibition explores Philadelphia's distinctive contributions to the Arts and Crafts movement following the Centennial Exposition of 1876, as makers in many media sought to address the perceived aesthetic decline and social problems that they traced to industrialization. Highlights will include textiles from the Philadelphia School of Art Needlework, ceramics produced by Enfield Pottery, and pieces of furniture by Wharton Esherick and Samuel Yellin, among others.

Full press release.

Americana: Photographs 1850-1950
July 23–November 1, 2026  
Honickman Galleries 156, 157

Drawn from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection, Americana: Photographs 1850-1950 reveals an expansive and complex vision of American identity as seen through photography. Spanning a century of work, this exhibition shows how individuals and communities used the camera to document their lives and define their place within a changing nation.

Full press release.

Marcel Duchamp 
October 10, 2026–January 31, 2027 
Dorrance Galleries 

The first North American retrospective of Marcel Duchamp’s work in over 50 years, this exhibition will offer 21st-century audiences the first opportunity to view the breadth of the artist’s creative output. The last major Duchamp retrospective was the 1973 survey co-organized by The Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Art Museum, which now holds the world’s largest repository of the artist’s work. The exhibition will present works across six decades of Duchamp’s multifaceted career, spanning all mediums, from painting and sculpture to film, photography, drawings, and printed matter.

Full press release.

El Anatsui: Prints and Play
Opens December 2026 
Morgan, Korman, and Field Galleries (150–155) 

This exhibition will present the first comprehensive museum survey of prints by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. Largely known for constructing large-scale sculptures and site-specific installations by repurposing everyday objects and discarded materials such as aluminum bottle caps, wooden market trays, and metal cassava graters, this presentation will illuminate Anatsui’s pioneering use of nontraditional materials and techniques to push the boundaries of printmaking.

Media Contact: 
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Laura Coogan | pressroom@philamuseum.org

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art: 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org.

Instagram / Facebook / X / Threads / YouTube / TikTok: @philamuseumart
 

Philadelphia, December 3, 2025 – The Philadelphia Art Museum is pleased to announce Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, a landmark exhibition opening in the Dorrance Galleries in April 2026. Organized by guest curator Paul Farber, Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab and host of the acclaimed podcast The Statue from NPR/WHYY, this exhibition will showcase over 150 works by more than 50 artists and artifacts spanning more than 2,000 years in an investigation of the changing role of monuments across time. Blending the worlds of art, sports, and popular culture, Rising Up will take on the life of monuments by exploring the profound meanings and mythologies of the Rocky statue.

Through the lens of the Rocky statue, a monument that is inextricably linked with both the art museum and Philadelphia itself, Rising Up will explore how monuments are made and remade by artists, by communities, and by time, opening the door for conversations on deeper themes of memory, identity, power, and representation in public art. The exhibition will feature work made from antiquity to the present, spotlighting the under told stories around the statue—of Philadelphia’s boxing legends, immigrant neighborhoods, and the fight for the future of public spaces.

Researched for over five years and in development for the last two years, Rising Up will include monumental sculptures, paintings, video performances, film clips, photographs, prints, drawings, new commissions, ephemera, and participatory experiences. Among the featured artists will be Keith Haring, Rashid Johnson, Delilah Montoya, Tavares Strachan, Hank Willis Thomas, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol, Carrie Mae Weems, and makers from Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice Program. The accompanying publication, edited by Farber, includes contributions from celebrated Philadelphia artist Alex Da Corte, former Philadelphia Eagle and Super Bowl champion Malcolm Jenkins, and noted film critic Carrie Rickey.

“The Rocky statue is the most visited and photographed public artwork in Philadelphia, attracting nearly as many annual visitors as the Statue of Liberty,” said Louis Marchesano, the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Conservation. “Rising Up is an opportunity for the art museum to reframe the narrative around Rocky and the steps, placing it in the context of Philadelphia’s civic and cultural identity. We are thrilled to work with Philadelphia thought leader Paul Farber to approach this topic with criticality and imagination, bringing a fresh take on a storied debate about the role of monuments outside the museum, in Philadelphia, and beyond.”

“I am honored to curate this exhibition in my hometown at this moment of cultural urgency and much-needed public discourse,” said Paul Farber. “The steps outside the museum are a site of pilgrimage and the ultimate people’s pedestal. Rising Up asks why millions of people each year visit a statue of the most famous Philadelphian who never lived as a way to better understand our complex and vital relationships to our public monuments.”

Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the Academy Award-winning Rocky film, as well as Philadelphia's hosting of World Cup matches and Semiquincentennial activities, Rising Up will be supported by an opening pay-what-you-wish weekend program and an expansive calendar of community engagement opportunities.

“Today on Rocky Day, I am thrilled to celebrate the announcement of the historic Rising Up exhibition in 2026 at the Philadelphia Art Museum,” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. “This show is a testament to the vitality and passion of Philadelphia’s arts, culture, and sports communities. Rising Up explores the city’s relationship to its many statues, the artists who create them, and the many neighborhoods where these statues exist. It is more than timely as we approach our monumental Semiquincentennial year.”

Media Contact
Laura Coogan, Philadelphia Art Museum | pressroom@visitpham.org | 215-684-7864
Megan Miller, Rees & Co | megan.miller@reesandco.com | +44 (0)7743 036449

Exhibition Support 
Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments is made possible by Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, The Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, and Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions.

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Museum are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.

About the Philadelphia Art Museum
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, go to visitpham.org.

Media Contacts
Philadelphia Art Museum | Laura Coogan | pressroom@visitpham.org

About the Philadelphia Art Museum
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, go to visitpham.org.

Instagram / Facebook / X / Threads / YouTube / TikTok:  @visitpham

October 30, 2025 – The Philadelphia Art Museum announces a landmark survey of the late American artist Noah Davis (1983–2015). Bringing together over 60 works, this exhibition will chart Davis’s practice across painting, sculpture, works on paper, and curating, marking the final stop on an international tour organized with DAS MINSK in Potsdam, the Barbican in London, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. 

Davis’s work captures the intricacies of Black life with tenderness and depth, linking personal and collective narratives in ways that profoundly resonate with our times. Arranged chronologically, the exhibition will feature work made from 2007 until his untimely death in 2015, addressing a wide range of subjects, including politics, family histories, mythology, race, architecture, and visual culture. His masterfully constructed paintings—which fluidly move between styles and techniques to alternately depict dreamlike, joyful, melancholic, and even surreal scenes—will be shown alongside his experimental sculptures and works on paper that speak to the conceptual foundations of Davis’s practice. 

Davis was deeply invested in the idea that art should be accessible to all. In 2012, he and his wife, fellow artist Karon Davis, cofounded the Underground Museum in the historically Black and Latinx neighborhood of Arlington Heights, Los Angeles. They converted four storefronts into a free cultural center, transforming the parking lot into a garden planted with purple flowers. For a period, Davis used the Underground Museum as a studio, as well as a site for residencies, and an exhibition space, eventually entering into a partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) to lend works from their collection starting in 2014. By the time of his death, Davis had planned 18 exhibitions for the Underground Museum using MOCA’s collection—the majority of which remain unrealized— motivated by the desire to “change the way people view art, the way they buy art, the way they make art.”

Highlights from the exhibition will include 40 Acres and a Unicorn (2007), a striking blend of fantasy and history; Isis (2009), a portrait of his wife Karon depicted as the Egyptian goddess; Savage Wilds (2012), a series in which Davis cast his gaze upon the complex portrayals of Black subjects on daytime television; and the renowned Pueblo del Rio series (2014), paintings that reimagined one of the oldest, largest, and most architecturally significant public housing developments in Los Angeles. 

The exhibition is curated by Eleanor Nairne, Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art and Head of Department at the Philadelphia Art Museum and former Barbican Senior Curator, and Wells Fray-Smith, Curator, Barbican.

 “On every encounter, I am struck again by the potency of Noah Davis’s work and it is an honor to share his practice with audiences in Philadelphia,” said Nairne. “Given how voraciously he drew from art history, I like to think that he would have been glad to be in the rich company of the museum’s collections.” 

The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalog of essays and archival material copublished by Prestel, with original texts by Tina M. Campt, Wells Fray-Smith, Paola Malavassi, Eleanor Nairne, and Claudia Rankine. Additional contributors include Dawoud Bey, T. J. Clark, Francesco Clemente, Karon Davis, Marlene Dumas, Helen Molesworth, and Jason Moran.

Media Contacts
Philadelphia Art Museum | Laura Coogan | pressroom@philamuseum.org

Exhibition Support
Noah Davis is made possible by Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, the Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions, and Ralph Citino and Lawrence Taylor. 

All exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Museum are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; and Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.

Curators
The exhibition is organized by the Barbican, London, and initiated with DAS MINSK, Potsdam. The exhibition is curated by Eleanor Nairne, Keith L and Katherine Sachs Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art and Head of Department at the Philadelphia Art Museum and former Barbican Senior Curator, and Wells Fray-Smith, Curator, Barbican.

About Noah Davis
Born in Seattle, Washington, in 1983, Davis had his first painting studio in high school. He briefly studied film and conceptual art at Cooper Union in New York before leaving to pursue his own artistic education. By 2004 he had moved to Los Angeles and was working at the bookshop Art Catalogues, where he could feed his appetite for a wide-reaching history of culture and, in particular, painting. Drawing on the legacy of artists ranging from Caspar David Friedrich to Mark Rothko, Romare Bearden to Kerry James Marshall, he developed a distinctive painterly style—one that engaged deeply with both the histories of representation and abstraction. Davis blended historical and contemporary source material to create images of Black life that are unbound by a specific time or place. Davis passed away in 2015 at age 32 from a rare form of cancer.

About the Philadelphia Art Museum
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, go to visitpham.org.

Instagram / Facebook / X / Threads / YouTube / TikTok:  @visitpham

October 16, 2025 – The Philadelphia Art Museum is pleased to announce Sebastian Errazuriz: Double Take, a mid-career survey by artist and designer Sebastian Errazuriz (b. 1977, Chile). Running from November 22, 2025 – August 16, 2026, the exhibition will explore Errazuriz’s multi-hyphenate practice spanning art, craft, design, and technology, from antiquity-inspired furniture to multimedia work informed by artificial intelligence.  

Alongside the exhibition, Errazuriz will be honored with the 39th Collab Design Excellence Award. Collab is the museum's affinity group for modern and contemporary design and has celebrated diverse international designers who have made important contributions that advance all disciplines of design. Collab was established in 1986 and presents the award annually. Previous awardees have included Florence Knoll Bassett, Naoto Fukasawa, Zaha Hadid, Ingo Maurer, George Nakashima, Gaetano Pesce, Patricia Urquiola, and Marcel Wanders, among others.  

Errazuriz’s creative imagination challenges upheld ideas of what design should be and, moreover, asks what it could be. Embracing humor and appropriation, his limited-edition and unique pieces often have a subtext that goes beyond form or function to include personal narratives, political messages, and cultural commentary. While many of Errazuriz’s pieces are functional, his work upends a number of conventions established within the design industry, including the notions that form should follow function, or that materials should be used where most appropriate.  

Sebastian Errazuriz: Double Take will present over 20 years of making, including early conceptual works that take nature and existing found objects as sources of inspiration. The exhibition will feature furniture, mirrors, and other products that the designer creates from appropriated and digitally manipulated Greco-Roman antiquities from museum collections. Also on display will be a range of the designer’s “kinetic” cabinets, defined by their moveable elements. Errazuriz is interested in disrupting the idea that cabinets must consist of a box with two front doors, regardless of their design. Instead, objects in Double Take propose a dynamic way of living with furniture that rotates, spins, and fans out in different directions.  

A final, monumental installation will feature a full-wall graphic made up of drawings that Errazuriz has created through the use of artificial intelligence. Imagine is a new work, which spells out the word “IMAGINE” in neon lights, the letters flashing in alternating patterns to alight only “AGI” at certain points. Unlike current AI models which are trained for specific tasks, the concept of AGI, or artificial general intelligence, involves systems possessing human-like cognitive abilities, allowing them to learn new skills, adapt to novel situations, and demonstrate common sense and creativity without explicit pre-programming. This focal point of the exhibition explores Errazuriz’s fascination with, and apprehension about, the potential impact of AI on artists, designers, and culture more broadly. 

“The diverse body of work by Sebastian Errazuriz conveys imagination and cleverness, while also bewildering those who encounter it. The pieces are meant to be lived with, but, at the same time, are provocations. They have an air of mystery around their function and meaning,” said Tiffany Lambert, The Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Design. “This survey exemplifies one way to understand and challenge how design can impact our daily lives.” 

Media Contact: 
Laura Coogan, Philadelphia Art Museum | pressroom@visitpham.org | 215-684-7859 
 

 Exhibition Support: 
Sebastian Errazuriz: Double Take is made possible by The Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer Endowment Fund. 

 The 2025 Collab Design Excellence Award is sponsored by Amuneal Manufacturing Corp., Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust, venturethree, Eileen Tognini Design, Haworth, Rago/Wright, and Voith and Mactavish Architects.  
 

About the Philadelphia Art Museum:
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.visitpham.org

Instagram / Facebook / X / Threads / YouTube / TikTok:  @visitpham

The museum has unveiled a new brand that places Philadelphia front and center, celebrating the city’s grit, creativity, and industrial heritage. Developed with Gretel, a nationally renowned branding, strategy, and design studio, the new identity reflects the museum’s transformation into a more engaging and expansive institution.

Every design choice deliberately embraces Philadelphia’s independent spirit—from custom typography that merges the museum’s institutional heritage with the city’s visual language to reviving the iconic griffin in the logo as protector of the arts. The new brand identity captures Philadelphia’s vibrant culture, reflecting how art influences everyday life and resonates across the city’s diverse communities. It embodies the mission to bring art into the everyday, making the museum accessible, relevant, and deeply connected to the people it serves.

“The Philadelphia Art Museum has long been the cultural heart of the city, and it’s our duty to maintain that role,” said Sasha Suda, George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Art Museum. “Our focus and vision are unabashedly Philadelphian; we’re opening our doors to become more collaborative and future-focused for all.”

The Philadelphia Art Museum is a local, national, and international treasure that belongs to the city. The rebrand reinforces the museum’s commitment to engaging Philadelphia’s communities and visitors from around the world in dynamic conversations about art and life.

“This project is the result of more than a year of research, collaboration, creative development and iteration,” Ryan Moore, Executive Creative Director and Partner at Gretel, said. “Our main objective was to ‘come down the steps’ by putting the museum in dialogue with its community, which is and always has been the city itself. This new identity reflects the future of the institution: more engaging, more dynamic, and more inviting to new audiences.”

Key elements of the Philadelphia Art Museum brand evolution include:

      A new name
      A new logo featuring a revived and redrawn Griffin
      New merchandise
      A website overhaul
      An original typeface
      A new visual identity, including wayfinding and signage, motion design, sub-branding, 
      social media, exhibitions, events, and brand voice
 

Following the rebrand, visitors can expect more hands-on learning about the arts for all age groups; more collaborations with a variety of local, regional, and global creative partners; and a dynamic transformation of the campus for all Philadelphians.

Press Contact
Philadelphia Art Museum | Laura Coogan | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 610-996-0493
 

About Philadelphia Art Museum
The Philadelphia Art Museum is a national and international destination for art, but first, we are Philadelphia’s art museum—for all of the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the museum is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit www.visitpham.org

Instagram / Facebook / X / Threads / YouTube / TikTok:  @visitpham