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

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

Morgan, Korman, and Field Galleries

July 29, 2025 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art announces Brand X Editions: Innovation in Screenprinting, the first exhibition to spotlight four decades of collaborations between the Brand X printmaking workshop and a diverse roster of contemporary artists. On view through November 16, 2025, the exhibition features more than 80 screenprints by Helen Frankenthaler, Rashid Johnson, Alex Katz, Tschabalala Self, and Mickalene Thomas, among many others.

The exhibition celebrates the transformative gift of the Brand X Editions Archive to the PMA, presenting a selection from the over 400 screenprints given by master printer and founder Robert Blanton. Since establishing the workshop in 1979, Blanton and his team of skilled printers, chromists, and specialists have worked in collaboration with an impressive list of artists to push screenprinting techniques to meet the artists’ varied styles and expressive ambitions. The body of work from Brooklyn-based Brand X builds significantly on the museum’s extensive holdings of historical screenprints, adding major contemporary examples of traditional and experimental techniques. The PMA now holds one of the most comprehensive collections of screenprints along with essential archives related to the medium’s history and evolution from commercial tool to vibrant fine-art technique.

“It is an honor to be the chosen home for Brand X’s magnificent collection of prints, said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “As expert printmakers, internationally renowned for their craft, Brand X are the true leaders in this field. For a museum like the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with such a rich and dedicated history in printmaking, it is a privilege for us to have this opportunity to welcome our visitors to experience and enjoy this generous gift.”

On view throughout the galleries are the results of Brand X’s dynamic collaborations across four decades of work. Together, the prints reveal the remarkable versatility of screenprinting. In the first gallery, for instance, works by Rashid Johnson, Deborah Kass, Adam Pendleton, and Mickalene Thomas demonstrate the medium’s ability to mimic the richness of paint layers, render a photographic precision, and produce variegated textures and surfaces. These artists expand the technical boundaries of screenprint in their exploration of themes relating to belonging, memory, and self-definition. From the dense, painterly urgency of Johnson’s Untitled Anxious Red to the layered intricacy of Mickalene Thomas’s November 1977, each work here shows how, at the Brand X workshop, screenprinting can be stretched, challenged, and transformed in response to an artist’s creative impulses.

The exhibition also addresses themes relating to text and language, pattern and decoration, graphic illusion, and landscape and figuration. Eight progressive proofs of Vija Celmins’s Ocean Surface offer a rare view onto the screenprinting process. From print to print, visitors can see how the image was formed cumulatively—by the sequential printing of individual screens, each bearing a single layer of ink. In final form, Celmins’s image materializes through sixteen applications of nuanced grays—an additive and subtle process apt for rendering the depth and detail of the ocean. Throughout the exhibition, equal emphasis is given to the pictorial and the material. Brand X Editions shines light on the technical procedures and the many roles—beyond that of the artist—that are vital to the production of screenprints.

“Just like the work that happens at Brand X, this exhibition and its catalogue were thoroughly collaborative endeavors, said Louis Marchesano, curator of the exhibition and the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Conservation. “The addition of the Brand X Editions Archive, which will continue to grow as the studio produces more editions, goes a long way toward building an authoritative resource on screenprinting at the museum.”

Extending the exhibition beyond the gallery space, Rashid Johnson’s Untitled (Large Mosaic), 2025, is displayed in the PMA’s Forum Balcony. For over three years, Johnson and his collaborators at Brand X developed this spectacular 293-color print, combining traditional screenprinting techniques—visible in the flat passages of bold color—with unconventional materials, including wood veneer, mirrored mylar, and cast paper oyster shells. Inspired by Johnson’s low-relief wall mosaics composed of innumerable tile fragments and other bits of material, this project captures Brand X’s enduring commitment to pursuing new levels of technical innovation and experimentation.

Brand X Editions: Innovation in Screenprinting is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue featuring essays by PMA curators and paper conservators, an interview with Robert Blanton and David DeSanctis of Brand X, a technical glossary related to the history and technique of screenprint, and an inventory of the archive held by PMA.

The exhibition is curated by Louis Marchesano, the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Deputy Director of Cultural Affairs and Conservation, with Em Dombrovskaya, the Suzanne Andrée Curatorial Fellow; Laurel Garber, the Park Family Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings; and Emily Friedman, the Allen and Kelli Questrom Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Dallas Museum of Art.

A series of exhibitions by Brand X collaborators including Rashid Johnson and Joel Mesler will be shown at the PMA through 2028.

Media Event
A curator-led tour for media will be held on Wednesday, September 10, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Please RSVP at pressroom@philamuseum.org. 

Media Contact: 
Pressroom, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 610-996-0493

Exhibition Support
This exhibition was made possible by the Lois G. & Julian A. Brodsky Installation & Exhibition Fund.

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Amy A. Fox and Daniel H. Wheeler; Mrs. Henry F. Harris; 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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit philamuseum.org.

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

“Louis’s wide-ranging interests in the history of art, along with his commitment to supporting the next generation of museum professionals, make him the perfect person to help lead the kind of curatorial work that will take the museum into the future,” said Sasha Suda, George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Louis is a key member of my executive leadership team and I’m thrilled to have him in this role.”

With more than two decades of experience as a curator and scholar, Marchesano brings to this role deep expertise in the history of prints and the art market, and an international reputation for innovative exhibitions and publications. He joined the PMA in 2019 to lead the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, where he shaped collections strategy, mentored emerging curatorial talent, and secured major gifts of art and funding.

Before coming to Philadelphia, Marchesano served as Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, where he focused on building collections and organizing exhibitions such as A Kingdom of Images: French Prints in the Age of Louis XIV, for which the French Ministry of Culture awarded him the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an order of knighthood. His last Getty project, Käthe Kollwitz: Prints, Process, Politics, was praised for its innovative curatorial insight and received the prestigious Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award for museum scholarship from the College Art Association.

Marchesano’s appointment is made possible through an endowment established by the Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation to support and sustain curatorial leadership at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Kippy Stroud, an active trustee of the PMA for 38 years who served as the past Chair of the Prints, Drawings and Photographs Committee and member of five other committees, was also the Founding Director of The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. 

"The Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation is honored to endow the position of Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Conservation at the PMA,” said Ann Loftus, the chair of the foundation’s board. “Throughout her life, Kippy Stroud was deeply committed to supporting curators, artists and innovative programs in Philadelphia and beyond. This leadership position, at the helm in overseeing the excellence of scholarship, exhibition planning and programming that makes the museum a world-renowned institution, reflects her commitment to creative vision and will carry on her generous philanthropy into the future.” 

Marchesano has just opened Brand X Editions: Innovation in Screenprinting, an exhibition celebrating the donation of an archive of more than 450 screenprints from the printmaking studio Brand X Editions, including works by Vija Celmins, Rashid Johnson, Alex Katz, and many other contemporary artists.

Media Contact: 
Pressroom, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 610-996-0493

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit philamuseum.org.

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

July 2, 2025 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is calling all kid creatives as it unveils this year’s Art Kids Summer. Young artists are encouraged to visit the PMA Friday through Sunday for drop-in art making, kid-friendly tours, and more throughout the summer beginning this Friday, July 5 through Sunday, August 24.

The collection of events will offer families a summer of fun and learning through unique hands-on activities in a dynamic and imaginative setting. Centered around the theme of Paper, Prints, and Play!, the summer programs are inspired by prints created by contemporary artists in the new special exhibition, Brand X Editions: Innovation in Screenprinting.

With activities in the Art Kids Studio, monthly family festivals, and family tours, July and August at the museum has something exciting for every family. Visitors 18 and under are always free.

“Every kid is an art kid,” said Lindsey Bloom, Manager of Family Programs. “We’re excited to offer programs that engage kids and families through a variety of art-making activities. Whether you’re a regular visitor or new to the museum, Art Kids can be a part of your summer.”

Here’s an overview of the activities the PMA offers:

Family Festivals
Join the fun on Sunday, July 6, and Sunday, August 3, for Pay What You Wish Family Festivals. These themed celebrations will feature performances, art demonstrations, and art-making with local artists.

Family Festival: Flower Power
Sunday, July 6
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Festive florals meet family fun. This festival will feature printmaking with local artist Justine Kelley, still life sketching in the Great Stair Hall, and an interactive performance for babies from Ninth Planet.

Family Festival: Dab, Dash, Glide
Sunday, August 3
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Discover quirky tools, movement, and stories in mark-making. This festival will feature silk screen printing with Second State Press, a gallery texture challenge where families can use their sense of touch to identify and sketch mystery objects, and a performance from Philly hip-hop artist-educators ILL DOOTS.

Summer Programming
Paper, Prints, and Play! 
Art Kids Studio
Friday–Sunday
South Vaulted Walkway, Ground Floor
Drop-in, 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Experiment with new materials, tools, and techniques in this drop-in program inspired by prints in the Brand X exhibition. Projects, artists and themes change every few weeks:

July 5–July 13 | Flower Power
July 18–August 3 | Dab, Dash, Glide
August 8–August 24 | Wordplay

Art Kids Tours
Friday–Sunday
11:00 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
Look, discover, and tell us what you think on these playful tours for families.

Little Art Kids
Every Friday, Education Classrooms 1 & 2 | First floor
10:30 a.m.
Toddlers and their grownups get to know the museum through art-making and creative play.

Art Kids Workshops
Registration required.
In-studio classes led by teaching artists. Workshops are designed for specific age groups, noted below. No experience is necessary, and all materials are supplied. Class size is limited. Workshops are $15 ($12 for members) per kid, per class. Tuition assistance available upon request.

Petal Prints
Saturday, July 12
Ages 7–8, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

Strings ‘n Things
Saturday, July 26
Ages 5–6, 10:30 a.m.–noon
Ages 7–8, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

Oh My Word!
Saturday, August 9
Ages 5–6, 10:30 a.m.–noon
Ages 7–8, 1:00–2:30 p.m.

For a full list of offerings, visit philamuseum.org.

Support 
Art Kids is sponsored 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 and Ronald 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. Pohonka Family Foundation, and an anonymous donor. 

Media Contact: 
Pressroom, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 610-996-0493

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit philamuseum.org.

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

Image Credit: Photo by Albert Yee. 

June 24, 2025 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) presents Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100, a major exhibition celebrating the centenary of the Surrealist movement, on view from November 8, 2025, to February 16, 2026. As the final stop in an ambitious tour organized with the Centre Pompidou in Paris—and the sole venue for this exhibition in the United States—the PMA will tell the story of Surrealist art, spotlighting the makers who sought out new expressive forms to expand the reach of the creative imagination.

The five touring partners are: the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (Brussels), the Fundación MAPFRE (Madrid), the Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg), and the PMA. Each venue was tasked with presenting a distinct story about Surrealism relevant to its own history and collection. At the PMA, Dreamworld will provide a chronological installation arranged through six thematic sections, including one, unique to Philadelphia, that focuses on artists who fled from Europe to Mexico and the U.S. during World War II.

In his 1924 Manifesto of Surrealism, poet and artist André Breton addressed what he saw as a crisis of consciousness: at around twenty years of age, he said, humans discard their childlike imaginations to adopt adult sense, decorum, and judgement. Breton believed that in order to obtain a state of freedom, all people needed instead to reharness the imagination. Surrealism, the movement in literature and art that Breton codified with his manifesto, would continually seek new techniques for exploring the human capacity for creativity and astonishment.

The first self-described Surrealists working in Paris rejected the representation of objective reality in art as antithetical to a truer, higher beauty, and instead sought to produce images with a dreamlike character. The first section of this exhibition, “Waking Dream,” will trace the development in the 1920s of Surrealist imagery and experimental techniques across mediums, from the found-object constructions of Man Ray and the collages of Max Ernst to hallucinatory canvases by Giorgio de Chirico, René Magritte, and Salvador Dalí.

Dreamworld will then journey through sections exploring the themes of “Natural History” and “Desire.” Capturing a sense of wonder in nature was crucial for the development of Surrealist sensibility. Visitors will encounter enigmatic landscapes and fantastic creatures; torn-paper collages by Hans Arp will be displayed alongside Paul Klee’s vibrant painting Fish Magic (1925), the disorienting photographic landscapes of Lee Miller, and Joseph Cornell’s boxes containing found objects. Nearby, works by Hans Bellmer, Claude Cahun, André Kertész, and others will demonstrate the powerful ways in which photography served the Surrealist interest in eros, or desire, and the reinvention of the erotic body.

A through line of the exhibition will be the use of mythology to convey the Surrealist world view. A section titled “Premonition of War” will feature images of monsters and creatures of strange and terrifying shape, which artists such as Dalí, Ernst, André Masson, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso used to respond to the devastating rise of totalitarianism and war in Europe in the 1930s.

With the outbreak of World War II, many Surrealists working in France left for North America, taking refuge in Caribbean ports, Mexico, and the United States. This will be the focus of a section, unique to the PMA, entitled “Exiles.” This part of the exhibition will feature treasured paintings in the PMA’s collection in addition to major loans such as Frida Kahlo's My Grandparents, My Parents, and I (Family Tree) (1936). In New York, Surrealism’s wartime capital, younger artists developed innovative forms of painting in tune with Surrealist methods. Highlights here will include Jackson Pollock’s Male and Female (1942–1943) and Mark Rothko’s Gyrations on Four Planes (1944).

The exhibition’s concluding section, “Magic Art,” will focus on a new type of esotericism that emerged within Surrealism in the aftermath of World War II. Filled with imagery of magical and alchemical beings, celestial figures, and symbols of the occult, this section will feature Leonora Carrington’s The Pleasures of Dagobert (1945), which materializes the magical, metamorphic imaginings of an early-medieval French monarch, and Remedios Varo’s Creation of the Birds (1957), in which an owl-headed painter uses starlight to bring a painted bird to life.

“Surrealist art has been a focus of our museum since receiving the generous gifts of the Louise and Walter Arensberg collection in 1950 and the bequest of the Albert E. Gallatin collection in 1952,” said Matthew Affron, the museum’s Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art. “Today, our permanent collection features outstanding works by a range of artists associated with Surrealism, including Giorgio de Chirico, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Jean Arp, Salvador Dalí, and Dorothea Tanning. As the main repository of works by Marcel Duchamp, one of Surrealism’s most influential guiding spirits, the PMA is very proud to mount this monumental exhibition and present it to audiences in the U.S.”

“The PMA has an extraordinary collection of modern art, and through this exhibition, we can offer our visitors a new perspective on Surrealism and showcase the strength of our own collection,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “I can’t think of a more perfect way to celebrate 100 years of Surrealism.”

In Philadelphia, Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 is curated by Matthew Affron, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art, with Danielle Cooke, Exhibition Assistant. It will be accompanied by an illustrated publication by Affron, detailing the key motivations, principles, themes, and techniques of Surrealist art from the early 1920s to the late 1950s.

Tickets will go on sale on September 15, 2025.

Media Contact: 
Pressroom, Philadelphia Museum of Art | pressroom@philamuseum.org | 610-996-0493

Exhibition Support
Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 is made possible by The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, Audrey Escoll, Mr. and Mrs. Orlando C. Esposito, James and Susan Pagliaro, Barbara A. Podell and Mark G. Singer, and Andrew S. Teufel.   

Sponsored by:

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Mrs. Henry F. Harris; 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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA is a storyteller, and we welcome everyone to be part of the story—our doors are wide open. To learn more, visit philamuseum.org.

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

June 17, 2025 – Two of America’s most esteemed cultural institutions—the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)—today announced A Nation of Artists, a historic collaboration with the private Middleton Family Collection that will unite three extraordinary collections of American art. A Nation of Artists debuts as a cultural milestone celebrating the nation’s creative and artistic legacy at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (April 12, 2026 to July 5, 2027) and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (May 2026 through September 2027).

Featuring more than 1,000 works across the two museums, A Nation of Artists will be the most expansive presentation of American art ever mounted in Philadelphia. Though shaped by distinct curatorial visions at the PMA and PAFA, the exhibition is unified by shared themes exploring the richness of American art. Selections from The Middleton Family Collection—one of the country’s most significant private holdings—will be interwoven at both venues to offer fresh insight into the story of American art and experience.

“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.”

Spanning three centuries of diverse mediums—from portraiture and sculpture to furniture, textiles, decorative arts, and photography—A Nation of Artists will trace the ever-evolving story of American creativity. Visitors will experience everything from the early realism of Charles Willson Peale to the shimmering brushwork of John Singer Sargent, the expressive intensity of Horace Pippin, and the impressionist elegance of Mary Cassatt—all shaped by the crosscurrents of cultural exchange, historic events, and imagination. The exhibition will further spotlight modern and contemporary artists whose work provides differing perspectives and interpretations of life in America today, including sculptural installations and multimedia works by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Rina Banerjee, and Mickalene Thomas.

“What makes American art so powerful is not only where it was created but also who made it—and why,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “A Nation of Artists will present a broad and vibrant picture of artistic expression that was happening across the country through both familiar icons and voices that have historically been overlooked. We couldn’t be more excited and inspired to partner with PAFA and The Middleton Family on this extraordinary cultural milestone, and we look forward to welcoming everyone—from neighbors down the street to visitors from across the region, the country, and around the world—to be part of this celebration.”

As the birthplace of American democracy, Philadelphia will serve as a cultural and historic hub for the America 250 semiquincentennial celebrations, hosting global events including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the PGA Championship, and the MLB All-Star Game, among many other exhibitions, sports events, and major conventions. A Nation of Artists will place the city at the heart of the nation’s creative legacy, reflecting both the historic depth and the city’s continued influence on American culture.

“This historic collaboration places Philadelphia’s artistic legacy on full display—offering the world a celebration of creativity, identity, and nationhood that can’t be experienced anywhere else,” said Angela Val, President and CEO of Visit Philadelphia. “Only in Philadelphia—where our independence was declared, our constitution debated and established, and our first states united—could an exhibition of this scale and significance come to life.”

Two Venues, One Expansive Story
Bringing together two world-class institutions, A Nation of Artists will be a collaborative, two-venue exhibition with distinct perspectives, curated by the teams at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in partnership with The Middleton Family. Highlighting the richness and diversity of American art, the exhibition will span generations and artistic traditions, featuring contributions from Indigenous, African American, immigrant, and historically underrepresented artists who have helped to shape the nation’s cultural story.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026, PMA’s installation will offer a sweeping panorama of American art from about 1700 to 1960. Through iconic masterworks and bold juxtapositions, visitors will trace the evolution of American identity and visual culture—exploring tensions between high and low, elite and common, abstraction and realism. Set within PMA’s Beaux-Arts building, the installation will affirm the museum’s civic role in shaping the future of art and culture.

This exhibition will also mark the reopening of PAFA’s fabled Historic Landmark Building, designed by Frank Furness and opened in 1876, unveiling a bold new installation of the museum’s permanent collection, enhanced by numerous works from The Middleton Family Collection. The reimagined installation will offer a contemporary lens on American art, grounded in PAFA’s legacy of inclusion and innovation. As the nation’s first art museum and school, founded by Charles Willson Peale in 1805, PAFA continues to shape how American artists evolve—through formal study, experimentation, community, and creative risk—supported by its exhibitions, certificate programs, and public initiatives.

“This is a transformative moment for PAFA and for Philadelphia,” said Harry Philbrick, Interim Director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. “As we reopen our Historic Landmark Building, we invite audiences into a renewed experience—one that reflects both our storied legacy and our forward-looking vision. This exhibition, enriched by rarely seen works from The Middleton Family Collection, will offer a compelling and inclusive narrative of American art. It’s a powerful expression of PAFA’s ongoing commitment to education, artistic excellence, and public engagement—especially meaningful in a landmark year for our nation.”

The Middleton Family Collection
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. 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. Masterworks not previously available for public exhibition will offer fresh perspectives on the story of American creativity and history.

Public Engagement & Citywide Activation
A Nation of Artists will extend beyond the museums’ walls to animate Philadelphia throughout 2026. A robust calendar of public programs—including community murals, classes, and talks by local and national artists, school tours, performances, workshops, and more—will embed art into the city’s civic life. From schools to neighborhood block parties, the exhibition will meet people where they are, inviting everyone to connect with American art through joyful, hands-on, and locally grounded experiences.

Support
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 Constance Hess Williams and Sankey Williams and The Victory Foundation. Gratitude also goes to the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, Asplundh, Schoelkopf Fine Art Advisors, Grace and Andrew Schoelkopf, The 25th Century Foundation, Mr.* and Mrs. John A. Nyheim, an anonymous donor, and other generous supporters.

Visitors are encouraged to experience both venues—each requiring separate admission—to fully engage with this once-in-a-generation celebration of creativity, culture, and identity.

Media Contacts:
Pressroom at Philadelphia Museum of Art  
pressroom@philamuseum.org
610-996-0493

Megan Miller, Rees & Co 
 megan.miller@reesandco.com
+44 (0)7743 036449

Lisa Willis, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 
lwillis@pafa.org
215-391-4127

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA)
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America's first school of fine arts and museum. 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 https://www.pafa.org/

Facebook: PAFA Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts @PAFAcademy
Instagram: @pafacademy

May 1, 2025 – On Wednesday, May 14, 2025, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) will unveil Édouard Manet’s The Croquet Party (1871) in Gallery 252, on loan from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Making its Philadelphia debut, the work will be prominently displayed in celebration of the Philadelphia Eagles’ spectacular win over the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX. The friendly wager started in 2018 and is now affectionately known as Museum Bowl.

This year, Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made a friendly wager with Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum about the outcome of the game, and both institutions put forth a treasured Manet from their respective collections. Following the Eagles’ victory, The Croquet Party will be given an official PMA welcome this month alongside the Eagles’ cheerleaders and beloved mascot, Swoop.

The Croquet Party depicts a leisurely scene in Boulogne-sur-Mer, where Manet recuperated following the siege of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War. At a beach club by the sea, Manet captured a croquet match between his friends and family. He returned to Boulogne-sur-Mer throughout his life, creating multiple works depicting the seaside resort and surrounding Normandy coast, several of which are in the PMA collection and will be displayed alongside The Croquet Party.

“We are thrilled to continue the celebration of our champions with a victory of our own,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Julián was a great sport, and we’re delighted to welcome him and his team here to personally deliver Manet’s The Croquet Party to its new (temporary) home.”

“We congratulate Philadelphia on an exciting Super Bowl win and look forward to seeing our treasured Manet in conversation with the incredible collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins. “The Croquet Party will be in very good company, and we are delighted to continue our Museum Bowl friendship and rivalry.”

Manet’s The Croquet Party will remain on view until August 17, 2025. 

Media Contact: 
Maggie Fairs, Philadelphia Museum of Art 
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org  
M: (215) 684-7862 

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

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

April 24, 2025 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is thrilled to announce Head to Toe: African and Asian Wearables, the inaugural presentation of the Ira and Myrna Brind Collection. Comprised of jewelry, headdresses, and textiles, the display will explore how notions of value and status are encoded within artistic media. Over 50 objects will be on show from May 9, 2025, in advance of the new Brind Center permanent galleries opening in 2026.

Head to Toe will examine how trade and other forms of exchange have influenced the meaning of specific materials for the cultures they represent, and how objects acquired abroad can become incorporated into local systems of meaning.

“Having my collection on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is, for me, a dream come true. It is the result of collecting for over 45 years,” said PMA Board Trustee Ira Brind. “This exhibit shares important and historic examples of the artistic, cultural, and spiritual lives of communities across Africa and Asia. It helps bring insights into the world many have come from. In creating the Brind Center, it was always my goal to open possibilities for cross curatorial dialogue, exploration, and collaboration, but especially to bring these amazing works to the people of Philadelphia. I hope this first exhibition starts a conversation that resonates throughout the city and beyond.”

Despite their great cultural and artistic importance, personal adornments are rarely the focus of presentations of African art. One area of this installation will foreground wearables from selected communities across the African continent, paying special attention to the aesthetic, spiritual, historical, and commercial dimensions of their materials. Objects of particular interest include a Yoruba crown depicting two crimson chameleons fashioned out of glass beads; two 19th-century fibulae made by an Amazigh silversmith from present-day Tunisia; and a Lega headdress from the Democratic Republic of Congo, carefully constructed with raffia, cowries, mussel shells, and warthog tusk for a member of the Bwami society. These adornments would have been worn for a variety of public engagements, from weddings to initiation ceremonies, marking the wearer’s position or status within their community.

A neighboring space will feature headdresses and ornaments from Asia spanning the late-19th to mid-20th centuries. The selection illustrates the artistic legacy of ethnic minority peoples from China, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia whose work has often been overlooked within art museums. Highlights will include a wedding diadem from Turkmenistan, Central Asia, fashioned from gilded silver and inset with carnelian, and a butterfly-shaped bridal headdress from the Yao community in China, revealing the skill behind objects crafted with lacquered cotton, bamboo, and vibrant silk yarn.

Head to Toe is curated by Imani Roach, who was appointed as the Brind Center’s inaugural director and curator in 2024, and Hiromi Kinoshita, the Hannah L. and J. Welles Curator of Chinese Art.

The Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art was established by a founding gift from Ira Brind and Stacey Spector in 2022. The Center is endowed by Ira Brind and is dedicated to expanding the scope and reach of the museum’s collection of art from across Africa, the Americas, and the wider African diaspora. Additional support for the Center is provided by the Connelly Foundation, Mr. David Haas, Ms. Lisa S. Roberts and Mr. David W. Seltzer, and other generous donors.

"Ira Brind’s transformative gifts, both financial and through the gift of his collection, has created a new and sustainable infrastructure for the art of Africa and its Diaspora at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Ira’s gift has allowed us build and inspire a fuller, more inclusive art narrative for our visitors, as well as expand the scope and reach of the PMA collection. I could not be happier to present this inaugural installation.”  

Support
The Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art was established by a founding gift from Ira Brind and Stacey Spector. Additional support for the Center is provided by the Connelly Foundation, Mr. David Haas, Ms. Lisa S. Roberts and Mr. David W. Seltzer, and other generous donors.

Media Contact: 
Maggie Fairs, Philadelphia Museum of Art 
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org  
M: (215) 684-7862 

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

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

January 14, 2025 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to present Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s, an exhibition of over 250 works of sculpture, painting, fashion, photography, furniture and more, drawn entirely from the museum’s extensive collections. On view from April 12 to September 1, 2025, this exhibition will examine the 1940s, offering a fresh look of this historic period and celebrating the spirit of innovation that flourished despite adversity.

Visitors will be treated to a snapshot of the decade's creative endeavors, from practical wartime fashions and striking jewelry made from commonplace materials, to paintings, prints, drawings, and photographs that recorded the people and places of the day. Some artists aimed to capture the world with a modern flair, such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Horace Pippin, and Ben Shahn. Others like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner challenged the status quo as their work abandoned recognizable forms and forged new visual languages. Pollock’s Male and Female (1942-43) is exemplary of the time, laying the groundwork for the development of Abstract Expressionism in the decade’s later years. 

In one section, this exhibition will look at the intersection of art and World War II, bringing together a diverse group of objects made in response to global conflict. Highlights will include works made for use during the war, such as Mainbocher’s American WAVES uniform designed for the women’s branch of the U.S. Navy, as well as objects that incorporated wartime materials, such as Jens Risom’s chair with woven parachute straps. This section also will draw upon the museum’s extensive collection of posters from both sides of the Atlantic, including three large-scale, stenciled examples produced in Moscow by Soviet artists and writers. These will be displayed alongside photographs from the front lines, such as Air Raid over the Kremlin (1941) by Margaret Bourke-White, illustrating Moscow’s Red Square alight with flares, bombs, and gunfire. 

The show will then go on to explore landmarks of postwar design, specifically the recalibration of manufacturing from military to domestic production, returning to the home as a space of commercial and creative potential. Emerging from internment by the U.S. government, Japanese American artists George Nakashima and Isamu Noguchi brought distinctive perspectives to their work in furniture, design, and sculpture. Businesses such as Knoll pivoted from importing furniture from Europe to promoting U.S.-based designers and stateside manufacturing, establishing its first factory in East Greenville, Pennsylvania. Objects from this section will include designs by Russel Wright, Eero Saarinen, and Charles and Ray Eames, some of which are still in production, along with one-of-a-kind examples of enamels, turned wood, and ceramics by Doris Hall, James Prestini, and Gertrud and Otto Natzler. 

Elsewhere, the exhibition will look at the impact of war on Paris couture, demonstrated by a military-inspired jacket designed by Elsa Schiaparelli with particularly deep pockets, enabling its wearer to leave the house without a handbag in case they also needed to carry a gasmask. The postwar return to opulence will be evident later in this section, with examples by Christian Dior set in contrast to U.S.-based designers such as Claire McCardell who played a role in developing a new and distinctive “American Look.” 

The exhibition will conclude with work from the late 1940s and into the Atomic Age. Some objects, such as Harold Edgerton's striking photograph of an atomic bomb detonation, reflect the period's continued anxieties around nuclear war. Other images foreground a generation's hopes for a better future, including Pablo Picasso's The Dove (1949), an image used by the World Congress of Partisans for Peace as its emblem to convey shared aspirations for global unity. 

"This exhibition sets out to challenge the perception that creative pursuits ground to a halt during the first half of the decade and, instead, will shine a spotlight on the remarkable creativity of 1940s America," said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "I am particularly proud that we will be drawing entirely from the museum’s extensive collections to tell stories of a decade that was both tumultuous and transformative.” 

"It has been thrilling to explore the museum's extensive holdings to identify works – a number of which have never been on view, including pieces conserved specifically for this exhibition – that illuminate some of the lesser-known stories, artists, themes, and innovations across a range of media and styles," said curator Jessica T. Smith, Director of Curatorial Affairs. "It is inspiring to see how creative spirits persevered despite material restrictions and global conflict."

Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s will be accompanied by a magazine-style book featuring short texts by the curatorial team; contributions by Ken Burns, Edmund de Waal, and Christian McBride in conversation with Alison McDonald; essays by Frederic Murphy, Alexandra Palmer, and Steven Rea; and poetry by Anna Akhmatova. The exhibition is supported by a series of public programs, including family programming, lectures, and performances. 

The exhibition is curated by Elisabeth Agro, Nancy M. McNeil Curator of Modern and Contemporary Craft and Decorative Arts; Dilys Blum, Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles; Amanda N. Bock, Lynne and Harold Honickman Assistant Curator of Photographs; and Jessica T. Smith, Director of Curatorial Affairs (Team Lead); with Exhibition Assistant Lily F. Scott. 

Press Preview
The exhibition will be open to media on the afternoon of April 10, 2025 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET. Individual viewings can be arranged by contacting the pressroom at pressroom@philamuseum.org.
 

Public and Family Programming

The Rose Susan Hirschhorn Behrend Lecture
Saturday, April 12, 2:00 p.m.
Curators of the exhibition highlight specific objects that offer a deeper understanding of this tumultuous period and the outstanding creativity that shaped the era.

George Nakashima Film Screening
Friday, May 2, 5:30 p.m.
Film screening of George Nakashima, Woodworker, followed by a Q&A with curator Elisabeth Agro and Mira Nakashima-Yarnall.

Family Festival: Curves, Blobs and Thingamabobs
Sunday, May 4, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
During this Pay What You Wish festival, families can experiment with organic shapes, drawing inspiration from Asian American artists in the exhibition.

Noguchi’s Avatar inspired Art Kids Studio
Saturdays & Sundays in May, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Families can build and play with interlocking shapes taking inspiration from sculptures by Isamu Noguchi.

Gallery Talks
Friday, June 13, 5:30pm, 6:30pm, and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 21, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 28, 2:30 p.m.
Exhibition assistant Lily Scot leads a talk on the Queer Artistic Network in the 1940s.

Family Festival: Fashion Forward
Sunday, June 1, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
During this Pay What You Wish festival, families can design their own wearable art inspired by Lilly Daché’s Woman’s Hat.

Public Tours
Daily, 12:00 p.m.
Public guided tours of Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s are offered daily for the duration of the exhibition.

Student and Educator Programs

School Programs
April 12 – September 1, 2025
School tours will include a stop in Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s.

Teen Programs
Summer 2025
The Summer Teen Sketch students will create their own screenprints on paper and textiles in response to the exhibition.

Support
This exhibition was made possible by the Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions, the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for Special Exhibitions, Zoë S. Pappas, Barbara A. Podell and Mark G. Singer, Garrett G. Snider, and other generous supporters.  

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Amy A. Fox and Daniel H. Wheeler; Mrs. Henry F. Harris; Robert Hayes; Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.  

Media Contact: 
Maggie Fairs, Philadelphia Museum of Art | maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org | 267.768.1163 

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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

December 4,  2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective, the largest survey of Christina Ramberg (1946–1995) to date. On view from February 8 through June 1, 2025, this comprehensive retrospective brings together nearly 100 works, including paintings, quilts, sketchbooks, and archival ephemera, to illuminate Ramberg’s remarkable career and distinctive visual vocabulary. Ramberg metabolized an encyclopedia of imagery to interrogate embodied experiences of gender and normative ideals of female beauty, enacted through restrictions and rituals she presents as at once ridiculous, sinister, and sexy.

Typically associated with the Chicago Imagists, Ramberg is best known for her stylized paintings of fragmented and fetishized female body parts and their erotic trappings–hands, hair, torsos, stockings, and shoes–drawing on pop culture influences from comic books to store-front displays. This exhibition presents Ramberg’s most iconic imagery while offering a rare opportunity to see the evolution of her 20-year career. From intimate early paintings focused on the pattern and form of women’s hairstyles and garments, such as Shady Lacy (1971), Ramberg continually refined her vision, eventually reducing flesh and fabric to geometric assemblages, as in her increasingly abstract mature works like Japanese Showcase (1984).

The exhibition features key paintings from the PMA’s permanent collection, alongside numerous loans from public and private collections, many of which have never been on view prior to this exhibition. Works such as Cabbage Head (1968) encapsulate the startling simplicity and wit of Ramberg’s aesthetic idiom, which condenses a range of references and tensions into strikingly succinct images. Framed as a small dressing table mirror, this painting of a hand probing a woman’s elaborately styled hair highlights the strange conditions of female embodiment and its social construction; the texture of the hairstyle comically recalls the titular vegetable, while also harboring sinister intimations of the brain beneath.

Ramberg’s paintings continually pushed formal boundaries, straddling figuration and abstraction, while questioning normative injunctions of sexuality and gender. Primarily associated with these stylised paintings, she also experimented with quilting, printmaking, and drawing, and among her contemporaries served as an archivist, collector, and diarist. Sketchbooks and notebooks from Ramberg’s informal archive of ephemera offer a fuller understanding of the artist’s practice, illustrating her integration of an enormous breadth of source material into her polished yet enigmatic aesthetic. In addition to charting the development of her creative practice, this retrospective explores Ramberg’s life as a devoted teacher, becoming the first woman to chair the Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1985. Over 250 archival slides used while teaching illuminate Ramberg’s pedagogical commitment and the lasting influence of her singular artistic vision.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog of essays and archival material, with contributions by Anna Katz, Judith Russi Kirshner, Riva Lehrer, Ricky Swallow and Lorri Gunn Wirsum. Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and curated by Thea Liberty Nichols, Associate Research Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, and Mark Pascale, Janet and Craig Duchossois Curator, Prints and Drawings. The presentation at the PMA is organized by Eleanor Nairne, Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art, with Camila Rondon, Departmental Coordinator for Contemporary Art. 


Support 
In Philadelphia, Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective has been made possible by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Fund for Excellence in Contemporary Art, Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, and Ralph Citino and Lawrence Taylor.

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Amy A. Fox and Daniel H. Wheeler; Mrs. Henry F. Harris; Robert Hayes; Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.    

Curators
Christina Ramberg: A Retrospective is organized by the Art Institute of Chicago.

The organizing curators are Thea Liberty Nichols, Associate Research Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art, and Mark Pascale, Janet and Craig Duchossois Curator, Prints and Drawings, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In Philadelphia, the exhibition is curated by Eleanor Nairne, Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art and Head of Department with Camila Rondon, Departmental Coordinator for Modern and Contemporary Art.

Media Contact: 
Maggie Fairs, Philadelphia Museum of Art | maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org | 267.768.1163 

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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

Starting now and continuing for the duration of the exhibition (February 9, 2025), this new initiative is available for students in the School District of Philadelphia and Tri-State area Title I schools who would like to visit the special exhibition. This invitation is open to grades K-12. Educators can reserve online here; email schoolprograms@philamuseum.org or contact the PMA’s Schools team by phone at 215-684-7608.

Featuring the work of 28 Black and African contemporary artists, The Time is Always Now includes painting, drawing, and sculpture to celebrate the complexity, nuance, and richness of Black life. Students touring the exhibition will explore the show’s three main themes –Double Consciousness, Past and Presence, and Our Aliveness – while also engaging in discussion-based activities.

“Since joining the PMA just over two years ago, it’s been my goal to reflect the communities we’re here to serve and welcome back more school groups,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “We’ve been blown away by the positive reaction to this exhibition. Through this initiative, we’ll welcome even more students into the museum to experience it.”

“Before the exhibition’s official opened on Saturday, Nov 8, the museum had 44 school groups booked from K to 12”, said Audrey Hudson, the new Kathleen C. Sherrerd Deputy Director for Learning and Engagement. “This really shows the way in which our local communities are embracing this exhibition—but I knew we could do more to broaden our welcome to schools. The bus funding helps open access, and I truly hope to see loads and loads of school buses filled with students coming to see this exemplary exhibition. This access point is integral to the work we do, and I am overjoyed.”

Tours are available on the following Tuesdays and Wednesdays:

• November 12, 13, 19, 20
• December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18
• January 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
• February 4, 5 

 Tour Times:

• 9-10:30am, 10:30-12:00pm, 12:00-1:30pm
• Each 90-minute timeslot includes an hour tour with a museum educator and 30 minutes for your group to explore the exhibition on your own.

The Time is Always Now is also supported by a full calendar of events, including:

Sunday, December 1, 2024, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Pay What You Wish Sunday Family Festival inspired by works in the exhibition. 

Throughout December 2024
Drop in Art Kids tours and studio activities inspired by the exhibition.

Select days between Christmas and New Years
Winter Break Pop-Up Studio: Local artists demonstrate their making techniques inspired by the exhibition.

Sunday, February 2, 2025
Pay What You Wish Sunday Family Festival inspired by the exhibition and Black History Month.

Media Contact:
 E: pressoffice@philamuseu.org
 T: 215-684-7862

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations and more, the PMA 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

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.
 
Social Media
Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum
TikTok: @philaartmuseum

This exhibition is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  

Support 

National Sponsor: 

The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is made possible by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Fund for Excellence in Contemporary Art, Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fund for Exhibitions, Amachie K. Ackah and Carra Cote-Ackah, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt, Ms. Hope R. D'Oyley-Gay, Jaimie and David Field, Arthur M. Kaplan and R. Duane Perry, Barbara A. Podell and Mark G. Singer, Ms. Jennifer Rice and Mr. Michael Forman, Katherine Sachs, Vesna Todorović Sacks and Howard J. Sacks, Karen Goodman Tarte, Robbi and Bruce Toll, and the African American Collections Committee. 

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Generous support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Amy A. Fox and Daniel H. Wheeler; Robert Hayes; Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong.  

Educators and teachers attending will be welcomed with a series of guest speakers, sample school tours with PMA guides, and an overview of the learning resources and workshops available for them. Specifically, the day will feature:

An informational session on the new booking process for teachers to sign up for school tours and teacher workshops.

A discussion of the new and upcoming exhibitions and installations, including the highly anticipated special tours for The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure which features paintings, drawings, and sculptures from contemporary artists across the world to show the complexity and richness of Black life through figuration. The PMA will host an educator preview of this exhibition, along with a series of workshops.

An overview of the PMA’s school tour themes for this school session, including Learning to Look, which teaches students how to become stronger observers of art, Black Art, Black Voices, which focuses on the art, experiences, and perspectives of Black artists in the collection through various mediums ranging from portraits to sculpture, and Mixed Media and Perspective, which exposes students to different materials that can be art

A preview of upcoming educator workshops on themes such as Culturally Relevant Artmaking, Art and Climate Change, and Beauty, with the latter examining the changing standards of beauty through time periods and culture.

An overview of programs specifically for teenagers, including out-of-school-time opportunities including Teen Sketch Club, Summer Teen Media, and special teen events such as gallery tours and curator and guest artist talks.

The day will also provide an opportunity to introduce Audrey Hudson, who recently joined the PMA as the as the new Kathleen C. Sherrerd Deputy Director for Learning and Engagement and Imani Roach, the inaugural director of the Brind Center, the PMA’s newly created center focused on African art and artists.

The PMA’s Annual Educator Appreciation Day will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the museum’s newly opening Learning & Engagement Center at the North Entrance of the museum.

Full itinerary:

Welcome and Presentations
10:00 am – 11:00 am | Eli Kirk Price Room      

Choose Your Own Adventure Session
11:00 am – 1:00 pm |  Learning and Engagement Wing, Museum Galleries

        Take a Sample School Tour 
        11:15 am – 12:00 pm
              Exploring Identity (grades 4-12)
              Learning to Look (grades K-12)
              Mixed Media and Perspectives (grades K-12)
 
        12:00 pm – 12:45 pm
              Black Art, Black Voices (grades K-12)
              Exploring Identity (grades 4-12)
              Learning to Look (grades K-12)
              Mixed Media and Perspectives (grades K-12)
 
        Book Your School Tour 
        Participate in a Back-to-School Activity 
        Visit New Exhibitions in the Galleries 

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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. 

Social Media Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact
Josie Hall
Press Officer
Philadelphia Museum of Art
E: pressroom@philamuseum.org
M: 215-622-8814

September 25, 2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is excited to announce What Times are These?, an exhibition exploring art and the economy of language in times of crisis. Opening on October 19, 2024, it will run through to March 16, 2025. 

Bringing together sculptures, installations, films, paintings and prints, this show is entirely comprised of works from the PMA’s collection, several of which are presented for the first time. The artists included each use poetic ways to probe the state of our nations without asserting a fixed political view; among them, Nick Cassway, Lonnie Holley, Jenny Holzer, Glenn Ligon, and Steve McQueen. 

Borrowing its title from Paul Celan’s 1971 poem, ‘A Leaf, Treeless’, the exhibition questions the function of language when speech itself has become fraught. The poem resonates with each of the works on view, asking: when do we have a political responsibility to speak—and how might we do so in a way that engages rather than inflames our adversaries? 

What Times are These? opens with Jenny Holzer’s 1981 work, It Takes…, created at a moment when there was an injection of new wealth into Wall Street. The work relates to those hurt most by the burgeoning affluence in American cities, with a simple statement etched onto metal, which reads: “It takes awhile before you can step over inert bodies and go ahead with what you were trying to do.” Nearby, Philadelphia-based artist Jan Yager’s American Ruff from the City Flora/City Flotsam series (2000), made using the unsettling detritus of crack vials, speaks to the deprivation faced by many, which is suppressed by developers wanting to drive forward gentrification in metropolitan areas. 

A wallpaper work by Nick Cassway, another Philadelphia-based artist, guides visitors through the rest of the exhibition, illustrating a couple engaged in a tense argument. In preparation for the work, Cassway hired actors and filmed a series of charged encounters: is the duo arguing about household chores, or perhaps political candidates? Elsewhere Glenn Ligon’s Untitled (I’m Turning into a Specter before Your Very Eyes and I’m Going to Haunt You) from 1992 features words from Jean Genet’s 1958 play, The Blacks: A Clown Show. The play was intended to cross-examine racial prejudice, with Black actors playing certain characters in whiteface. A 1992 installation by Felix Gonzalez-Torres is displayed alongside, making use of a simple string of lights to suggest the brightness and darkness that can follow the death of a loved one. Created shortly after the artist’s lover Ross Laycock died from AIDS-related complications, the sculpture touches upon aspects of grief and social stigma that are not easy to articulate in words. 

What Times are These? continues with Pauline Boudry’s and Renate Lorenz’s 2016 film, Silent. Running on a loop, the work depicts the Venezuelan vocalist Aérea Negrot performing the musical score of John Cage’s notorious work, 4’33” (1952). Negrot makes small gestures—straightening her dress, puffing cigarette smoke— which confirm Cage’s idea that there is no such thing as silence, as we are all, always, accompanied by the music of incidental noise. The site of this performance is Oranienplatz in Berlin, where protests were staged between 2012 and 2014 against the mistreatment of refugees. As she breaks out into a song addressed to “Mr. President,” visitors might consider the ways in which their lives have been shaped by political leaders and the power of music, “silent” and otherwise, to ignite a renewed sense of agency. 

The exhibition concludes in the PMA’s Great Stair Hall with the installation of Steve McQueen’s work, Static (2009). Shot on 35mm film from a helicopter, the work was made possible by President Obama’s reopening of the Statue of Liberty following its 8-year closure post-9/11. Running on a seven-minute loop, the work is displayed in front of the museum’s famous Diana sculpture, bringing the Roman goddess’s body into dialogue with that of Lady Liberty. 

Each of the works in What Times are These? offers a political, and often playful, account of what it means to be a citizen today, celebrating the potential of art to articulate the unspeakable, especially within a climate of intense scrutiny. It coincides with the PMA’s major Fall exhibition, The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure, drawing parallels between stories of representation and the complex social and cultural contexts in which artworks are created. 

What Times are These? is curated by Eleanor Nairne, the PMA’s Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Curator and Head of Modern and Contemporary Art. In alphabetical order, the exhibition includes works by Dawoud Bey (b. 1953, USA), Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz (Switzerland), Nick Cassway (b. 1968, USA), William Nelson Copley (1919–1996), Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957–1996), Lonnie Holley (b. 1950, USA), Jenny Holzer (b. 1950, USA), Glenn Ligon (b. 1960, USA), Steve McQueen (b. 1969, UK), Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967), Jan Yager (b. 1951, USA) and Zarina (1937 – 2020). 

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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. 

Social Media Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact
Maggie Fairs
VP, Communications
Philadelphia Museum of Art
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org
M: 267-768-1163

September 18, 2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is thrilled to announce that on December 12, 2024, Tokyo-based Naoto Fukasawa, one of today’s most influential designers, will be honored with Collab’s 2024 Design Excellence Award during a ceremony at the museum. Collab, the PMA’s affiliate group for modern and contemporary design, presents this annual award, which is now in its 38th year, to design icons in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of design. In conjunction with the award, the PMA will showcase Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves, the first major U.S. exhibition celebrating Fukasawa’s career over the past 25 years.

Presenting fully-realized production designs alongside the studio’s working sketches and models for select projects, Things in Themselves will offer a rare opportunity to explore both Fukasawa’s design ethos—prizing an essential “fit” between objects, users, and their environments—and his creative process. The exhibition will feature a thematic arrangement of works in the PMA’s collection—displayed for the first time—as well as loans from manufacturers and the influential designer’s studio. Things in Themselves will touch on Fukasawa’s unique language of form and his impactful philosophies of design, known as “super normal,” “outline,” “emergence,” and “without thought,” a principle he coined to tap people’s spontaneous behaviors for design insights.

With an approach to functional design that prioritizes ease of use, aesthetic simplicity, and close attention to the ways mundane objects and environments record the traces of our everyday habits, Fukasawa has been an influential force in the design world since forming his eponymous studio in 2003. Best-known for his work as design director of MUJI—the Japanese “anti-brand” consumer goods company—Fukasawa has designed across a broad range of categories and media, from shaping electronics for Samsung’s global market to collaborating with artisan firms on small-batch fine furniture. Illustrating Fukasawa’s design philosophy of longevity, accessibility, and subtle humor over novelty or blatant commercialism, this exhibition will explore the junctures between design, craft, and other forms of everyday art.

Things in Themselves will further present the broad geographic and cultural range of manufacturers with which Fukasawa has worked, examining his design direction for Japanese companies and his active participation in an international design community, having cultivated relationships with major American and European manufacturers such as MillerKnoll, B&B Italia, and Alessi. As a veteran educator, a co-founder of Japan’s first design museum, and director of the Mingeikan (Japan Folk Crafts Museum) in Tokyo, Fukasawa has spent his career probing the relationships between craft traditions, industrial production, and human behavior, incorporating his curatorial and pedagogical thinking into a robust design practice. Surveying his prolific career, this exhibition will honor the importance of his design philosophies for the future of the field.

“Naoto is already highly respected for the subtlety and beauty of his work,” said Colin Fanning, the PMA’s Assistant Curator, European Art, “I am particularly excited for the opportunity this exhibition represents to explore his thoughtful, user-focused approach to design and his long-running emphasis on the ethical as well as the creative and economic responsibilities of industrial designers.”

“Naoto can best be described as a designer’s designer,” said Eileen Tognini, co-chair of Collab. “Both in his approach and his philosophy towards design, Naoto has had a significant impact on recent generations of designers around the world. We’re thrilled to honor him as this year’s Collab Design Excellence Award recipient.”

Support
Naoto Fukasawa: Things in Themselves, the 2024 Collab Design Excellence Award exhibition, is made possible by The Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer Endowment Fund in Support of the Collab Design Excellence Award Exhibition. Additional support provided by Collab.

 The 2024 Collab Design Excellence Award is sponsored by Amuneal, Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust, B&B Italia, Eileen Tognini Design, Haworth, Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design, Millésimé, Minima, and Rago/Wright.

Curator
Colin Fanning, Assistant Curator, European Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art

About Naoto Fukasawa
Naoto Fukasawa (b. 1956, Japan) graduated from Tama Art University’s Product Design Department in 1980. In the same year, he joined Seiko Epson, where he was responsible for advanced development design. In 1989, he moved to the United States, where he joined ID Two (now IDEO San Francisco). Focusing mainly on Silicon Valley industries for seven years, Fukasawa then returned to Japan in 1996 to establish IDEO’s Tokyo office, creating a Japanese design consultant base for the company. He went independent in 2003 with the founding of NAOTO FUKASAWA DESIGN.

Currently, Fukasawa designs for a wide range of leading brands in Italy, Germany, America, Switzerland, Spain, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Portugal, Bosnia, Sweden, and Finland, as well as consulting and designing for Japan-based companies. His designs span a variety of fields, from precision electronic equipment to furniture, interior spaces, and architecture. Fukasawa is also Director of The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, is a vice president at Tama Art University, and one of the directors of 21_21 Design Sight. He also sits on the design advisory board of Muji and is the art director of Maruni. Fukasawa was the Good Design Award chairman from 2010 to 2014 and was on the judging committee of the Braun Prize in 2012. In 2017, he became a member of the judging committee for the Loewe Craft Prize. He has been accorded the title of Royal Designer for Industry (Royal Society of Arts), and in 2018, he was awarded the Isamu Noguchi Award.

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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. 

Social Media Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact
Maggie Fairs
VP, Communications
Philadelphia Museum of Art
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org
M: 267-768-1163

November 9, 2024 – February 9, 2025
Dorrance Galleries

September 10, 2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is pleased to announce further details of The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure, a major exhibition expanded for its premiere in the U.S. This exhibition features 28 Black and African diasporic contemporary artists who use figurative painting, drawing and sculpture to illuminate and celebrate the nuance and richness of Black contemporary life. Through their work, these artists invite us to consider Blackness as a lived experience rather than as a biological fact.

Curated by British writer and curator Ekow Eshun, The Time is Always Now takes its title from an essay on desegregation by American writer and social rights activist James Baldwin. It highlights a sense of urgency around contemporary artistic expression, while acting as a reminder that Black artists exist within an always-evolving artistic lineage.

Traveling to the PMA from the National Portrait Gallery in London, the artists in this exhibition work in the U.S. and the U.K., including Michael Armitage, Claudette Johnson, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Amy Sherald, among others. For the show’s Philadelphia presentation, six artists working in the U.S. and U.K, have been added including Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Roberto Lugo, Danielle Mckinney, Deborah Roberts, and Arthur Timothy.

The more than 60 contemporary works featured in this exhibition unfold around three core themes: Double Consciousness, Past and Presence and Our Aliveness. Double Consciousness, a theory first introduced in 1897 by the African American sociologist W.E.B Du Bois, explores concepts of being, belonging and Blackness as a psychological state. Works including Amy Sherald’s grayscale portraits, a cast-bronze self-portrait sculpture by Wangechi Mutu, and Nathaniel Mary Quinn's fragmented portraits examine the ways in which artists see themselves, as well as how they are seen and framed by others, navigating real and imagined identities.

Past and Presence explores the absence of Black figures in many mainstream narratives and shows how artists have responded. Barbara Walker, for example, recreates historical portraits with graphite and embossing, reconfiguring Western art history to give primary focus to the Black subject. This section continues with works by Kimathi Donkor, Godfried Donkor and Lubaina Himid, who use the tradition of history painting to restage overlooked narratives and elevate Black protagonists.

Our Aliveness features assertions and celebrations of Black assembly and gathering, including a painting by Hurvin Anderson, unpacking the cultural significance of the barbershop to the Caribbean diasporic community. While many of the exhibited artworks depict scenes of joyful gathering, references are also made to histories of segregation and oppositions to public expressions of Black sociality. The works of Jordan Casteel capture encounters on the streets of Harlem, turning her sitters from anonymous passersby to portraits brimming with personality.

“We’re thrilled to work with Ekow Eshun to bring this exhibition to Philadelphia,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Filled with personal narratives, these richly talented artists are addressing urgent and important topics. We’re honored to present this show to our local communities and welcome the important conversations that each of these pieces will inspire.”

"The Time is Always Now celebrates a period of extraordinary flourishing in the work of artists from the African diaspora,” said the show’s curator, Ekow Eshun. “My hope is that the exhibition encourages audiences to look more closely at the imaginative reach of the exhibiting artists, the ways they are illuminating the richness and complexity of Black life through figuration, and simultaneously asking searching questions about race, identity and history, all while creating artworks that are never less than dazzling."

“Working with Eshun and London’s National Portrait Gallery, we are able to build on this collaboration by adding artists whose work will amplify the experience for our Philadelphia and U.S. audiences,” said Erica Battle, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Curator of Contemporary Art. 

The Time is Always Now features works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby (b. 1983, Nigeria), Hurvin Anderson (b. 1965, UK), Michael Armitage (b. 1984, Kenya), Jordan Casteel (b. 1989, USA), Noah Davis (b. 1983; d. 2015, USA), Godfried Donkor (b. 1964, Ghana), Kimathi Donkor (b. 1965, UK), Denzil Forrester (b. 1956, Grenada), Lubaina Himid (b. 1954, Sultanate of Zanzibar), Claudette Johnson (b. 1959, UK), Titus Kaphar (b. 1976, USA), Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955, USA), Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972, Kenya), Chris Ofili (b. 1968, UK), Toyin Ojih Odutola (b. 1985, Nigeria), Jennifer Packer (b. 1984, USA), Thomas J Price (b. 1981, UK), Nathaniel Mary Quinn (b. 1977, USA), Lorna Simpson (b. 1960, USA), Amy Sherald (b. 1973, USA), Henry Taylor (b. 1958, USA), and Barbara Walker (b. 1964, UK).

The exhibition has been extended for the PMA to include works by Jonathan Lyndon Chase (b. 1989, USA), Kudzanai-Violet Hwami (b. 1993, Zimbabwe), Roberto Lugo (b. 1981, USA), Danielle Mckinney (b. 1981, USA), Deborah Roberts (b. 1960, USA) and Arthur Timothy (b. 1957, Ghana).

The Time is Always Now is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It will be supported by a series of public programs, including student tours, educational guides, and family programming.

The organizing curator is Ekow Eshun, guest curator for the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the supporting curator is Sarah Howgate, Senior Curator of Contemporary Collections at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In Philadelphia, the exhibition is curated by Erica F. Battle, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Curator of Contemporary Art, with Yocari De Los Santos, Constance E. Clayton Fellow. 

Tickets for The Time is Always Now will go on sale October 1, 2024.

Public and Family Programming
Saturday, November 9, 2024, 2:30pm
Panel discussion with curator Ekow Eshun and artists in exhibition.

Saturday, November 9, 2024, 11:30am & 1:30pm
Live choral performance of a newly commissioned piece by Julianknxx, accompanied by a local Philadelphia choir.

Sunday, November 10, 2024
Film screening, hosted in partnership with BlackStar, showing a series of short films reflecting on Black identity.

Sunday, December 1, 2024, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Pay What You Wish Sunday Family Festival inspired by works in the exhibition. 

Throughout December 2024
Drop in Art Kids tours and studio activities inspired by the exhibition.

Select days between Christmas and New Years
Winter Break Pop-Up Studio: Local artists demonstrate their making techniques inspired by the exhibition.

Sunday, February 2, 2025
Pay What You Wish Sunday Family Festival inspired by the exhibition and Black History Month.

Press Preview
The exhibition will be open to media on the afternoon of November 7, 2024 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET. Individual viewings can be arranged by contacting the pressroom at pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Exhibition Support
Bank of America is the National Sponsor. 

At Bank of America, we believe that investing in arts helps build communities and positively impacts the lives of our clients and employees. We are pleased to support The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) and at the North Carolina Museum of Art in 2025 as National Sponsor. Bank of America previously served as Presenting Sponsor when this exhibition opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London in February of 2024. 

This sponsorship follows other exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art that Bank of America has supported, including Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror (2021), The Impressionist's Eye (2019) and Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910 – 1950 (2016). The PMA was also awarded grants from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project to restore The Great Bathers by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the iconic Diana sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. 

“Our company and teammates take pride in supporting this landmark exhibition exploring Black contemporary life,” said Jim Dever, president, Bank of America Greater Philadelphia. “We look forward to presenting this important collection of works by Black and African diasporic artists in partnership with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.”

Bank of America supports a wide range of local and global nonprofit organizations through funding and programming. We aim to drive engagement, promote cultural sustainability, and expand the accessibility and inclusivity of the arts in the communities we serve. 

The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is made possible by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Fund for Excellence in Contemporary Arts, Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fund for Exhibitions, Amachie K. Ackah and Carra Cote-Ackah, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt, Ms. Hope R. D'Oyley-Gay, Jaimie and David Field, Arthur M. Kaplan and R. Duane Perry, Barbara A. Podell and Mark G. Singer, Ms. Jennifer Rice and Mr. Michael Forman, Katherine Sachs, Vesna Todorović Sacks and Howard J. Sacks, and Karen Goodman Tarte.

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Annual support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D., Julia and David Fleischner, and Mr. Robert Hayes and Mrs. Julie Hayes.

Media Contact: 
Maggie Fairs, Philadelphia Museum of Art
maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org | 267.768.1163

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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 National Portrait Gallery, London
Founded in 1856, the National Portrait Gallery in London tells the story of Britain through portraits, using art to bring history to life and explore living today. From global icons, to unsung heroes, our Collection is filled with the stories that have shaped, and continue to shape a nation. We celebrate the power of portraiture and offer encounters with some of the world’s greatest and most exciting new artists, promoting engagement with portraiture in all media to a wide- ranging public by conserving, growing and sharing the world’s largest collection of portraits.
https://www.npg.org.uk/

August 19, 2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is thrilled to announce a major new commission by the celebrated artist El Anatsui (b. 1944, Ghana). The work will be unveiled in the museum’s Williams Forum on October 11, 2024, where it will remain on display for two years.

Widely recognized as one of the most significant artistic innovators of our time, Anatsui has gained recognition through his development of new artistic forms and experiments with materials sourced from his surrounding environment. The artist began collecting discarded aluminum in the late 1990s—primarily caps from Nigerian liquor bottles—to create large-scale, net-like assemblages that possess a monumental sculptural quality. In Anatsui’s studio, thousands of bottle caps are laboriously flattened, punctured, and pieced together using copper wire to form cascading metal mosaics or “fabrics” that demonstrate a fascinating and fluid interplay of color and composition.

Anatsui’s site-specific work for the PMA, made in close collaboration with the museum, will focus on the metal security seals left around bottle necks after the cap has been removed. In a striking reconstruction of the body, Anatsui has created approximately 200 human silhouettes that will float at the center of the museum’s Williams Forum and, from certain vantage points, will appear to come together in a globe-like shape. Monumental in size, the work will span the ceiling of the Forum and hang from a structure measuring over 27 by 40 feet. Exploring the tension between the individual and the global, and between singular and collective experience, visitors will be invited to approach the work from different angles and heights, allowing them to have varied, individualized experiences of the work. While some might feel that the installation invites a shared sense of belonging, others might find themselves on the outside looking in.

Anatsui’s use of the bottle seal—which he turns into loops of thin metal strips connected with small copper rings—also marks a novel and important development in the formal qualities of his works. Whereas his best-known sculptures have been constructed from densely connected flattened caps in vivid colors and patterns, the thinner bottle seals used in his new work will produce open surfaces and delicate textures that breathe fresh life into the cutout forms. “The intricate interplay between opacity and transparency generates an ambiguous optical illusion,” the artist said. “Navigating this multi-layered work demands the use of all senses—sight, sound, and touch—thus challenging us to move beyond conventional frameworks.”

He added, “What some might consider mundane, defunct, or even ugly can be transformed through reconfiguration, reimagination, and re-embrace.” While the bottle caps and seals participate in cyclical commercial systems of production, consumption, and disposal, they will be given new purpose at the PMA, calling attention to the ethics of global trade and the detrimental impact of accumulated waste on the natural world.

“I have long admired El Anatsui as an artist,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The opportunity to collaborate with him for this site-specific installation is a dream come true. I’m excited that our Philadelphia community, as well as our visitors across the U.S. and the world, will now get to experience El’s work. This is truly an honor for the PMA.”

Anatsui’s commission will be on view for two years, marking the first phase of a two-part collaboration with the PMA. In 2026, the final months of his installation will coincide with an exhibition of Anatsui’s prints and paper works in the Daniel W. Dietrich II Galleries, Guest Curator Chika Okeke-Agulu, the Robert Schirmer Professor of Art & Archaeology and African American Studies, Princeton University, and for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Heather Hughes, the Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints. These projects will build on Anatsui’s ties to Philadelphia institutions, especially the Brandywine Workshop and Archives, with which he has collaborated since 2017. With the artist’s support, in 2023, Brandywine inaugurated the El Anatsui Fellowship, which brings artists from African countries to the city for monthlong residencies.

Support
This exhibition was made possible through the generous support of the Daniel W. Dietrich II Fund for Excellence in Contemporary Art and Katie and Tony Schaeffer.       

All exhibitions at the PMA are underwritten by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Annual support is provided by Andrea Baldeck, M.D.; Julia and David Fleischner; Robert Hayes; Mark W. Strong and Dana Strong; and Amy A. Fox and Daniel H. Wheeler.

Curators
Erica F. Battle, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Curator of Contemporary Art
Heather Hughes, Kathy and Ted Fernberger Associate Curator of Prints
Luiza Repsold França, Daniel W. Dietrich II Fellow in Modern and Contemporary Art

Advisor: Chika Okeke-Agulu, Robert Schirmer Professor of Art and Archaeology and African American Studies Role African and African Diaspora Art, Princeton University

About El Anatsui 
El Anatsui (b. 1944, Ghana) is an internationally acclaimed artist who transforms simple materials into complex assemblages that create distinctive visual impact. Anatsui uses resources typically discarded such as liquor bottle caps and cassava graters to create sculptures that defy categorization. Anatsui’s use of these materials reflects his interest in reuse, transformation, and an intrinsic desire to connect to his continent while transcending the limitations of place. 

In 2015, Anatsui was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale. Anatsui’s solo exhibition Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui, was organized by the Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio (2012) and traveled to the Brooklyn Museum, New York and the Des Moines Art Center, Iowa (2013); then to the Bass Museum of Art in Miami, Florida (2014); and concluded at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, California (2015). In 2019, El Anatsui: Triumphant Scale, a major career survey curated by Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu, opened at Haus der Kunst in Munich and travelled to Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Kunstmuseum Bern and Guggenheim Bilbao in 2020. Anatsui currently lives and works between Ghana and Nigeria.

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 the city’s many diverse communities. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

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

Media Contact
Maggie Fairs
VP, Communications
Philadelphia Museum of Art
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org
M: 267-768-1163

March 23 – July 15, 2024
Williams Forum

March 18, 2024 - Philadelphia-based artist and social justice activist Jesse Krimes (b. 1982, US) uses his art to generate dialogue around the US penal system and help humanize those most impacted it. Working across painting, textiles, sculpture, and installation, Krimes draws on his own experiences of incarceration and re-entry into society, bringing attention to the racial injustices and adversities faced by many in the US criminal justice system.

Rikers Quilt was produced in response to ongoing abuses at Rikers Island, New York City’s largest and most notorious jail, and serves as a poignant metaphor for the underrecognized and continued mistreatment of people imprisoned by the US legal system. This monumental work is composed of individual prison bedsheet squares, and was created using a technique Krimes developed while incarcerated, in which .  hand sanitizer is used to transfer images from printed media onto the fabric’s surface.

Beneath the quilt’s surface lies a concealed layer containing 3,650 images of abuse inflicted by police and corrections officers at Rikers—one for each day of harm inflicted at Rikers over the course of ten years—that are revealed only when incisions are made to a square. Should the underlying images be fully exposed, the quilt’s exterior depiction of the jail would be irreversibly destroyed, offering a symbolic representation of the potential of prison abolition and transformation within the penal system.

“We’re honored to be working with Jesse again to show this incredibly important work,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The museum has a long relationship with Jesse, who uses his voice as a talented artist and a dedicated activist, to lead pressing conversations. We welcome our audience to take part in these conversations through Jesse’s work.”

In 2022, Krimes founded the Center for Art and Advocacy, an artist-led organization supporting and amplifying formerly incarcerated artists through fellowships, residencies, and mentorship programs. This organization is an outgrowth of the Right of Return Fellowship, cofounded by Krimes in 2017.

Rikers Quilt functions as both a conceptual and material reminder of the harsh realities faced by the incarcerated, and sensitizes the public to the cruelties inherent in the prison-industrial complex. The work speaks to Krimes’ larger mission of using art to generate dialogue around oversimplified and harmful narratives regarding issues of the penal system, and serves to humanize those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Jesse Krimes: Rikers Quilt is curated by Katie Lee, Penn Medicine Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Elisabeth Agro, The Nancy M. McNeil Curator of Modern and Contemporary Craft and Decorative Arts.

Media Contact:
pressroom@philamuseum.org
Maggie Fairs:
E: Maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org
T: 215.684.7862
M: 267.768.1163

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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

February 16, 2024 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is thrilled to announce the establishment of the Brand X Editions Archive with a gift from Robert Blanton and Brand X Editions, the globally recognized New York-based print studio and publisher founded by master printer Blanton. The gift currently includes more than 350 screenprints by Mickalene Thomas, Rashid Johnson, Joel Mesler, Adam Pendleton, Alex Katz, Chuck Close, Jenny Holzer, Emily Mae Smith, Tschabalala Self, and many others. The Archive will expand over the years to include new works produced by the studio.

To celebrate the gift, the PMA will host a Brand X Editions retrospective exhibition in 2025 and publish a richly illustrated catalogue providing a history of the studio and a broad overview of the Archive. The Archive and related documentation will be available for consultation in the PMA’s Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs and an associated database of the works will be accessible for online research and study.

“We are grateful to receive this gift from BXE and Robert Blanton,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the PMA. “This gesture is both a coup and an honor for the PMA in light of Brand X Editions’ tremendous impact on contemporary screenprinting. We are proud to give these important works a permanent home.” 

“Robert Blanton and his team of chromists and master printers at Brand X have been at the cutting edge of the screenprint medium for over four decades. They have pushed the traditional screenprint into areas of artistic expression that make it a vital medium for 21st Century artists” said Louis Marchesano, the Audrey and William H. Helfand Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. “The addition of the Brand X Editions Archive to the collection of the PMA goes a long way toward building an authoritative resource on screenprinting and we’re more than delighted to provide a home where these works can be studied and exhibited for generations to come. Because Brand X has not only published prints, but also produced prints for other publishers, the texture and details of their technical and artistic accomplishments haven't been fully understood until now.” 

The history of the PMA’s Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs is closely connected to the history of the screenprint (or silkscreen) medium and boasts one of the foremost collections of early screenprinting from the 1930s and ’40s. The first head of the department, Carl Zigrosser, who was hired in 1940, championed the medium and was closely associated with influential pioneers, including Guy Macoy who produced what are believed to be the first artistic screenprints in the history of art.

Says studio founder Robert Blanton, “Brand X has been very fortunate to work with many of the most talented and respected artists for nearly half a century. During that time, our team of unequalled printmakers has constantly sought to practice the traditional art of screenprinting at its highest level, while expanding the possibilities of what a screenprint can be. I am proud of the work we do, and with the establishment of the Brand X Editions Archive at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, we will be working with the PMA to help broaden the knowledge of this beautiful and nuanced medium.”

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations and more, the PMA 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.

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Social Media
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

The museum’s month-long activities kick off on Friday, February 2 with a panel discussion led by industrial designer and 2023 Collab Design Excellence Award honoree Stephen Burks. He will be joined by creatives ruby onyinyechi amanze, a visual artist, and Sosena Solomon, a local filmmaker. Led by PMA curator Alisa Chiles, the panelists will discuss their experiences navigating the art world as Black artists. 

Two days later, on Feb. 4, from 10 am to 3 pm, the PMA will host its “Family Festival: Black Art, Black Stories” to celebrate storytelling in art and explore works by Black American artists. The family-friendly event also includes an interactive performance by Thembi Palmer, the founder of Story Adventures.

The museum’s signature Black History Month event will take place Friday, February 9. Activities include:

·       Daily guided tours of select works by Black artists, a sample of the PMA’s 1,400 works by over 250 Black artists in its collections

·       An architectural tour with a focus on the work of renowned architect Julian Abele, whose work includes the PMA’s iconic building

·       A photo booth with photographer and filmmaker Lendl Tellington

·       A pop-up exhibit of contemporary West Philadelphia artist Nazeer Sabree’s work that encompasses illustration, painting and collage. He will have a sticker giveaway for the first 500 visitors

·       A Sable Collective pop-up jewelry shop, comprised of Black and marginalized communities of artisans

Starting on Feb. 10, the PMA will welcome Gee’s Bend Quilts from the Collection , an exhibition which looks at quilting traditions in the Black community of Gee's Bend, Alabama, dating from the early twentieth century through 2005.

“The city of Philadelphia is made up of many diverse communities and it’s an honor to use the museum’s position to celebrate Black culture through community focused events and partnerships with Philadelphia’s Black artists, as we shine a spotlight on the works by Black artists in our collection,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. 

Throughout the month, PMA is also partnering with Visit Philly to provide “Little Free(dom) Libraries,” a selection of books from Black authors, near the West Entrance.

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

Social Media 
Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact: 
pressroom@philamuseum.org
Maggie Fairs: Maggie.Fairs@philamuseum.org
T: 215.684.7859
M: 267.768.1163

Currently Senior Curator at Barbican Art Gallery in London, Nairne has curated many of the gallery’s best-attended and most critically acclaimed exhibitions, including Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle (2023), Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel (2022), Lee Krasner: Living Colour (2019), Basquiat: Boom for Real (2017).

Before joining Barbican, Nairne was the curator of the Artangel Collection at Tate, where she organized more than 30 exhibitions and installations across the UK. In 2021, she was the guest curator for Eva Hesse / Hannah Wilke: Erotic Abstraction (2021) at Acquavella Galleries in New York and edited the accompanying publication. This exhibition was the first to pair the pioneering work of the two feminist post-minimalist sculptors, Eva Hesse and Hannah Wilke, and was selected by Frieze as one of the top 10 US exhibitions of 2021.

“We are excited to welcome Eleanor as the head of the PMA’s Modern and Contemporary Department,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Eleanor’s global background and limitless curiosity are what the PMA needs as it moves into its future.”

“I am delighted to be joining the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” said Eleanor Nairne. “The museum has an extraordinary collection and holds such a special place in the city and the broader art world. Having the opportunity to connect Philadelphia to international audiences through the museum’s incredible collection and program is a wonderful opportunity.”

Nairne received an MA in History of Art from Courtauld Institute of Art in 2010 and earned a BA in Modern History from Oxford University in 2008. She is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books, as well as The New York Times and others.  

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is also pleased to announce today that Trustees Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer have generously established an endowment for a full-time curator in the department of Modern and Contemporary Art, whose title will be The Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Design.

Notes to Editors

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

Social Media 
Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact: 
pressroom@philamuseum.org
Maggie Fairs: Maggie.Fairs@philamuseum.org
T: 215.684.7859
M: 267.768.1163

May 18 – September 8, 2024

Dorrance Galleries

Media Preview: Thursday, May 16, 2024, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. 

Philadelphia (April 4, 2024) – The Philadelphia Museum of Art is thrilled to present Mary Cassatt at Work, the first large-scale exhibition of the artist’s work in the U.S. in a quarter century. The exhibition will run from May 18 through September 8, 2024.

On view from May 18 through September 8, 2024, this exhibition brings together over 130 works and rarely seen personal correspondence, illuminating Cassatt’s six-decade-long career investigating the interconnections of gender, labor, and agency, which has not yet been deeply explored.

Born in Pennsylvania, Cassatt, who was the only American member of the French Impressionist movement, developed a remarkable practice depicting the social, intellectual, domestic, and working lives of modern women. Making a living by her art in a rapidly modernizing world, Cassatt’s work represented both commercial opportunity and a vital means of self-definition. “Oh the dignity of work, give me the chance of earning my own living, five francs a day and self-respect,” she wrote to her friend, the collector Louisine Havemeyer. 

While the artist is best known for her depictions of women and children, this exhibition highlights Cassatt’s subtle and often overlooked observation of the invisible work particular to the domestic and social spaces inhabited by her female subjects. These women––occupied with caregiving, childrearing, handcraft, teaching, or performing social labor––offer impressions of work, inflected by gender, that combine sensitivity and frankness. The exhibition explores Cassatt’s tender yet unidealized iconography of care work and her interest in the social conditions of the modern woman, developed in pastel, print, and paint.

Mary Cassatt at Work presents Cassatt’s own professional processes in relation to the socially invisible labors she depicted. Drawing on research into the PMA’s significant Cassatt holdings, the exhibition presents new findings about Cassatt’s methods and technical innovation to illuminate the material labors of an artist for whom art and work were inextricable. Ranging from her experimental print-making practice to delicate light-sensitive pastels, it shows Cassatt’s evolving artistic production and demonstrates her commitment to what she described as the “serious” work of artmaking.

“Art was Mary Cassatt’s life’s purpose and living,” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “This exhibition focuses on Cassatt’s professionalism, her biography, and the wider Parisian world she inhabited. It’s my hope that this exhibition will reshape contemporary conversations about gender, work, and artistic agency.” 

“We hope visitors come away with a sense of who Cassatt was and how carefully she constructed her identity as a working artist,” said curators Jennifer A. Thompson, The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, and Laurel Garber, The Park Family Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings. “With this exhibition, we’ve sought to reexamine the full breadth of Cassatt’s art through the lens of her creative enterprise and draw attention to her commitment to ceaseless experimentation and bold techniques."

Mary Cassatt at Work features works from the extensive Philadelphia Museum of Art collections, including some of Cassatt’s most celebrated paintings and prints, as well as loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and various private collections. A multimedia tour is also available, featuring audio, images, and videos, as well as a fully illustrated catalogue. Following its run at the PMA, Mary Cassatt at Work will travel to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor.

Tickets for Mary Cassatt at Work are now on sale. Visit Mary Cassatt at Work (philamuseum.org)

Support: 
Mary Cassatt at Work is made possible by the Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions; Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund; Donna and Marvin Schwartz, with Waqas Wajahat, in honor of Timothy Rub; Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for Special Exhibitions; Harriet and Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions; Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions; Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fund for Exhibitions; Mr. and Mrs. S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr.; The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation; Samuel Everett Snider; Robbi and Bruce Toll; an anonymous donor; and other generous donors.

Sponsored by:

Funding for the catalogue is generously provided by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art and The Park Family.

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 Museum of Art—for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Social Media 
Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact: 
pressroom@philamuseum.org
Maggie Fairs: Maggie.Fairs@philamuseum.org
T: 215.684.7859
M: 267.768.1163

November 19, 2023 - April 14, 2024

Philadelphia, Oct 31, 2023 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) today announced that on November 18, 2023, Stephen Burks, an internationally renowned industrial designer, will be honored with Collab’s 2023 Design Excellence Award during a celebration at the museum. Collab, the PMA’s affiliate group for modern and contemporary design, presents this annual award, now in its 37th year, to design icons in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of design. In conjunction with the award, the PMA will showcase Burks’s work in the new exhibition, Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place, which surveys the past ten years of his craft-centered, workshop-based design practice and features a specially commissioned speculative project. The exhibition will be on display at the PMA in the Collab Gallery from November 19, 2023 through April 14, 2024.

For nearly twenty years, Stephen Burks has forged a unique path by finding opportunities for innovation in the space between handcraft and industry, which has become a hallmark of his practice. Burks and his studio Stephen Burks Man Made have been commissioned by many of the world’s leading design-driven brands, including Cappellini, DEDON, Missoni, and Roche Bobois, among others, to develop collections that creatively synthesize handcraft traditions with industrial production. Burks has stated, “Hands have power... Even today, the hand is capable of doing things that machines cannot.” His collaborations with artisans and craftspeople all over the globe, from Senegal and South Africa to Peru and the Philippines, demonstrate the creative impact that the hand can have on industrial products. Guiding Burks’s approach is his underlying belief that design should be inclusive of all cultural perspectives and backgrounds.

The exhibition, Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place, explores new ideas concerning domesticity—namely asking how we can design our interiors to enable joyful living while empowering our creativity. It features nearly 45 key objects from the last ten years of Burks’s practice, as a type of mid-career survey, that exemplifies his aim of “returning the hand to industry.” The furniture, lighting, textiles, and craft-related experiments on view highlight his innovative craft collaborations and demonstrate his holistic approach across the disciplines of art, architecture, and design that underscores principles of synthesizing craft, community, and industry. A highlight is Burks’s Traveler Armchair with Hood (Designed 2014), which was manufactured by Paris-based firm Roche Bobois, with whom Burks is a frequent collaborator. The Traveler, which was inspired by the dense forests photographed by Thomas Struth in his Paradise series from the late 1990s, was the first work by Roche Bobois to enter a museum collection when the PMA acquired it in 2016.

The works from Burks’s professional practice are presented in the gallery alongside five prototypes from his new speculative project—Shelter in Place—which explores radical new ideas regarding design's relationship to our spirituality, our homes, and our communities, post-pandemic. The Shelter in Place commission emerged from discussions between Burks and the High Museum of Art’s Curator of Decorative Arts and Design and exhibition organizer, Monica Obniski, that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project allowed Burks to imagine multiple radical concepts for the home, including Spirit House, which functions as a modern portable altar and reflects Burks’s ongoing interest in design’s ability to connect us to our need for spirituality and ritual.

Eileen Tognini, Collab Board Member, commented, “We are thrilled to celebrate Stephen as this year’s Design Excellence Award honoree. His ability to combine craft with industrial production, while embracing cultural diversity around the globe is truly special and deserves much praise. He continues to think holistically about design and recognizes the enormous power of design to improve our everyday lives and our society more broadly in this current post-pandemic moment.”

Sasha Suda, George D. Widener Director and CEO at the Philadelphia Museum of Art said, “The PMA is committed to championing a broader and inclusive curatorial direction, one that involves taking a more thoughtful approach to the collections in which we choose to invest and display. Stephen’s conviction that design is cultural production and that it has the opportunity to represent everyone’s approach to life is truly inspiring. The PMA is honored to host this important exhibition and we look forward to welcoming visitors to start their own conversations about their relationship with design and home.”

Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, published by the High Museum of Art and Yale University Press, featuring essays by High Museum of Art curator Monica Obniski, author and historian Glenn Adamson, curator and critic Beatrice Galilee, and an introduction by Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola, who was honored with the Collab Design Excellence Award in 2017. Additional texts include an interview with Burks by Michelle Joan Wilkinson, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and a conversation between Burks and the late bell hooks.

Collab Design Excellence Award
The Collab Design Excellence Award presentation ceremony and opening celebration for the exhibition will take place on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Stephen Burks will discuss his work at the event in conversation with Alisa Chiles, Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, who curated the exhibition in Philadelphia. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit @collabpma. The 2023 Collab Design Excellence Award is sponsored by Amuneal and Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust, Roche Bobois, DEDON, Eileen Tognini Design, Haworth, Marguerite Rodgers Interior Design, Millésimé, Minima, and Rago Wright Auctions.

Collab Student Design Competition
Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place is also the inspiration for Collab’s 2023 Student Design Competition, which is held annually and is now in its 30th year. Collab has invited university-level design students from around the country to submit their own designs for a unique vessel that incorporates both technology and “the hand,” inspired by Burks’s craft-based approach to industrial design. Design submissions received by November 8, 2023, will be evaluated according to their originality and creativity, evidence of applied research, and their ability to be manufactured. The winners, who receive cash prizes and recognition on the Philadelphia Museum of Art website, will be announced in a feedback session with the judges on November 15, 2023.

Public Programs
The Philadelphia Museum of Art will host a variety of public programs associated with the exhibition, including a panel discussion in February 2024 on diversity in the arts featuring Stephen Burks in conversation with several artists. More information to come. For additional programming, please see @collabpma

Organizers
Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The organizing curator is Monica Obniski, Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the High Museum of Art. In Philadelphia, the exhibition is curated by Alisa Chiles, Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture.

Support
Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place is made possible by The Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer Endowment Fund in Support of the Collab Design Excellence Award Exhibition. Additional support is provided by Collab.

About Stephen Burks
A Chicago native, Stephen Burks (b. 1969) is one of the most recognized American industrial designers of his generation. He has worked as a product development consultant in close collaboration with artisans and craftspeople on six continents. Burks and his Brooklyn-based studio Stephen Burks Man Made have been commissioned by numerous global design-driven brands to develop collections that engage hand production as a strategy for innovation including Cappellini, Dedon, MASS Design Group, Missoni, & Roche Bobois. His work has been exhibited internationally, including the Studio Museum in Harlem and the High Museum of Art. Burks is the first African American to win the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Product Design and the first industrial designer to be awarded the prestigious Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

About Collab
Founded in 1970, Collab is a Philadelphia Museum of Art member group that supports modern and contemporary design at the museum through acquisitions, exhibitions, and programs. Collab’s annual Design Excellence Award honors a designer of international renown with a celebration and exhibition at the PMA. This signature event has brought design icons to Philadelphia since 1986. To learn more, visit www.philamuseum.org/join/friends-groups/collab

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations and more, the PMA 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.

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Social Media Instagram/Facebook/X/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations and more, the PMA 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

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Social Media
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

October 21, 2023 – February 11, 2024

Philadelphia (October 5, 2023) –  Through the lens of 28 Korean artists, all born between 1960 and 1986, The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989 focuses on South Korea’s growing influence on the world stage and how the country continues to grapple with its past.

The late 1980s was a time of great political change for South Korea. Its long-standing military dictatorship transitioned to a legitimate democracy, and an international travel ban was lifted, creating opportunities for global engagement, powerful economic growth, and cultural exchange. This marked an important turning point for South Korean artists as they began to connect in earnest to the global art scene.

Using a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting, fiber, photography, lacquer, installation, metalwork, mixed media, embroidery, video, and performance, these artists explore themes like conformity, displacement, gender and sexuality, coexistence, and dissonance, making universal connections that offer a deeper understanding of South Korea, its history, and its culture.

The featured artists, 12 of whom are women, are well established in South Korea and Europe but newer to an American audience.*  Examples include:

OH Jaewoo (b. 1983), Let’s Do National Gymnastics!, 2011​
In this ten-minute, single-channel video, Oh evokes the compulsory exercise program prevalent in Korean schools between 1977 and 1999. Emphasizing collectivism and obedience, the video is set to the militaristic beat of the Korean National Stretch Anthem in a commentary on the ubiquitous pressure to conform and the associated anxiety pervasive across Korean culture.

Yeondoo JUNG (b. 1969), Eulji Theater, 2019
Blending multilayered historical events and personal stories with an alternative narrative and theatrical framing, Jung’s colossal photograph provides what for many people will be an important introduction to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Set at Eulji Observatory, one of 13 such observatories along the Military Demarcation Line, the work depicts a “Miss Korea” swimsuit competition that actually took place in the observatory in the past, alongside other factual and fictional elements. Jung recalls and reinvents the DMZ’s history in a monumental and multisensory manner, grappling with the trauma caused by conflicts that continue to impact Korea’s identity as a divided nation yet reclaiming a unified identity for all Koreans by uniting North and South in a shared history of the artist’s own re-creation.

Kyungah HAM (b. 1966), What you see is the unseen/Chandeliers for Five Cities, 2016–17
In What you see is the unseen/Chandeliers for Five Cities, Ham underscores the ongoing tension between North and South Korea by attempting direct communication across the DMZ. Through covert back channels, Ham’s contacts smuggled the plans for her impressive, oversized embroideries into North Korea to be hand-stitched by highly skilled artisans there. The precariously hung chandeliers both reflect the Korean Peninsula’s historic instability and represent the foreign powers responsible for its division, which Ham and her collaborators take great risks to attempt to overcome.

Donghyun SON (b.1980), Portrait of the King Series, 2007-8
In this series, Michael Jackson (the “King of Pop”) is portrayed using painting techniques historically reserved for rulers of the Joseon dynasty. Son expands the traditional role of portraiture to reverentially depict a contemporary pop icon in a way that reflects the zeitgeist of the late 20th century US, blending the past with an ever-changing present that is further complicated by Jackson’s divisive legacy.

“Korea has a growing and vibrant art scene, so including the Korean voice is crucial to a more fully realized and inclusive global art narrative,” said Sasha Suda, George D. Widener Director and CEO. “In presenting this exhibition, we are introducing new voices—ones that have experienced this pivotal place and time in history firsthand—to share their unique perspectives. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is honored to create a platform for these powerful works and to help tell these authentic stories.”

“The timeframe of this exhibition was a formative one for South Korean artists and is aptly reflected in the exhibition’s title, which refers to an individual’s conception of the present and future as framed by and predicated upon memories and experiences of the past. Our hope is that through this exhibition, we tell this story and inspire a wider audience to learn more about this mighty nation,” said Elisabeth Agro, Nancy M. McNeil Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts, and Hyunsoo Woo, Pappas-Sarbanes Deputy Director for Collections, the exhibition’s co-curators.

The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989 opens on October 21, 2023, and will be on view until February 11, 2024. A small number of the artists whose work is featured in the exhibition will be on-site at the Philadelphia Museum of Art during installation and for the opening celebration. A multimedia tour will be available, featuring audio, images, and videos. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that will not only be the first major English-language publication to feature many of these artists, but also will make a significant contribution to the interpretation of and scholarship on contemporary Korean art and culture.

To learn more about the exhibition see the attached fact sheet and exhibition trailer. 

Support:
Major support for The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989 has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, the Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The Korea Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jung and Nelson Chai, The James and Agnes Kim Foundation, Sueyun and Gene Locks, Maxine de S. Lewis, The Chanil Foundation, an anonymous donor, Andrea Baldeck, M.D., the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky, Emily and Mike Cavanagh, Mr. and Mrs. S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr., Cynthia L. Johnson, The Jane and Leonard Korman Family Foundation, Constance and Sankey Williams, and other generous individuals.

In-kind support for Meekyoung Shin’s Eastern Deities Descended provided by Neutrogena®.

Support for the presentation of Do Ho Suh’s Seoul Home/Seoul Home/Kanazawa Home/Beijing Home/Pohang Home/Gwangju Home/Philadelphia Home provided by Lehmann Maupin.

Support for the accompanying publication has been provided by The Korea Foundation.

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 the city’s many diverse communities. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations, and more, the PMA 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.

Social Media:
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Threads/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

Media Contact:
Maggie Fairs
VP, Communications
Philadelphia Museum of Art
E: maggie.fairs@philamuseum.org
M: 267-768-1163

Note: 
Exhibition highlights, including a complete list of the artists featured in the exhibition, as well as video and photos of the installations are available on request.

* Please note that the first time the full name of an artist appears surnames are capitalized.

A Pennsylvania native, Paul is returning to the city from Los Angeles where most recently he was VP, Advancement and Partnerships at the GRAMMY Museum. With experience in creative branding, strategy, and social impact, Paul’s previous roles included Head of Strategic Partnerships for Good and Upworthy, a leading social impact company, and Sew, a full-service creative agency where clients included Comcast and Univision, along with an international role in Shanghai where he led a creative digital agency. Paul is a dedicated supporter of LGBTQ+ youth rights, currently serving as the president and board chair of It Gets Better.

A senior fundraising executive with a passion for the arts, Kim joins the PMA from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where she was VP, Development. In this role, Kim successfully led her team to raise funds through contributed revenue to support the operating budget, special projects, and acquisitions. These efforts enabled LACMA to present diverse exhibitions and public programs as well as provide free admission for students and families. Prior to joining LACMA, Kim was the Senior Director of Development for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she led the team to achieve a $50M campaign to support Ailey’s building expansion and new programmatic initiatives.

“I am so pleased to welcome Paul and Kim.” said Sasha Suda, the George D. Widener Director and CEO. “I was impressed and inspired by Paul’s passion for creating partnerships and his innovative approach to marketing. Kim brings a richness of experience in building and leading development teams and an unwavering commitment to the arts. With these hires, we have filled two important roles, creating a strong, motivated, and diverse leadership team that reflects the future of the institution. This is truly an exciting time for the PMA.”

Paul’s first day will be September 5 and Kim joins on October 2, 2023.

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 Museum of Art – for all the many diverse communities of the city. Through our collections, exhibitions, events, educational activities, celebrations and more, the PMA 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

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Social Media
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr/YouTube: @philamuseum; TikTok: @philaartmuseum

July 7, 2023 – The Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition Judith Joy Ross (April 24 – August 6, 2023), a retrospective of the work of the preeminent portrait photographer, has inspired an installation of photography by elementary and middle school students from Camden, New Jersey public schools.

Selected work from Fresh Focus: Camden Through Young Eyes, a Fresh Artists designed program that enables children to capture their urban community through digital photography, is featured in large-scale format in the Museum Café and in the pop-up shop for Judith Joy Ross in the Dorrance Galleries.

A segment of the shop is devoted to prints, postcards, puzzles, and tote bags highlighting the children’s photography. While retaining their original work, the student-philanthropists have donated use of their work to Fresh Artists, who provide art materials and innovative art programs, such as Fresh Focus, to underfunded public schools.

“It is a priority for the museum to collaborate with local artists, whatever their age, said Christine Kostyrka, Director of Retail for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Each of the pieces selected reflect the depth, joy and innocence of the photographers, adding a special dimension to the museum’s restaurant and shop.”

Spanning a period from the 1970s through the 2010s, the Judith Joy Ross exhibition features quietly penetrating portraits of Americans with a special focus on eastern Pennsylvania where she was born and raised. Similarly, Fresh Artists’ student work reflects the spirit and warmth of Camden neighborhoods seen through their eyes.

The student work in the Café and the products in the shop will be accessible until the close of the Judith Joy Ross exhibition on August 6, 2023. 10% of net profits from the collection will be donated back to Fresh Artists. Merchandise will be available in the pop-up shop or online. 

Visitors can now enjoy an exclusive audio tour given by Judith Joy Ross, along with photography experts and exhibition curators, free of charge. The Judith Joy Ross exhibition is on view through August 6. 

Exhibition Support
Judith Joy Ross is organized by Fundación MAPFRE in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Judith Joy Ross has been made possible through the museum’s endowment with the Robert Montgomery Scott Endowment for Exhibitions, Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, and the Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, and by additional contributions from Andrea Baldeck, M.D., Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky, Robert and Julie Jensen Bryan, Julia and David Fleischner, Mr. and Mrs. S. Matthews V. Hamilton, Jr., Sarena Snider, Focus: Friends of Photography, and other generous donors.

Fresh Artists
Fresh Artists is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) that provides art supplies and programs to under-resourced public schools. In exchange for financial contributions, corporations and individuals receive gifts of high-quality reproductions of student-donated art. Since 2008, the talent and generosity of more than 3,300 young artist-philanthropists has delivered the value of more than $2.5M in supplies and programs to schools in nearly every state. Large-scale reproductions have been installed in more than 400 corporate facilities, universities, foundations and nonprofits. Visit www.freshartists.org.

Philadelphia Museum of Art
We are Philadelphia’s art museum. A world-renowned collection. A landmark building. A place that welcomes everyone. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in everyone. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to see the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

 For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

Social Media
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Tumblr/You Tube: @philamuseum; Tik Tok: @philaartmuseum

Public Opportunity to See the Painting in Unrestored Condition Prior to Continued Research in Collaboration with Vermeer Experts

Lady with a Guitar in the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Catalogued for Almost a Century as ‘Copy After Vermeer’, Could Be by Vermeer, Says Speaker at the March 2023 Vermeer Symposium in Amsterdam

May 25, 2023 - Throughout the 20th century and to the present day, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Lady with a Guitar has been the subject of deep fascination and many questions. Long catalogued as a ‘Copy after Vermeer’ in the John G. Johnson Collection at the Museum, the work is a replica or close duplicate of Johannes Vermeer’s The Guitar Player (c.1672) today in the collection of Kenwood House, London. The hairstyles of the sitter are different – the Philadelphia musician does not have corkscrew ringlets – but otherwise the images are nearly identical.

Since the 1920s, scholars have puzzled over the relationship between the two pictures. Complicating the comparison is the fact that the London painting is one of Vermeer’s best-preserved works, while the Philadelphia version is in a compromised condition. Most scholars have felt that ‘Lady’ is a copy by another artist. In March 2023, however, against the backdrop of the definitive Vermeer show at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, researcher Arie Wallert claimed that the Philadelphia painting could be by Vermeer himself, altered at some time in its past by aggressive cleaning attempts that removed much of the artist’s uppermost, finishing layers of paint.

In light of the new findings, Philadelphia Museum of Art scientists, conservators, and curators are pursuing further study of the painting in collaboration with colleagues at other institutions – experts on Vermeer – led by the PMA and using the most advanced analytical tools available. The aim is to add to knowledge of the work’s construction and materials and, it is hoped, shed more light on who made it.

“The Philadelphia Museum of Art is grateful for the past and continuing contributions of scholarship to the mysterious discourse of our Lady with a Guitar,” commented Sasha Suda, George D. Widener Director and CEO. “Our conversation at the museum now is focused on the future of the painting, embracing collaborative research, seeking more knowledge, and inviting the public to be part of the process.” 

“The possibility of working even more closely with Vermeer scholars in 2024 to shed further light on PMA’s Lady with a Guitar across centuries is incredibly stimulating,” added Carlos Basualdo, Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Deputy Director and Chief Curator. “We look very much forward to a process that is collegial and open, while we continue to care for this extraordinary painting in our collection.”

Lady with a Guitar will be on view from June 10 through late 2023 in Gallery 364.

About the Philadelphia Museum of Art
We are Philadelphia’s art museum. A world-renowned collection. A landmark building. A place that welcomes everyone. We bring the arts to life, inspiring visitors—through scholarly study and creative play—to discover the spirit of imagination that lies in everyone. We connect people with the arts in rich and varied ways, making the experience of the Museum surprising, lively, and always memorable. We are committed to inviting visitors to see the world—and themselves—anew through the beauty and expressive power of the arts.

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art: pressroom@philamuseum.org.

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