News

BelleKim installation

An Interview with Belle Kim about her work in "Once Upon a Place" International Student Exhibition

By Marley Massey Parsons (MFA) on February 17th, 2022, originally featured in Career Services student newsletter

Could you tell us a little about your work in the Once Upon a Place exhibition?

I grew up in the city of Seoul, Korea. Living in Philadelphia, I often think of Seoul, where I once…

Perspectives
Portion of This Woman's Work in the Alumni Gallery

Brian James Spies (MFA ’12) Assembles Alumni for Shared Exploration of Gender in “This Woman’s Work”

PAFA’s Alumni Gallery is currently playing host to four graduates of its Master of Fine Arts program. Brian James Spies curated This Woman’s Work, which also features pieces by Sofya Mirvis, Daria Souvorova, and Ana Vizcarra Rankin. Spies’s body of work exploring gender first developed following the…
Alumni News
Margaret Foster Richardson (1881-1945) A Motion Picture, 1912

6ABC | PAFA celebrates Women's History Month with 'Women in Motion', 'Joan Semmel' exhibits

Karen Rogers reports on two major exhibitions at PAFA celebrating women artists for this week's "6abc Loves the Arts." Women in Motion: 150 Years of Women's Artist Networks at PAFA charts the untold stories of women artists' networking, innovating and collaborating. Joan Semmel: Skin in the Game is…

In the News
American+ displayed in gallery

Michael Coppage (MFA ’05) Confronts Centuries of Negativity with Resiliency in American+

American+, a touring solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Michael Coppage (MFA ’05), kicked off the new year in PAFA’s School of Fine Arts Gallery. A venue for alumni showcases, the 2710 square-foot gallery is the largest that American+ has been shown in so far, allowing Coppage to display…

Alumni News
Sally Ride Quarter Drawing

PAFA Alumni Design and Sculpt the Sally Ride Quarter for USMint

 Two PAFA alumni, designer Elana Haglar (MFA '07) and sculptor Phebe Hemphill (Sculpture '87), created the depiction of astronaut Dr. Sally Ride on a new quarter released this year. The artists are employed at the US Mint as "Artist Infusion Program" Designer and "Medallic Artist" respectively, and…
Alumni News
Peter Van Dyck painting

Trebuchet Magazine | The Way I See It. Presence, Realism, and the Artist in Physical Space: Peter van Dyck

The work of painting faculty, Peter Van Dyck, is explored in Trebuchet Magazine's latest issue, Process.

Van Dyck’s process brings whoever is watching into soft afternoons and empty streets touched with the light melancholy of contemplative solitude. Our eyes, following the graceful curves of…

In the News
Eric Pryor in Museum

6ABC | Meet Eric Pryor, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1st Black president & CEO

As part of their Black History Month series on "Visions" 6ABC reports on Eric Pryor's appointment as President & CEO, with video and article introducing his background and vision for PAFA.
In the News
Graphic Novel lecture

Illustration Student Emily McLaughlin Reflects on Greg Niedt's Graphic Novel Course

The (Near) Infinite World of the Graphic Novel: Greg Niedt Breaks Down the Medium in the Liberal Arts Course "Deconstructing the Graphic Novel"
Perspectives
Tuttleman Gallery

The Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) Stands with HBCUs

PAFA President Joins Letter from AICAD President and Executive Director Deborah Obalil and Board Chair Elissa Tenny: The Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) Stands with HBCUs
Painting Les derniers jours d'enfance by Cecilia Beaux of young boy on mother's lap

Smithsonian Magazine | "Letters to Cecilia Beaux..."

"These amusing letters implied and enhanced so many intricacies in the maternal relationship depicted in Beaux’s Les dernier jours d’enfance, and they continue to make my understanding of the portrait that much richer. Beaux’s subjects were not merely symbols of a mother and child—they were a real…
In the News
Jessica Abel and students at white board

Become Your Own Boss in Illustration Projects with Jessica Abel

Emily McLaughlin, Communications Work Study Student:

On the last day of the fall semester, students gathered around the project board in a public hallway. Each student stepped forward to check off their final task, and received the biggest congratulation sticker yet from Jessica Abel, Chair of…

Perspectives
Ash Garner working in her studio at MASS MoCA

Ash Garner (MFA ’20) Uses MASS MoCA Residency to Challenge Perceptions

Ash Garner (MFA ’20) is a Philadelphia-based artist who works with soft sculpture and site-specific installation. She recently participated in a Career Services Artist Residency Panel, sharing with current students her experience following graduation at The Studios at MASS MoCA Residency. In this…

Alumni News

About PAFA

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is America's first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the fine arts, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and a world-class collection of American art. PAFA’s esteemed alumni include Mary Cassatt, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Thomas Eakins, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.