Expanding the Audience for Art in the Nineteenth Century
at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
at University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery 

              April 9 – July 31, 2016

Expanding the Audience for Art in the Nineteenth Century at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts will open to the public on Friday, April 8, 2016 at the Arthur Ross Gallery, University of Pennsylvania. The exhibition is the culmination of a synergistic collaboration between Professor Michael Leja and students in a curatorial seminar in the Department of the History of Art, the museum and staff of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Arthur Ross Gallery. This groundbreaking exhibition will remain on view at the Arthur Ross Gallery through July 31, 2016.

Throughout the nineteenth century artists strived to increase the audience for art by incorporating new media, new venues, and new voices. As the oldest museum and art school in the country, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts bore witness to such efforts. This exhibition includes 19th century prints, photographs, paintings, architectural drawings, institutional ephemera, and gift books that reveal its remarkable influence. Works by seminal artists such as Benjamin West, Thomas Eakins, John Sartain, Cecilia Beaux, Maxfield Parrish, Alice Barber Stephens, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Yasuo Kuniyoshi will be included.

The 13 students in Dr. Leja’s seminar researched and selected works of art relevant to the exhibition theme, working collaboratively with Anna Marley, PAFA Curator of Historical American Art, and Hoang Tran, Archives Coordinator. The exhibition catalogue reflects their scholarship on this important century that defined American Art

Dr. Leja and his curatorial seminar students have worked on all aspects of the exhibition

in collaboration with the Arthur Ross Gallery. They are:

Haely Chang, M.A. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

Anne Cross, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art, University of Delaware

Lee Ann Custer, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

Tara Giangrande, B.A., Swarthmore College

Kirsten Gill, M.A. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

Julia Griffith, M.S., Historic Preservation, University of Pennsylvania

Olivia Horn, B.A., University of Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Katzin, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

Ramey Mize, L.P.S., University of Pennsylvania

Shahzeen Nasim, B.A., Haverford College

Andres de los Rios, B.A., University of Pennsylvania

Serena Qiu, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

Jill Vaum, Ph.D. candidate, History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

Related Events and Programs

Thursday April 7, 5:00 – 7:30 pm, Arthur Ross Gallery

Opening Reception and Curatorial Discussions

Thursday April 14, 5:30 pm, Arthur Ross Gallery

Lecture: Anna O. Marley, PAFA Curator of Historical American Art

Thursday, April 21, 5:30 pm, Arthur Ross Gallery

A Conversation with Hoang Tran, PAFA Archives Coordinator

Please join us for a public conversation between Hoang Tran, Archives Coordinator at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Haely Chang, Tara Giangrande, and Annie Cross, curatorial seminar students. They will discuss their research, and ways in which archival materials informed their curatorial decisions.

Monday, April 25 at 12:00 pm Arthur Ross Gallery and Morgan Print Room

Printmaking Demonstration

During  the nineteenth century new media and imaging technologies emerged, including various forms of printmaking. Kayla Romberger, artist and printmaking instructor at Penn, will lead a printmaking demonstration, and guests will receive unique prints of admission tickets to the exhibition. (This event will require guests to RSVP to rmize@design.upenn.edu and will be capped at 15 people.)

Wednesday, May 4, 12pm, Arthur Ross Gallery

12@12: Ramey Mize, L.P.S., and Jeff Katzin, Ph.D. Student, University of Pennsylvania

Wednesday, June 1, 12pm, Arthur Ross Gallery

12@12: Lee Ann Custer, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Pennsylvania

Wednesday, July 6, 12pm, Arthur Ross Gallery

12@12: Arthur Ross Gallery staff

Additional support for the exhibition is provided by the Arthur Ross Exhibition Fund, Mrs. Arthur Ross, Mr. George Gillespie, the Hohns Family ESCAPE Program, the Patron’s Circle of the Arthur Ross Gallery, Campaign for Community at the University of Pennsylvania, Connelly Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

The Gallery is located at 220 South 34th Street, Philadelphia (located in the Fisher Fine Arts Library Building), and is free and open to the public.

HOURS: Weekdays 10:00am – 5:00pm; Weekends 12:00pm – 5:00pm. Closed Mondays. Visit us on Facebook and Twitter.  To reserve a group tour please contact us at sabrady@upenn.edu or 215-898-3617. 

Additional information is available at ArthurRossGallery.org or 215-898-2083