Visual Arts

Engaging with the climate crisis, online

Across a quartet of digital platforms, including one for this week’s Climate Sensing and Data Storytelling convening, the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities is encouraging public engagement and the pairing of environmental art and science on climate issues.

Katherine Unger Baillie

A friendship born through marginalization

At the turn of the 20th century, Julian Abele and Louis Magaziner—a Black man and an immigrant Jew—were standouts in Penn’s School of Fine Arts about to launch distinguished careers in architecture. They were also beginning what would be a lifelong friendship. A Magaziner descendant and Abele admirer investigates what brought them together.

Amy Cohen

Sharon Hayes on performance art

Having come of age in New York City during the AIDS crisis, artist Sharon Hayes has always made work connected to political movements. She blends performance with installation and video to create large-scale works that explore the relationship between “the private and the public; the personal and the political.” 

Penn Today Staff

A new way of thinking about motion, movement, and the concept of time

Eadweard Muybridge’s “Animal Locomotion” was the first scientific study to use photography. Now, more than 130 years later, Muybridge’s work is seen as both an innovation in photography and the science of movement, alongside his personal legacy as someone with an eccentric 19th century style and a dark past.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Five events to watch for in January

Winter welcomes a slew of new performances, lectures, and exhibits to Penn's campus, including the opening of the Arthur Ross Gallery’s latest exhibit, a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., and a walk for wellness.

Brandon Baker



Media Contact


In the News


WHYY (Philadelphia)

What Philly arts leaders want to see from the city’s 100th mayor

The Institute of Contemporary Art has partnered with Taller Puertorriqueño to offer free bus service for residents of Fairhill to an ICA exhibition by North Philly native and artist David Antonio Cruz.

FULL STORY →



The Observer

On view now: Two shows on domesticity and the housing crisis

A review examines the group show “Movables” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, including pieces by Ken Lum of the Weitzman School of Design.

FULL STORY →



CBS Philadelphia

New class from Barnes Foundation and UPenn shows a new twist in art therapy

Penn professors, including James Pawelski and Katherine Cotter of the School of Arts & Sciences, are teaching an online class about art therapy with support from the Barnes Foundation.

FULL STORY →



Philadelphia Inquirer

Bolivia in Philadelphia: Mural Arts commissions renowned artist Roberto Mamani Mamani

Catherine Bartch of the School of Arts & Sciences, who first encountered Roberto Mamani Mamani’s art in Bolivia, is noted for encouraging the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies and Mural Arts to fund Mamani Mamani’s mural in Philadelphia.

FULL STORY →



The New York Times

On our National Mall, new monuments tell new stories

Paul Farber of the Weitzman School of Design is helping to curate “Pulling Together,” an open-air exhibition at the National Mall that will address some of the stories neglected by past monument makers.

FULL STORY →



WHYY (Philadelphia)

Philly artist wins $100K craft prize for her work remembering Black ancestors

Philadelphia-based artist Adebunmi Gbadebo’s work, which sources materials directly from her enslaved ancestors, is on display at the Arthur Ross Gallery as part of the group exhibition “Songs for Ritual Remembrance.”

FULL STORY →