Making American Artists presents 85 works from the historic collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, taking you on a journey across time, medium and identity. The exhibition offers new narratives of the history of American art and reveals American artists as they have always been: a diverse group that includes women, artists of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Since the founding of the United States, these artists have played a vital role in crafting and continually retelling the nation’s history.

Enjoy iconic American works in a new light and find new favorites. Featured artists include Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, Gilbert Stuart, Georgia O’Keeffe, Horace Pippin, Childe Hassam, Thomas Hart Benton, Mary Cassatt and Stuart Davis, among others. Discover the evolution of our national artistic identity and explore what it has meant to be an American artist in the early 19th century through the late 20th century.

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About the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
PAFA was founded in 1805 in Philadelphia as the country’s first museum and school of fine arts. It was an accredited college from 2013 to 2025 and maintains a robust program of continuing education and community arts programming through the PAFA museum.

The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is the international leader in traveling exhibitions. A nonprofit organization founded in 1909, AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research and developing educational programs.

Making History: 200 Years of American Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is co-organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Lead support was provided to PAFA by the William Penn Foundation, with additional support from the Richard C. von Hess Foundation and donors to PAFA's Special Exhibitions Fund. In-kind support is provided by Christie's and Gill & Lagodich Fine Period Frames, New York. This exhibition at PEM is made possible by Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation. We thank Jennifer and Andrew Borggaard, James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes, Chip and Susan Robie, and Timothy T. Hilton as supporters of the Exhibition Innovation Fund. We also recognize the generosity of the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.