Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is the nation's first museum and school of fine arts. Many of the nation’s most important artists were founders, teachers, or students at the Academy, playing an instrumental role in shaping American art. Much of their work is richly represented in PAFA’s collection including works by Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beaux, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Maxfield Parrish, and Violet Oakley, together with contemporary artists like Marsden Hartley and Georgia O’Keefe.
An added bonus – these treasures are housed in PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building, considered one of America’s finest surviving examples of Victorian Gothic architecture. Noted architects Frank Furness and George Hewitt designed the building, which opened in 1876.
The Academy is located just two blocks north of Philadelphia's City Hall and is easily accessible by public transportation.