Thursday, April 3, 2025

Making American Artists: Stories from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1776-1976
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

"Making American Artists: Stories from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1776-1976" presents more than 70 of the most acclaimed and recognizable works of American art, which have played a demonstrable role in shaping conversations about the nation's history and identity. The exhibition explores new narratives of the history of American art, embracing stories about women artists, LGBTQ+ artists, and artists of color within a visual and thematic structure that also features iconic works traditionally associated with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Making American Artists" presents PAFA's formidable collection of well-known historic works alongside pieces by traditionally underrepresented artists to pose questions about what it meant to be an American artist from when the institution was founded to the late 20th century.

"Making American Artists" features works from PAFA's esteemed collection that helped define new chapters in the history of American art, including works by Mary Cassatt, Barkley L. Hendricks, Edward Hopper, Alice Neel, Georgia O'Keeffe, Gilbert Stuart, Henry O. Tanner, and Andrew Wyeth. The exhibition also features icons of PAFA's history and collection, such as Stuart's "George Washington" (Lansdowne Portrait) (1796) and Charles Wilson Peale's "The Artist in His Museum" (1822).