New wing for Penn Academy

The Pennsylvannia Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia recently unveiled a new 300,000-square-foot facility in a former office building located across the street from its 1876 landmark structure designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt. Opening to coincide with the Academy's 200th anniversary, the 11-story Samuel M.V.

Hamilton Building more than doubles the institution's exhibition space. The building was renovated and redesigned by architects Dagit-Saylor of Philadelphia and contains several large gallery spaces totaling 11,000 square feet on two floors. Much of the exhibition area is devoted to works of contemporary art from the Academy's permanent collection. The building also contains a sculpture study center, classrooms, offices, a bookstore, artists' studios and a rooftop painting terrace. Also to mark its anniversary celebration, the Academy has refurbished the Furness/Hewitt building and rehung selections from the collection, embellished with a number of recent acquisitions donated by the family of collectors Vivian O. and Meyer P. Potamkin, including major pieces by Mary Cassatt, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley and Georgia O'Keeffe.

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