The Fellowship of PAFA
Fellowship Virtual Gallery
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Fellowship Board:
Barbara Sosson
President and Treasurer
Nina Martino
Vice President
John Formicola
Vice President and
Collection Co-Curator
Rachel Citrino
Collection Co-Curator
Mostafa Darwish
Virtual Gallery Director
Moe Brooker
Artist
Sandra Benhaim
Artist
Pat Nugent
Rosemont College Gallery
Director, Associate
Professor/Studio Art
Vanessa Werring
Artist
Fellowship Advisors:
Maureen Drdak
Former President &
Fulbright Fellow
Sharon Ewing
Former Owner/Director of
Gross McCleaf Gallery
Lisa Tremper Hanover
Museum Consultant
Gaby Heit
Art Consultant/Curator
Rhoda Rosenberg
Professor of Printmaking,
School of the Museum of Fine
Arts/Tufts, Boston
The Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is one of the oldest Alumni art nonprofit organizations in America and staffed solely by volunteers, which speaks of the impressive loyalty and dedication of our board and artists.
We are an independent entity, with its sole purpose to benefit all PAFA Alumni.
On Monday evening, April 19, 1897, approximately five hundred people met in the Pennsylvania Academy lecture room to form an organization of alumni that would come to be known worldwide as The Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. They came together at the behest of Edward H. Coates, President of PAFA, and Harrison S. Morris, Managing Director. The idea had been endorsed by 32 prominent artists. Robert Vonnoh, a former student and later Academy instructor, suggested that a notice be sent to several thousand alumni.
After 124 years the Fellowship is still going strong and is proud to celebrate this year’s Annual Exhibition at the Gross McCleaf Gallery from November 3 through 27, 2021. This year our Juror is Rebecca Segall who has selected the art work and awards. The gallery is open on specific days and hours. Simply visit the Gross McCleaf website to plan your visit. The works are for sale in the gallery and on our virtual gallery website: www.grossmccleaf.com | www.fellowshipgallery.org
This year’s exhibition is composed of two shows. One Live gallery exhibition and a large virtual show on the Fellowship website. The Live exhibition displays 63 works by Academy Alumni. The virtual exhibition displays 112 works by Academy Alumni. John Thornton and Miriam Seidel, both Academy alumni, are creating a video and dialogue of the entire exhibition that will be linked to the sites as well as our own website by mid-November. Thank you Rebecca Segall, our generous Juror, artist and owner of the Gross McCleaf Gallery and her Assistant Gallery Director Morgan Hobbs. I personally also thank our Fellowship Board of Directors and Advisors who help make our organization a great support for PAFA Alumni year-round. We all thank, Mostafa Darwish, our Virtual Gallery Director, board member and artist for his work for with virtual exhibitions year-round.
We remain,
Artists Helping Artists!
Barbara Sosson
Fellowship President
Please click the Button below to view the full pdf Annual Fellowship Exhibition 2020 catalog
JUROR’S STATEMENT
It was a pleasure to review the vast
array of subjects and media submitted
for this year’s Fellowship Annual. Sorting
through the many accomplished works
posed a difficult challenge; however, a
narrative emerged and began to shape
the selection. I am grateful to every artist
offering their work for review.
This body of work beckoned me toward
an alternative world… a not all-together
comfortable place with more questions
than answers, and the lingering feeling
of dislocation.
In this unknown, dreamlike place, I
wonder what has happened to the land
that surrounds me. The scent of metal
hangs in the air and I’m aware that all
of my friends are missing. I begin to perceive
coded messages that demand to
be deciphered. This keeps me busy.
While uncanny visions abound, I am also
relieved that organization and order
find their way into the fray. Richness and
meaning are retained.
Thus, I am not totally lost in this altered
space.
Rebecca Segall
Artist and owner of Gross McCleaf
Gallery
Rebecca Segall
Please view this virtual exhibit on a desktop for full experience.
Please enjoy this video made by John Thorton. Narrated by John Norton, and featuring FPAFA president Barbara Sosson, and the writer Miriam Seidel.