PAFA's Board of Trustees Approves Design Concepts for Lenfest Plaza

Written by Julian Joevn Monday, 22 March 2010 20:44

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- At the most recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' (PAFA) Board of Trustees, conceptual designs for the development of Lenfest Plaza were approved. David Rubin, Partner at landscape architectural firm OLIN, was contracted to design the plaza and presented his concepts to PAFA's Board earlier this month. Open to the public twenty-four hours a day, PAFA's Lenfest Plaza is a pedestrian court that will offer outdoor seating and host an upscale restaurant that will look out onto the plaza from the ground level of PAFA's contemporary Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building.

A major work of art is being commissioned by a renowned sculptor and rotating works of emerging and established artists will be continually on display, making this an exciting and inviting civic space and a destination for not only art lovers and museum goers, but all visitors to Philadelphia.

States Donald R. Caldwell, Chair of PAFA's Board of Trustees, "Seeing OLIN's conceptual designs is very gratifying. As Lenfest Plaza becomes a reality, its potential as a welcoming public space becomes even more apparent. The Board is thrilled by Rubin's initial presentation and is extremely excited about PAFA's future and the opportunities the development of the plaza will afford us, the Convention Center, and Philadelphia."

"It is a wonderful opportunity to design a space that meets the needs of PAFA's broad constituency of students, teachers and patrons, as well as that of the City. Our efforts focus on the desire to bring a diverse community together in a celebratory urban and urbane space. Lenfest Plaza will incorporate art and artistry in an engaging environment," comments Rubin.

The current museum building opened in 1876. Designed by the American architects Frank Furness and George W. Hewitt, it has been designated a National Historic Landmark. As such, it is recognized as an important part of America's and Philadelphia's architectural heritage. It was carefully restored in 1976. The collection is installed in a chronological and thematic format, exploring the history of American art from the 1760s to the present.

Today, the Academy maintains its strong collecting tradition with the inclusion of works by modern and contemporary American artists such as Jennifer Bartlett, Richard Diebenkorn, Nancy Graves, Alex Katz, Philip Pearlstein, Robert Motherwell, Raymond Saunders, and Frank Stella. Acquisitions and exhibition programs are balanced between historical and contemporary art, and the museum continues to show works by contemporary regional artists and features annual displays of work by Academy students. Visit : http://www.pafa.org/

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