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  • Art of the American Soldier

    The Experience

    More than 15,000 paintings and sketches created by over 1,300 American soldiers in the line of duty have been in curatorial storage in Washington, D.C. for decades. Seldom have them been made available for public viewing. Art of the American Soldier will bring these powerful works of art into the spotlight at the National Constitution Center from September 24, 2010 through January 10, 2011.

    The exhibition, featuring a never-before-seen collection, was created by the NCC in partnership with the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Museum of the United States Army. Following its world debut at the Center, the exhibition will begin a national tour. Tickets to the exhibition are currently available for purchase.

    The Trailer

    History

    The U.S. Army´s art program began during World War I, and continued through World War II, resulting in the creation of over 2,000 pieces of art. In 1945, the Army established its Historical Division, with responsibilities including the preservation of these works. The collection also includes artwork by artists who were sent to document the Vietnam War, as well as works from soldier-artists who are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. For a complete history of the Army´s art program, click here.
    Tickets

    Admission to Art of the American Soldier is FREE with regular museum admission of $12 for adults, $11 for seniors ages 65 and over, and $8 for children ages 4-12. Veterans and military families will receive $2 off admission. Active military personnel, career military retirees, and children ages 3 and under are free. Group rates are also available. For ticket information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.
    Buy Tickets Online In Advance

    You can buy admission tickets to the National Constitution Center online through our partners at the Independence Visitor Center. Just click the button below

  • Late Renoir Exhibition at the PMA

    June 17 � September 6, 2010

    The Philadelphia Museum of Art continues its recent trend of focusing in on a significant artist and showcasing the ways in which they influenced the art world for generations. Late Renoir is the first exhibition to survey the achievement of the great Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) during the last three decades before his death. The exhibition will include some 80 of the artist´s paintings, sculpture, and drawings will be on view, along with a selection of works by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, and others who were inspired by his work.

    About the Exhibition

    A landmark exhibition, Late Renoir examines new directions that the artist explored several decades after he and others such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro created the new style of painting known as Impressionism. This new and widely admired phase in Renoir´s career propelled him into the modern age and, at the same time, enabled him to recapture a classical past with expressive brushwork and a palette of sensuous colors that were both lyrical and decorative.

    Late Renoir includes major works on loan from public and private collections in Europe, the United States, and Japan. The exhibition is co-organized by the Reunion des Mus�es nationaux, the Mus�e d�Orsay, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It drew some 420,000 visitors in Paris before traveling to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The Philadelphia Museum of Art will be the only East Coast venue.

    Barnes/Renoir Hotel Package

    For the first time, two prestigious arts organization in the Philadelphia region, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Barnes Foundation are creating a joint hotel package that will be available June 17th through August 2010.

    The 181 Renoir paintings at the Barnes Foundation in addition to the works collected in the Late Renoir exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art allows Philadelphia to boast the largest number of works by Renoir in any city in the world!

    Three city hotels � the Four Seasons Hotel, Embassy Suites and Best Western Center City Hotel � are offering a one or two-night package that includes two untimed tickets to see the Late Renoir exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (June 17 � September 6, 2010), AND two untimed tickets to visit the Barnes Foundation as well as parking at the Barnes and 10% discount to the gift shop.

  • Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts

    The Experience

    April 7 through May 1, 2011, the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) will shine a spotlight on the city´s arts and cultural scene. For three weeks, audiences will revel in an array of one-time, only-in-Philadelphia productions by some of the region´s top talents�many of whom will partner with or present international performers. PIFA will feature music, dance, fashion, fine arts, poetry, cuisine and more�all infused with the essence of Paris, circa 1910-1920.

    Inspired by the Kimmel Center, PIFA promises to be an out-of-the-box arts festival that honors the vision of longtime Philadelphia resident and philanthropist Leonore Annenberg. Before she passed away in 2009, Mrs. Annenberg provided a generous grant through the Annenberg Foundation to ensure that her lifelong dream for a citywide arts celebration would be fulfilled.

    As PIFA transforms the entire city into a giant stage, loyal fans and newcomers to the arts will have the opportunity to choose from among dozens of ticketed and free activities each day. Performances and exhibits will be held throughout Center City and beyond, many in Kimmel Center venues, as well as in theaters, performance halls and other venues, both large and small.

    With more than 100 performances planned, three events serve as examples of the serendipitous moments and surprising performances audiences can look forward to. For the first time ever, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Ballet will perform together, collaborating on what promises to be an unforgettable presentation of the classic French ballet Pulcinella. In an innovative pairing, Philly´s signature hip-hop band The Roots will play in an anything-can-happen concert with a French chanteuse. What´s more, daring aerialists will swing from the rafters of the Kimmel Center and teach anybody who has ever wanted to join the circus how to fly the trapeze on the Avenue of the Arts.

  • First Friday

    When

    The First Friday evening of each month, rain or shine, year-round. Hours: 5 to 9 p.m.

    Where

    Most galleries can be found between Front and Third, and Market and Vine Streets.

    The Experience

    Want proof of Philadelphia´s happening art scene? Come down to Old City for First Fridays. On the first Friday evening of every month the streets fill with art lovers of all kinds who wander among the neighborhood´s 40-plus galleries, most of them open from 5 until 9 p.m.

    A casual atmosphere encourages art and people watching, eating at Old City´s many restaurants and just plain mingling. There´s diversity both in the crowd and among the galleries, adding flavor to the experience. Most galleries can be found between Front and Third, and Market and Vine Streets.

    History

    Started in 1991 by a group of galleries as a collaborative open house evening, First Fridays grew quickly into one of Philly´s most vital, signature cultural events. Old City´s historic commercial buildings have fostered a SoHo-like cultural ambience with the densest network of galleries in the city.

    Some of the arts organizations you can visit on First Fridays include the Clay Studio; the Temple Gallery; the cooperative galleries Nexus, Highwire, Muse and Third Street Gallery; and collaborative Space 1026.