Our Creative Collective members had the exclusive opportunity to attend the press preview of the Making History American Art exhibition PEM, and we’re excited to share this remarkable show with you. This groundbreaking show presents 85 stunning works from the historic collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), offering fresh perspectives on American artistic identity.
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A Journey Through American Art and Identity
Making History takes visitors on an immersive journey across time, medium, and identity, revealing American artists as they have always been: a diverse group including women, artists of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Since the founding of the United States, these artists have played a vital role in crafting and continually retelling our nation’s history.
The Making History American Art exhibition PEM is thoughtfully organized into thematic sections that explore provocative questions about American art and culture, from how artists shape our understanding of representation and power to the complex relationship between everyday life and democratic ideals. Visitors will discover how landscape painting reflects America’s place in the wider world and how artists have documented both historical moments and contemporary social issues.
Iconic Works in a New Light
Featured artists include beloved American masters such as Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, Gilbert Stuart, Georgia O’Keeffe, Horace Pippin, Childe Hassam, Thomas Hart Benton, Mary Cassatt, and Stuart Davis, among others. Visitors will encounter familiar favorites alongside lesser-known gems that deserve wider recognition.
One highlight mentioned during the preview tour is Benjamin West’s iconic “Penn’s Treaty with Indians” from 1771-72, which captures a founding myth of American nationhood—painted a century after the depicted events occurred. The exhibition brilliantly contrasts this historical narrative with contemporary works like Alice Neel’s “Investigation of Poverty at the Russell Sage Foundation” from 1933, showing how artists have documented both past and present.
A Partnership Celebrating American Art Education
This remarkable exhibition represents a collaboration between the American Federation of Arts (AFA) and PAFA, two institutions with deep roots in American art education. As AFA curator Catherine Wright noted during the preview, both organizations were founded in the early 1800s with missions to cultivate American citizens as “perceptive observers of the world.”
PAFA, founded in 1805 as the country’s first museum and school of fine arts, has long championed diverse voices, becoming one of the first institutions to admit women students and African American students in the mid-1800s. This commitment to inclusion is reflected throughout the exhibition’s carefully curated selection.
An Interactive Experience
The exhibition concludes with an engaging interactive gallery featuring photographs of PAFA students at work, encouraging visitors to create their own art responses. This hands-on element reinforces the show’s central message: that making history through art is an ongoing project in which we all participate.
Plan Your Visit
The Making History American Art exhibition PEM offers an essential opportunity to discover the evolution of American artistic identity and explore what it has meant to be an American artist from the early 19th century through the late 20th century. Whether you’re an art enthusiast or simply curious about American cultural history, this exhibition provides fresh insights into familiar stories and introduces overlooked voices that deserve recognition. More information and tickets can be found here.
Don’t miss this chance to experience iconic American works in a completely new light. Follow along on social media using #MakingHistoryatPEM to join the conversation about American art and identity.
The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation, with additional backing from Jennifer and Andrew Borggaard, James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes, The Creighton Family, Chip and Susan Robie, Timothy T. Hilton, and the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Cover Photo: Winslow Homer, Fox Hunt, 1893. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. Joseph E. Temple Fund. 1894.4
Peabody Essex Museum
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The mission of the Peabody Essex Museum is to celebrate outstanding artistic and cultural creativity by collecting, stewarding and interpreting objects of art and culture in ways that increase knowledge, enrich the spirit, engage the mind and stimulate the senses. Through its exhibitions, programs, publications, media and related activities, PEM strives to create experiences that transform people’s lives by broadening
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