Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1805 and is the first and oldest art museum and art school in the United States.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Center City Philadelphia
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' 1806 building featured in an 1809 engraving
PAFA's 1845 building from a photograph, c. 1870
North River by George Bellows, 1908
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-secondary, undergraduate or graduate programs, and can also offer a broad-based range of programs. There have been six major periods of art school curricula, and each one has had its own hand in developing modern institutions worldwide throughout all levels of education. Art schools also teach a variety of non-academic skills to many students.
1881 painting by Marie Bashkirtseff, In the Studio, depicts an art school life drawing session, Dnipro State Art Museum, Dnipro, Ukraine
The Parsons School of Design in Manhattan
The Cooper Union Foundation Building, Cooper Square, Manhattan
The Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island.