170th Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Item

Title

170th Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Identifier

1975-AR.pdf

Date

1975

Creator

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Subject

annual report
finance report
school report
exhibition
history

Publisher

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' Dorothy and Kenneth Woodcock Archives

Medium

paper

Format

PDF

Source

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' Dorothy and Kenneth Woodcock Archives

Language

eng

Rights

Digitized archival materials are accessible for purposes of education and research. We have indicated what we know about copyright and rights of privacy, publicity, or trademark. Due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information. We are eager to hear from any rights owners, so that we may obtain accurate information. Upon request, we will remove material from public view while we address a rights issue.

extracted text

ANNUAL REPORT 1975

THE 170TH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS -

FOUNDED IN 1805

BROAD AND CHERRY STREETS
PHILADELPHIA,
PENNSYLVANIA 19102

NOVEMBER 19, 1975

1975

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR

In his preface to "Young America,"
the Academy's traveling Exhibition to
Great
Britain,
Professor
John
McCoubrey describes the condition of
our building on Broad and Cherry
Streets in 1975:
The Philadelphia home of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
stands empty of its art and crowded
with crews of workmen who are restoring this Victorian landmark - half as
old as the nation - to its original gilt
and polychrome splendor.
1975 has seen the Staff, the Board of
Trustees and the Women's Committee
of the Pennsylvania Academy apply
extraord inary energy, hard work and
effort in pursuing the restoration of our
great building and its collection, and at
the same time, in carrying out a lively
series of programs and events to keep
the Academy in the public eye during
the time the Academy's building is
closed. Since May of 1974, the Staff
and Exhibition program and Museum
Shop have functioned at Peale House,
the Academy's adjunct building on
Chestnut Street; the operations of the
Academy's School have been carried on
at 220Q Arch Street and the Peale
House as we prepare for the gra-nd
re-opening of the Broad and Cherry
building and the Bicentennial Celebration on April 22, 1976.
The renovation of the Furnessdesigned building, which has been
designated a National Historic Landmark by the-Federal Government (one
of three such designations in Pennsylvania in 1975), is going forward very
well indeed. The contractors for the
mechanical and electrical work are

about one month ahead of schedule.
However, despite' the enthusiastic response from the Academy's Trustees,
and friends in the private sector, the
funds for the restoration have been
somewhat slower due to the econom ic
situation this past year. Nevertheless,
our fund-raising has been given a tremendous boost by an extraordinary
grant in the sum of $1,163,000 from
the State of Pennsylvania. It is the
largest grant given by the State to a
single institution for a Bicentennial
effort, and it means that we will be able
to finish our' public spaces in time for
the celebration of the Nation's Bicentennial and the celebration of the Centennial o"f our magnificient building.
As you may remember our ultimate
goal is 7 million dollars, 5 million for
the restoratio-n and 2 million for endowment. The grant from the State
puts us well over 4 million . We are
therefore within shouting distance of
total completion of the building, and
we, continue to earnestly pursue every
available source of revenue in order to
finally realize our ultimate objective.
In the meantime we hav~ received
other grants from government sources
for both the restoration and programs
in 1975. These matching grants include: $332,222 from the National Endowment for the Arts for air conditioning and climate control; $10,700 from
the U.S. Department of Interior
(through the State Museum and Historical Commission) for cleaning of interior stonework; $9,975 from the NEA
for the restoration of Death on a Pale
Horse and Christ Rejected by Benjamin
West; $10,000 from the National En-

dowment for the Humanities as a first
increment towards our five-year project for the organ ization and restoration
of the Academy Archives; $25,000
from the State Bicentennial Commission for the 1976 catalogue, "Pennsylvania Painters"; $16,000 from the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for
the catalogue and expenses of "Young
America" in the U.S.; $6,500 from the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for
"Symbols of Peace," an important
Bicentennial Exhibition.
Although the bulk of the collection
is stored in the Quaker Moving and
Storage Company, our ambitious renewal of the building has made possible
a major loan program in order to keep
as much ofthe collection as possible on
public view. During 1974-75 works
from the Academy collection were seen
in such diverse locations as the Portrait
Gallery of The Second Bank of the U.S.
in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Hospital Antiques Show, Philadelphia, the
Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, the
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, The
Wh ite House and State Department,
the Virgin ia Museum of Fine Arts, the
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art,
Fort Worth, Texas, and the Los Angeles,
County Museum of Art, to name just a
few.
However, the culmination of this
extended lending policy was achieved
by "Young America," a group of outstanding paintings, including the cream
of the collection, representing two centuries of American art, which was exhibited in Great Britain this summer.
Over 800 people attended the enormously successful Opening on July 2nd

at the American Embassy in London.
At that Opening, the Academy's Exhibition was designated as the official
beginning of the Bicentennial celebra~
tions in Great Britain. I n conjunction
with the Exhibition the Women's Committee organized a special ten-day
London i'Art Safari" for the Sponsors
and Patrons of "Young America."
When this part of our collection is
reassembled· and installed in the restored galleries in 1976, it will have
been seen in London, Glasgow, Bristol
and the Whitney Museum of American
Art in New York. The public relations
and publ icity value to the Academy has
been incalcuable. The publicity on the
Exhibition has been widespread both
here and abroad and it included a special interview on NBC's TODA Y SHOW
in June.
Although "Young America" is a culmination of our loan policy, and although the restored building will open
on schedule, we must not sit back now.
April 22, 1976 is the magic date, but it
is not an ending; on the contrary, a
renewed building means a new beginning. Much will have been accomplished, but much more needs to be
accomplished, and to this purpose we
need continued active support, not
only in the coming months, but in the
coming years as well.
Richard J. Boyle
Director

f'

• '-.

'L"C'E NTENNIAL CAMPAIGN FUND
FO

FOR THE PERIOD ENDED AUGUST 31 , 1975

REVENUE:
Contributions
Interest

1,059,984.77
16,540.63
1,076,525.40

Total Revenue

EXPENSES:
Fund raising
Rent, moving and storage
Utilities
Repairs and maintenance
Brochure and photos
Other items

94,000.00
120,682.83
4,677.53
5,784.66
5,728.00
7,873.99

Total Expenses

238,747.01

NET INCOME

837,778.39

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED AUGUST 31, 1975

REVENUE:
222,632.00
158,701.80
17,291.98
25,000.00
31,351. 77
20,799.25
454,341.50

Various Trust Funds
Memberships
Contributions
City Appropriation
Sales desk and miscellaneous
Museum
School

930,118.30

Total Revenues

COSTS AND EXPENSES:
Administration
Museum
School
Peale Club surplus

333,866.94
177,508.65
448,992.04
( 6,420.76)

Total Costs and Expenses

NET OPERATING LOSS

953,946.87
( 23,828.57)

NET INCOME FROM
CENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN FUND

837,778.39

NET INCOME
TO RETAINED EARNINGS

813,949.82

REPORT OF THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL

The strength of the Academy School
and particularly its faculty was graphically illustrated during the 1974-75
school year.
With the museum and school sharing
limited accommodations at the Peale
House, 1811 Chestnut Street, and the
painting and sculpture studios relocated at 2200 Arch, many of the facilities which contributed so greatly to the
student's opportunity to learn were
reduced or in some instances eliminated. In the Peale House the student
gallery was improved and the lunchroom/lounge area was eliminated so
that the additional hanging space could
be opened to the public. A few private
studios were converted to offices for
the museum staff and the school store
was moved to smaller accommodations
on the third floor. At the same time,
the large spacious painting studios at
Broad and Cherry were lost and smaller
less desirable studios were substituted
at 2200 Arch. Noise and light pollution
at 2200 Arch were two of the problems
which could not be overcome successfully. In spite of these several negatives
and a slow start in both the even ing and
day school registration with 382 day
students and 186 evening students registered for the Fall Semester, Day
School registration astonishingly increased to 408 in the Spring Semester
and Evening School declined to 165.
The conduct of the Evening School at

the Peale House accounts for the lowering registration as the studios q.Je small
and the school is active on two floors
increasing the problem of monitoring
the classes and supervising models.
Summer school was one of the best
attended in recent years. Excellent
monitors improved the running of the
school and the studios.
The complexion of our student body
changes somewhat from year to year.
Forty-six per cent of our 382 day
students indicated an interest in earning an academic degree, aslight increase
from the previous year. Though a great
majority of our students are from the
State of Pen nsylvan ia, 27 states and
eight foreign countries were represented. Sixty-five per cent of our students came to the Academy with experience beyond high school, including
49 with academ ic degrees. Seventy-five
per cent of our students are over 20
years of age, and a slight majority, 52%,
are male. The daily round of studio
work was enlivened by lectures in the
late afternoon on Perspective, Materials
and Techniques, Art History, and Anatomy. Guest artists visited the school
broadening the experience of our students and ampl ifying the contact with
the regular Academy teachers. Guests
included
Calvin
Albert,
Robert
Engman, James Havard, Nathaniel
Jacobson, Phil ip J amison, Alex Katz,
John McCoy, and Ray Saunders.

The regular faculty continued their
invaluable teach ing with minor changes
in schedule to accommodate changes in
the student body and the studio spaces
at 2200 Arch. Ben Kamihira took a
leave of absence for a prolonged visit to
Japan . Two New York artists, Tan ia
Millecivic and Angelo Savelli took over
Ben's teaching assignments. Joe
Amarotico was again absent due to the
conservation work which has grown in
proportion because of the preparation
for the Bicentennial exhibitions. Bill
Omwake is teaching Joe's class.
Bus trips were arranged enabling the
students to visit the New York and
Washington areas when specific exhibitions of interest were to be seen.
In Septe-mber of 1974 the Ford
Foundation approved a grant of
$50,000.00 to The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for support of
professional studio training in the
visual arts, specifically to enable the
School to establish a permanent endowment fund for faculty enrichment.
Receipt of the grant is contingent upon
the raising of $150,000.00 during the
next three years starting September 1,
1975. We invite contributions toward
the real ization of th is opportu nity to
serve both Faculty and Students.
Perhaps the most sign ificant measu re
of the success of the school year is to be
found in the year end annual student
exh ib ition. More than 600 works were

shown including the winners of 3~
prize awards and presentations by 96
competitors for 14 major European
traveling and Scholarship awards.
Eugene W. Leake, former President of
the Maryland Institute College of Art
and an artist of reputation, was the
speaker of the day at the exercises
announcing the award winners.
Again, because of the need to vacate
the Academy building, the exercises
were held in the Auditorium of Moore
College of Art and the exhibition of
student work was presented at the
22nd and Arch Streets location and the
North Gallery at the Peale House. With
the help of students under the direction
of Steve Hammond, the studio spaces
at 2200 Arch were transformed into an
excellent gallery space. The works of
art made the areas sparkle and attracted
many visitors. Eighty-seven student
works were sold for $15,768.
Henry Hotz, Jr.

Dean

Design-Jim Ellis
Typography-Associates International, Inc.
Printer-Charles M. Nichols

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