In This Issue: - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

PAFA Collection
Goes “LIVE”
Beginning the first week of September, visitors to our
website will be in for a big surprise. After two years of
behind-the-scenes work we are excited to announce
the arrival of our newly designed Collections portal and
expanded access to our collection on our website.
With the generous grant from The Albert M. Greenfield
Foundation, we were able to purchase a collections
database system called MIMSY XG. Jennifer Johns, our
data entry coordinator has been entering information into
MIMSY about each object in the collection and Barbara
Katus, our photo archivist has been photographing the
work. MIMSY simply takes the place of file cabinets and
lives on the museum staff’s computers. Internally, the staff
has access to about 9,000 object records and they use
MIMSY for creating exhibitions, educational tours, and to
track loans in/out to name a few daily activities. Externally,
Jennifer has been working with NetReach, our website
designers to connect the data in MIMSY to our website
for expanded public access.
Right now visitors to our on-line collection have access
to fewer than 1,000 objects from our more than 15,000
works. Objects are only searchable by artist, medium,
date and keyword and only paintings, works on paper and
sculpture are present. It was our goal using the Greenfield
grant to allow the public not only access to more works
in our collection but to expand search capabilities for
research, teaching, and visiting purposes.
Now visitors to the Collections portal will be greeted
with a stream-lined and visually dynamic portal. They will
have close to 7,000 objects to view, not only paintings,
works on paper and sculpture but decorative arts, ephemera
and architecture as well. The number of searchable
objects will grow weekly. Users will have greatly expanded
search capabilities. You will now be able to search not
only by artist, date, medium, and keyword, but by subject,
gender, collection, and accession number. Another special
feature will be the ability to find out what is on view
in the galleries and what is out on loan. Descriptions of
works have been included and more will be added as the
project goes along.
We are committed to making our collection assessable
to the widest possible audience. We are proud of this first
big step in that direction and hope you enjoy it as much
as we do.
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Photo: Linda Johnson
Photo: Bresner Studios
Photo: Linda Johnson
Photo: Linda Johnson
PAFA in Pictures
Below is a selection of events that took place over the past few months, which celebrate the vibrancy of the school and museum.
PAFA Trustee and Drexel University President John A. Fry with Dr. Richard V.
Homan, President and Annenberg Dean of Drexel University College of Medicine
at the Anatomy/Academy reception. Drexel University College of Medicine
was a major sponsor of the exhibition.
PAFA Alumnae Amy Walsh (MFA ‘06), strikes a pose in front of her work
featured in Urbanism: Reimagining the Lived Environment.
2011 Travel Scholarship Winners
(from L-R): President, David Brigham, Lindsay Robbins (BFA ’11, Cert ’12),
Jimmy Bellew (Cert ’12), Ryan Pellak (Cert ’11), Dan Molnar (Cert ’11), Nicole
Michaud (Cert ’12), Christina Weaver (Cert ’11, BFA ’12), Dean, Jeffrey Carr.
Guests were invited to spend an evening with artist Faith Ringgold on May
18. Ms. Ringgold stands next to her quilt titled We Came to America, from the
series; “The American Collection”
Photo: Linda Johnson
Photo: Bresner Studios
Photo: Linda Johnson
Photo: Ed Poletti
Alumnus S. Zachery Martin (MFA ‘09), with his work Mediation on Water,
which was on view in the PAFA Alumni Sales Gallery show titled Water As The
Source.
Friends gather to look at Katie Dillon Low’s work at the opening of Katie Dillon
Low & Reza Ghanad in the Fisher Brooks Gallery of the Samuel M.V. Hamilton
Building.
Nicole Michaud (Cert ’12) posed in front of her wall at the 2011 Annual
Student Exhibition.
The construction of the Plaza took place throughout the long summer months.