The studios, classrooms, offices and student studios associated with the various departments of studio art are housed in the newly remodeled Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building. The Hamilton Building has ample studio and critique classrooms, student and faculty studios, and numerous large classroom studios.
The new facilities in the Hamilton Building meet all safety and access requirements.
The Historic Landmark Building incorporates gallery space with six historic studios and an anatomical drawing studio.
Facilities for Certificate and BFA Studios
Facilities for Graduate Students
Facilities for Painting and Drawing Students
Facilities for Sculpture Students
Facilities for Printmaking Students
Facilities for Certificate and BFA Studios
Private studios are a unique and integral part of the curriculum. The critical component in all programs at the Academy provides one-on-one supervision and mentoring between faculty and students.
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Every third-year and fourth-year Certificate student is assigned an individual on-campus studio space to produce an independent body of work under the mentorship of faculty critics.
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Each Post-Baccalaureate and MFA student receives an individual studio space.
Facilities for Graduate Students
Students in the Master of Fine Arts degree and Post-Baccalaureate programs have access to the Academy’s outstanding sculpture, printmaking and painting studios and critique rooms. All MFA and Post-Baccalaureate students:
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are provided a private studio in the new Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building, with 24-hour secure access and outstanding safety and security features
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have access to the galleries of the Academy’s renowned collection of historic and contemporary American art.
Facilities for Painting and Drawing Students
Cast drawing classes and life drawing classes are held in the historic cast halls of the Historic Landmark Building:
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The six historic drawing and painting studios of the Historic Landmark Building have 20-foot vaulted ceilings and skylights with northern exposure.
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The cast halls contain the Academy’s famous cast collections of antique and Renaissance sculpture, which have been part of the Academy’s curriculum for nearly 200 years. Click here to read an article about the historic cast hall (Courtesy, Spring 2010 issue, Antiques & Fine Art Magazine.) Click here to read a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the restoration of the casts.
The Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building houses ample facilities for drawing and painting. These include:
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two skylit studios on the 10th floor
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several large painting classrooms on the 4th, 6th and 10th floors
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a drawing studio on the 6th floor
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a drawing and painting studio on 8th floor
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a rooftop terrace that students use for cityscapes.
Facilities for Sculpture Students
PAFA provides studio working space to all advanced sculpture students and to fourth-year BFA students. A large multi-roomed fabricating area contains a wood shop, metal shop, foundry (ceramic shell casting) and separate, fully equipped shops dedicated to wood- and stone-carving.
The Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building houses new, state-of-the-art facilities for Sculpture, including:
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a large clay figure modeling studio
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a room for casting and plaster work
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a mold-making room used for ceramic shell molds, rubber molds, wax working, patina work and sand blasting
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the metal shop, with a number of welding stations, that is equipped for gas, electric and TIG welding
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the ceramic shell foundry, capable of pouring 120 pounds at a time
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a kiln for firing small clay sculpture and a portable hoist
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the wood shop, completely equipped with a table saw, radial arm saw, stationary sander, miter saw, band saw for metal and wood, drill press and pneumatic air tools
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the large “gang studio,” for installation and independent sculpture work as well as a dedicated room for sculptural installations.
Facilities for Printmaking Students
The Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building houses new, state-of-the-art facilities for printmaking, which include large, completely equipped studios for lithography, etching (intaglio), silkscreen, book arts and woodcut classes. These feature:
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spacious, open-plan studios with an abundance of natural light
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a state-of-the-art ventilation system
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a separate lecture and student archives room
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broad areas of work and storage space
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3 presses in the etching studio, 2 with motorized press beds
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separately ventilated acid and solvent washout rooms, each equipped with large vent hoods, providing safe and efficient working laboratories
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4 presses in the lithography area capable of pulling large-format work
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abundant space for cutting, inking and printing in the woodcut area.
The Student Archives Study Collection was begun in 1985 and includes selected prints from each class in each semester. The work is used for teaching aids and for exhibitions of exemplary student work. The exhibitions are sometimes used to illustrate particular techniques, subjects or general strengths of image.
All classes receive special instructions on press safety and safe handling procedures with all solvents and acids. Safe procedures and the use of safety equipment such as eyewash stations are taught.