On a chilly and wet Wednesday, the doors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art were closed to the public.
Well, most of the public.
The museum did welcome students from Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, the Philadelphia Military Academy, and Friends Central School from Wynnewood to tour the latest temporary exhibition in the Dorrance Galleries, “The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure.” The museum program offers local schools an unbeatable combination — free busing to the event and exclusive access to the exhibit, with tours and guided discussions.
“This exhibition is too good to be missed. And so that’s why this initiative happened,” said Audrey Hudson, the museum’s deputy director for learning and engagement. “We listened to the community. We listened to people that said, ‘Hey, we want to be part of you, we want to be part of the museum.’ And so we thought what better exhibition to bring school kids into than ‘The Time Is Always Now.’ ”
“The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure” features the work of 28 Black and African contemporary artists. As WHYY News’ Peter Crimmins wrote, “Many of the artists expand the ideas and practices typical in illustrating Black bodies.”
The program is free for schools in the School District of Philadelphia and charter schools in the Tristate area, and can be reserved by educators at the museum’s website.
“Since joining the PMA just over two years ago, it’s been my goal to reflect the communities we’re here to serve and welcome back more school groups,” said Sasha Suda, the museum’s director and CEO.
The program is not a first in Philly. In 2023, Taller Puertorriqueño partnered with Penn’s Institute of Contemporary Art to offer free bus service for residents of Fairhill to an exhibition of work by North Philly native David Antonio Cruz.
The groups have the Museum of Art to themselves on the Tuesday and Wednesday closed days. During Pennsbury High School’s 90-minute tour, 29 students moved from painting to painting, carrying portable stools to sit on.
Emily Pelc had been to museums many times before, but this was her first time experiencing this exhibit, which she described as really exciting.
“I think I really got to more [closely] examine the work and get more of an insight, rather than just face value,” she said. “I got to really see the depth behind it and the meaning behind it as well as the symbolism and color theory, and just how everything is done on purpose. There’s a reason for everything in art.”
The guide did not simply tell them about the painting, instead allowing students to share their opinions and observations about works like Kerry James Marshall’s “Untitled (Painter)” and Michael Armitage’s “Pathos and the Twilight of the Idle.”
“I really enjoyed how they talked to us and how they engaged us with the piece,” said Pennsbury 11th-grader and first-time visitor Jess Naumenko. “I felt very l connected with the piece, I got to hear about the backstory and about how the artists comprised the piece and the composition of it. All that was really interesting.”
“You can have opinions on so many different aspects of the art,” Hudson said about the tour’s methodology. “It’s honoring that listening aspect and the respect that educators put on students so that they feel confident enough to actually speak up.”
There were also chances to sketch the pieces and each other, and a half-hour, self-guided tour of the exhibit.
Hudson said that the tour experience benefitted the students’ critical thinking skills, helped them learn how to look, how to see and how to question, and build empathy and greater understanding of other people’s backgrounds and lived experiences.
“I feel like it made me see other styles and other kinds of pieces, and I feel like that opened my mind up to what I could do for future pieces,” said 11th-grader Holly Olvant, who was also visiting the museum for the first time.
The program had 44 school groups, from kindergarten to 12th grade, booked before the exhibition opened on Nov. 8, according to Hudson. By Dec. 11, 28 schools and 838 students had visited, and Hudson said the museum has had to open new days and time slots to meet the high demand. Students were told they could return as part of the museum’s free entry for those 18-and-under.
“We do want that repeat visit,” Hudson said. “We want them to actually bring their families, bring their adults, bring their caregivers, bring their aunties, their uncles — whoever it is — to see this exhibition and talk about it at home, talk about it on the street, talk about it wherever they are.”
“Without ‘students’ we are not alive,” Hudson said. “The joy that they bring within these walls, when you hear them discussing or the laughter, just brings the place alive.”
“The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure” and accompanying bus program runs until Feb. 9, when it will be rounded off with Black History Month programming, including a pay what you wish family festival on Sunday, Feb 2. Hudson said the museum is already looking for support and funding to continue the free bus program after the exhibition closes.
“How can we go back to charging for buses, because of the demand that we’ve seen,” she said with a laugh.
Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series that explores the impact of creativity on student learning and success. WHYY and this series are supported by the Marrazzo Family Foundation, a foundation focused on fostering creativity in Philadelphia youth, which is led by Ellie and Jeff Marrazzo. WHYY News produces independent, fact-based news content for audiences in Greater Philadelphia, Delaware and South Jersey.
