Advancement Grant: Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) presents Creative Africa, an extensive project centered on historic and contemporary African art that promotes greater understanding and appreciation of African culture as a dynamic and complex relationship between past and present, tradition and innovation. Taking place in the galleries of the PMA's Perelman Building beginning in the spring of 2016, a series of installations and programs features newly commissioned works of art and performances by acclaimed living African artists-in-residence, set against the backdrop of an exhibition of historical African art drawn from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology's unparalleled collection—the largest of its kind in the United States. This ambitious collaboration and commissioning initiative, organized in conjunction with leading curators and scholars of African art and history, significantly adds to the museum's current offerings and advance its long-term objectives to partner with other internationally recognized institutions and present imaginative and adventurous programs that also engage new audiences in the city. The Center's Advancement grant focuses support on the commissions and residencies of contemporary African artists and the presentation of their work. [fn]Advancement grants were awarded from 2014 through 2017.[/fn]