PAFA’s new curator, Lea C. Stephenson, comes with Philadelphia roots
Stephenson will organize shows, work on acquisitions, and will help develop PAFA's first new permanent exhibition in two decades.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has named a new curator of historical American art. Lea C. Stephenson, a specialist in 18th and 19th century American art who was partially trained in Philadelphia, comes to PAFA’s museum as the institution struggles with financial pressures and undergoes a series of broad changes.
Stephenson, who is finishing up her doctorate in art history at the University of Delaware, was most recently a Luce Foundation curatorial fellow in American paintings and works at Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts. She begins the new post Monday.
Stephenson, 32, was already familiar with PAFA and its collection when she applied for the job, having spent time there when she was an undergraduate at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in 2015.
She was attracted in part by PAFA’s overlap with her own specialty, she said.
“What I love about the collection, though, too, is that it’s one that’s worked very closely with living artists over the years, where you have Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Eakins teaching, Cecilia Beaux, Henry Tanner studying at PAFA at points. And that many of these acquisitions or collection objects were tied to artists working at PAFA or studying at PAFA.”
Stephenson said she will be involved only in PAFA’s museum and not the school, which is in the process of ending its college degree program. A new artist certificate program is under development, but details — the curriculum, what kind of students it aims to serve — have not been announced.
She will, however, have a hand in steering a new course for the museum. While its historic building is undergoing renovations, PAFA is developing a new permanent exhibition of 250 to 350 works that is expected to open in 2026.
Stephenson will work with two other curators — Brittany Webb, curator of 20th century art and the John Rhoden Collection; and Leah Triplett, director of exhibitions and contemporary curatorial initiatives — and others on the reinstallation.
“We’re moving away from the kind of traditional chronological arc of American art history to a much more nuanced and intermingled hang, so contemporary art could be next to historical art, could be next to modern art, so the three of them working well together is really key to the success of that project,” said Harry Philbrick, interim director of PAFA’s museum. “That’s … really jumping into the deep end of the pool.”
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Philbrick said it was Stephenson’s passion and academic training that made her a perfect fit for the job.
“The fact that she did her undergraduate work at Tyler at Temple and did her capstone project on the big John Singer Sargent painting Gassed that was in our World War I exhibition, and then to go on to Williams College, which is just the best art history program, and then from there to Delaware, which for her area is also right at the top of the heap — it was kind of a perfect path to lead you to PAFA.”
Stephenson has curated various shows and held a long list of internships and fellowships, including junior positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She will take just one of her predecessor’s two titles. Anna O. Marley, who left PAFA in July, was also chief of curatorial affairs.
In addition to the reinstallation project, Stephenson will develop publications and programs, work with collectors, and begin to develop a series of exhibitions.
“She will not be inheriting any historic shows that are in progress, so it will be up to her in the fullness of time to develop project ideas,” Philbrick said. “She’ll have the opportunity to do a mix of smaller projects in our Works on Paper gallery…as well as on a fairly regular rhythm, larger scale special exhibitions that obviously will entail grant funding and all of that.”
Stephenson says she will also work on new acquisitions. “How do you expand the collection, especially overlooked voices and artists? I’m looking forward to working with some of my curatorial colleagues and thinking about some of the dialogues that can occur between the historical American art — perhaps an Eakins portrait alongside a contemporary Philadelphia artist.”