{"nrhp_refnum":"71000731","name":"Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW corner of Broad and Cherry Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.95554909100008,"lon":-75.16346866299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-05-27","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1975-05-15","areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 3½-story brick and stone building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving as the home of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which combines an art school and a museum. It stands on its original site.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of the few remaining Philadelphia-area works by architect Frank Furness and a leading example of his Ruskinian Gothic and French Renaissance style. It also cites the Academy's role as a training school for notable artists and its holdings of American paintings, sculpture and graphics.","narrative":"Built in brick and stone between 1872 and 1876 in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was designed by Frank Furness, whose work mixes Ruskinian Gothic detailing with French Renaissance mansard roofs. The facade contrasts rough brown stone at the base with patterned brick and smoother lighter stone above, and its columns are polished pink granite. Inside, the building was among the first to use slow-burning construction, with brick arches set on iron beams and wooden floors held in sand-filled slippers. Skylights bring daylight to the museum galleries and to the first-floor studios. The nomination treats the building as one of the few surviving Philadelphia works by Furness and notes his influence on Louis Sullivan, who worked briefly in his office. The Academy has trained many distinguished artists, including Thomas Eakins, who taught there, and alumni Howard Pyle, Glackens, Luks and Henry Ossawa Tanner. Its museum holds a large collection of American paintings, sculpture and graphics.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Frank Furness (architect)","architectural_style":"Ruskinian Gothic with French Renaissance influence","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Original site; the form notes the original Greek statue above the doorway has deteriorated and the building is still used by the Academy.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.306307-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/71000731.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000731/9d737aa8c1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000731/9d737aa8c1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"César Sánchez","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts_in_Philadelphia.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">César Sánchez</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts_in_Philadelphia.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84003531","name":"East Center City Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/east-center-city-commercial-historic-district-84003531/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997072","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1952033"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/pennsylvania-academy-of-the-fine-arts-71000731/"}