PAFA Vocabulary

name: PAFA Vocabulary
description: >-
  Domain vocabulary for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA),
  capturing the institutional, museological, and educational concepts
  needed to describe America's first museum and school of fine arts. PAFA
  publishes no developer APIs; this vocabulary therefore models the
  institution itself rather than an API surface, and aligns to
  schema.org Museum, EducationalOrganization, and ExhibitionEvent.
version: 0.1.0
modified: '2026-05-23'
maintainer:
  name: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com

institution:
  - term: PAFA
    definition: >-
      The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; a 501(c)(3) cultural
      nonprofit founded 1805 in Philadelphia; the first museum and school
      of fine arts in the United States.
  - term: Founders
    definition: >-
      The painter and scientist Charles Willson Peale, the sculptor
      William Rush, and other Philadelphia artists and business leaders
      who established PAFA in 1805.
  - term: Furness-Hewitt Building
    definition: >-
      PAFA's principal historic building, designed by Frank Furness and
      George Hewitt and opened in 1876; designated a National Historic
      Landmark in 1975.
  - term: Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building
    definition: >-
      PAFA's secondary building, connected to the Furness-Hewitt Building
      via Lenfest Plaza.
  - term: Lenfest Plaza
    definition: The outdoor public plaza connecting PAFA's two buildings.

museum:
  - term: PermanentCollection
    definition: >-
      PAFA's permanent holdings of primarily 19th- and 20th-century
      American art.
  - term: Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women
    definition: >-
      A named sub-collection within PAFA's permanent holdings focused on
      works by women artists.
  - term: Exhibition
    definition: A time-bounded public display of artworks at PAFA.
  - term: A Nation of Artists
    definition: >-
      "A once-in-a-generation presentation celebrating 250 years of
      American creativity" — exhibition running April 2026 - September
      2027, presented with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the
      Middleton Family Collection.
  - term: Bodies and Souls
    definition: Exhibition running March 2026 - July 2026.
  - term: Student Works
    definition: >-
      Annual exhibition of works produced by PAFA students during the
      academic year.
  - term: DigitalGuide
    definition: >-
      PAFA's interpretive content for visitors, delivered through the
      Bloomberg Connects free multi-institution mobile app rather than
      a first-party PAFA application.

school:
  - term: FineArtsCertificateProgram
    definition: >-
      PAFA's active three-year career-training certificate "designed to
      prepare students for entry-level professional roles within the
      visual arts and related creative industries." Replaces the BFA
      degree pathway as the primary on-site studio program.
  - term: ContinuingEducation
    definition: >-
      "An inclusive studio arts offering for artists of all ages and
      skill levels, from beginners to advanced creatives" — delivered
      both in-person and online.
  - term: YouthAndTeenPrograms
    definition: >-
      K-12 programming including Summer Art Camp, Summer Academy, field
      trips, and family programming.
  - term: PAFAShopMembership
    definition: >-
      Studio-access membership granting "affordable, self-guided access
      to professional-grade printmaking, papermaking, and sculpture
      studios."
  - term: DegreeProgramWindDown
    definition: >-
      Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, PAFA ceased granting
      its own BFA and MFA degrees following a financial crisis driven by
      a roughly $3 million annual deficit and sharp enrollment decline.
  - term: UPennPartnership
    definition: >-
      Bachelor's degrees in fine arts offered jointly with the University
      of Pennsylvania continue beyond the wind-down of PAFA's own
      degree-granting authority.

visit:
  - term: GeneralAdmission
    definition: >-
      Standard museum entry pricing: $25 adults, $23 seniors (65+),
      $10 students, $5 youth (13-17), free for members and children
      12 and under.
  - term: OperatingDays
    definition: >-
      Open Monday, Thursday, Friday (extended to 8 PM), Saturday, Sunday.
      Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
  - term: Membership
    definition: >-
      Annual paid membership tier granting free admission and member
      benefits; administered through pafa.org/members.

giving:
  - term: PAFAFund
    definition: PAFA's annual unrestricted-giving fund.
  - term: PlannedGiving
    definition: >-
      PAFA's deferred and estate-giving program for major-gift donors.
  - term: AlumniGiving
    definition: Alumni-channel giving program.
  - term: GiftOfArt
    definition: >-
      Gifts of works of art to PAFA's permanent collection, accepted
      subject to curatorial review.
  - term: CommunityGivingPlatform
    definition: >-
      Donations are routed to community.pafa.org/give — a third-party
      community-giving platform PAFA uses for online gifts.

api_surface:
  - term: NoDeveloperPortal
    definition: >-
      PAFA does not publish a developer portal; no developer.pafa.org or
      equivalent exists.
  - term: NoOpenAPI
    definition: PAFA publishes no OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, or schema artifacts.
  - term: NoSDK
    definition: PAFA publishes no SDKs, CLIs, or webhook contracts.
  - term: NoInstitutionalGitHub
    definition: >-
      No institutional GitHub organization exists for PAFA; the
      github.com/pafa handle is an unrelated personal user account.
  - term: BloombergConnects
    definition: >-
      Bloomberg Philanthropies' shared free digital-guide mobile app,
      through which PAFA distributes its collection and tour content —
      PAFA's only programmatic third-party distribution surface, owned
      and operated by Bloomberg, not PAFA.