Songlines: Cosmos, 2017, by Howardena Pindell — *Songlines: Cosmos*, 2017, by Howardena Pindell (American, born 1943) (Collection of Emily and Michael Cavanagh) Photo courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

Exhibition

New Grit: Art & Philly Now

May 6–August 21, 2021

Join us as we champion our city’s vibrant art scene—an inclusive community, a creative crossroads, and a hub for experimentation. Twenty-five emerging and established artists with strong Philadelphia connections explore ideas of being and belonging through ceramics, fiber, glass, painting, photography, sculpture, video, and more.

Works include five major new commissions that range from installation to dance. The show inaugurates the museum’s new 10,000-square-foot space for contemporary art.

Dietrich Galleries 150–157

Main Building

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Media Gallery

Watch: Get a sneak peek at the exhibition.
Video produced by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021

Sponsors

New Grit: Art & Philly Now has been made possible with support from John Alchin and Hal Marryatt and through the museum’s endowment, with the Daniel W. Dietrich II Fund for Excellence in Contemporary Art, the Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions, the Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky Installation and Exhibition Fund, the Gloria and Jack Drosdick Fund for Special Exhibitions, the Harriet and Ronald Lassin Fund for Special Exhibitions, the Kathleen C. and John J. F. Sherrerd Fund for Exhibitions, and by additional contributions from the museum’s Contemporary Art Committee, an anonymous donor, Eduardo Ardiles and Joseph Ujobai, Robert and Julie Jensen Bryan, Emily and Mike Cavanagh, Jaimie and David Field, Julia and David Fleischner, Arthur M. Kaplan and R. Duane Perry, Susan and James Meyer, Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Family Foundation, Katherine Sachs, Sarena Snider, Karen Goodman Tarte, Harriet and Larry Weiss, and other generous donors.

Additional support for the construction of these new galleries was provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation, Jane and Leonard Korman, Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Family Foundation, Lynne and Harold Honickman, Jaimie and David Field, Marie and Joseph Field, and other generous donors.

Curators

Elisabeth Agro, Nancy M. McNeil Curator of American Modern and Contemporary Crafts and Decorative Arts; Peter Barberie, Brodsky Curator of Photographs, Alfred Stieglitz Center; Erica F. Battle, John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Associate Curator of Contemporary Art (Team Lead); Dilys Blum, Jack M. and Annette Y. Friedland Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles; Kathryn B. Hiesinger, J. Mahlon Buck, Jr. Family Senior Curator of European Decorative Arts after 1700; with curatorial assistance by Tally de Orellana, former Daniel W. Dietrich II Fellow in Contemporary Art; and Charlotte Lowrey, Coordinator of Curatorial Initiatives, Contemporary Art. The exhibition benefited from the research contributions by Michelle Millar Fisher, former Louis C. Madeira IV Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts; and Emily Schreiner, former Zoë and Dean Pappas Curator of Education, Public Programs.

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