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The Philadelphia Museum of Art is now the Philadelphia Art Museum.
To some it may not seem like a huge change, but to many it may feel more natural. The institution has been colloquially called the Art Museum by Philadelphians for years.
“When I mention to folks who aren’t engaged in the arts and culture community and I say the PMA, they have no idea what I’m talking about,” said museum director and CEO Sasha Suda. “I just have to say, ‘the Art Museum.’”
Philadelphia Art Museum Director and CEO Sasha Suda embraces the new branding with a logo sticker on her laptop. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The name change comes with a new logo: A round badge centered by a griffin encircled by the words Philadelphia Art Museum in bold type. It replaces the previous logo that put the title on three lines, the words “Philadelphia” and “Museum of” in small type, anchored by “Art” in oversized letters.
The griffins on the roof of the Philadelphia Art Museum are the inspiration for the logo. The bronze sculptures were an important part of the building’s lightning protection system. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
With the new logo, Suda wants to restore “Philadelphia” to the fore.
“For us, it is a nuanced nod to people who feel that coming to the top of the steps was enough for their visit to the museum,” Suda said. “To be throwing the doors wide open and saying this is an institution that’s here to serve you and welcome you.”
The Philadelphia Art Museum began during the 1876 Centennial Exposition as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. It was later called the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, a name few people used conversationally. According to the museum’s website, everyone called it the Philadelphia Museum of Art, so that is what it became in 1938.
Eighty-seven years later, similar reasoning went into this new name change: If everyone calls it the Philadelphia Art Museum, why not lean into that?
“You think it’s a local thing, but in fact it is much bigger than that,” Suda said. “When I’m abroad seeing colleagues elsewhere in the world, they refer to it as the Philadelphia Art Museum. Or just, Philadelphia: ‘We’re going to Philadelphia to see the Duchamps or the Van Goghs.’ What defines this institution locally and around the world is the fact that it’s here in Philadelphia.”
The Art Museum worked with the Brooklyn-based design firm Gretel, which wrapped the new name around a griffin, a mythological creature half lion and half eagle associated with protection and power. Griffin pediments adorn each corner of the museum’s roof. The symbol had been used previously in the museum’s branding but was left out in recent versions.
A banner at the east entrance to the Philadelphia Art Museum previews a new name and a logo featuring a griffin. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
“It is a nod to our primary mission,” Suda said. “To keep the treasures within our building safe.”
Overall, the logo is meant to be bold and immediately eye-catching in a digital environment awash with competing messaging. Gone are the delicate lines of the museum’s previous font. It is now written in Fairmount Serif, which Suda described as “chunky.”