Seth & Rebecca
This is where we are getting married! Free tickets are available, contact us if you'd like some. A jewel nestled in the heart of Center City, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) boasts a vast collection of American art and treasures. Wildly colorful and extravagantly detailed, the 1876 national Historic Landmark Building provides an extraordinary setting for PAFA’s historic art collection.
The Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, which opened in 2005, is a soaring loft space which houses PAFA’s extraordinary temporary exhibitions and array of contemporary art.
When Eastern State opened in 1829, visitors from around the world marveled at its grand architecture and radical philosophy. The experiment, to reform criminals through strict isolation, soon became a model for prison design world wide. An estimated 300 prisons on four continents are based on Eastern’s distinctive “wagon-wheel” floor plan. Once the most expensive building in the USA, Eastern State was finally abandoned in 1971 after 142 years in use. It is a National Historic Landmark.
Eastern State Penitentiary
2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130
The Philadelphia Museum of Art sits majestically on a rise at the end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The vast collections of this temple of art make it the third-largest art museum in the country, and an absolute must-see on the city’s cultural circuit.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130
America's finest museum of medical history, the Mütter displays its beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th century "cabinet museum" setting. The goal of the Museum is to help the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body while appreciating the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease.
The Mütter Museum
19 S 22nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/
Admission is limited - we recommend purchasing tickets online in advance! The Barnes Collection features 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes and 59 Matisses, along with works by Manet, Degas, Seurat, Prendergrast, Titian and Picasso. The priceless works are symmetrically arranged according to size, and often paired with artifacts and furniture (think: African sculpture, Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, antique Chinese paintings) organized around themes and formal elements.
The Barnes Foundation
2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA 19130
http://www.barnesfoundation.org/
