Say goodbye to the Philadelphia Museum of Artwork, and good day to … maintain onto your hats … the Philadelphia Artwork Museum! *crickets*
On Wednesday, October 8, the historic arts establishment announced a serious overhaul of its model, together with a brand new emblem with a serif typeface and a barely slimmer title that has some nodding in approval and others scratching their heads. It’s the newest museum rebranding to trigger a public stir, following controversial campaigns by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Brooklyn Museum over the previous decade.
For these exterior of Philly, the redesign could not look like a major change (in spite of everything, “Philadelphia Museum of Artwork” and “Philadelphia Artwork Museum” are each large mouthfuls). However for native residents, a lot of whom already knew the establishment as merely “the Artwork Museum,” it might come as a pure step.
“After I point out to of us who aren’t engaged within the arts and tradition group and I say the PMA, they do not know what I’m speaking about,” the museum’s director and chief govt officer Sasha Suda informed public radio station WHYY-FM. Below its new title, the museum now takes on the George Michael-esque acronym, “PhAM” (maintain the exclamation level), which has already been integrated into the URL of its redesigned website.
Not everyone seems to be as enthusiastic in regards to the change. “The #phart museum? You gotta be kidding me!” quipped costume designer Rita Squitiere on X. “We had no drawback calling it the Philadelphia Museum of Artwork … We’re good folks, we are able to deal with phrases.”
For the model redesign, the museum labored with Brooklyn-based design studio Gretel, whose clients embrace the Museum of Fashionable Artwork in New York and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Artwork in Arkansas. Its portfolio additionally lists the New York Metropolis Soccer Membership as a earlier buyer, which won’t be shocking to critics who took situation with PhAM’s new emblem depicting the museum’s longstanding symbolic griffin.
“It appears to be like like a soccer workforce emblem,” wrote one person above a congratulatory remark from the Institute of Up to date Artwork, Philadelphia, on Instagram. The sentiment was echoed by artwork media outlet The Arts District in a post claiming that the emblem resembled an athleisure advert marketing campaign.
“It feels each oppressive and bland, not just like the charming treasure trove that’s PMA’s assortment,” commented artist and filmmaker Lex Brown on Instagram.
Some additionally lambasted the museum for hiring a NYC design agency versus an organization rooted in Philadelphia. “For a museum full of a lot lovely and inventive artwork, they actually approached this branding shift with the vitality and thought strategy of a NYC design company working with a soon-to-be-open Fishtown espresso store,” fumed artist Rushawn Stanley on Instagram.
Greg Hahn, founding father of Gretel, informed Hyperallergic that the corporate sees the general public’s reactions to the museum’s redesign as “a powerful response to altering issues that they’ve grown to like.”
“Any model (particular person, place, or factor) develops an viewers, and in the event that they’re fortunate, a following. When that’s the case, there’ll all the time be opinions on any modifications made, generally based and generally merely reactionary,” Hahn stated.
Nonetheless others opined that the model’s new customized typeface, a font often known as Fairmount Serif, appeared too dystopian. (Gretel famous in its announcement that the sort pulls from the museum’s origins because the Pennsylvania Museum and Faculty of Industrial Arts, in addition to architectural particulars like its authentic seal and wall engravings.)
“The emblem appears to be like like some form of Chilly Warfare monstrosity,” stated illustrator Bonnie Watts, citing the establishment’s current disputes with its workers union. In June 2023, unionized employees accused management of backtracking on agreed-upon provisions for longevity pay. The allegations have been made not even a yr after employees held a 19-day strike in demand of wage will increase, paid household go away, and extra inexpensive healthcare.
“Do higher for the individuals who truly make a distinction on the museum,” Watts stated on Instagram. “Then perhaps folks will truly wish to go to.”
