WALKING TOUR
Public Art on the Parkway: American Perspectives
Saturday, July 11 • 11 AM – 1 PM
Location: Begin at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Join us for a public art tour of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, co-led by the Association for Public Art and Lea Stephenson, curator at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).
This tour is presented as part of A Nation of Artists, the joint exhibition of PAFA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and is also part of the Association for Public Art’s Public Art Decoded tour series. The 1.3-mile route highlights works by American artists along the stretch between the two institutions, exploring the range of styles and historical influences that shaped this iconic corridor of sculpture and public art.
“Public Art Decoded” tours are free and open to the public and are funded in part through the Powering the Arts initiative, with support from PECO, Team Pennsylvania, and PA Creative Industries.
OPENING
Art on the Parkway Opening Celebration
Summer 2026 (Date and Location TBD)
Join us to celebrate the opening of Franklin Thread by Jeff Richards, the selected 2026 Art on the Parkway commission. Now in its third year, the program invites Greater Philadelphia-area artists, designers, and creatives to propose temporary public art installations for Maja Park on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Franklin Thread will be on view this summer as part of The Oval and Parkway to Park Festival.
WORKSHOP
Exploring Liberty Bell History with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Saturday, July 18 • 2 PM – 4 PM
Location: Cherry Street Pier, Philadelphia, PA
Make your own broadside or a button (or both!) that declares what freedom and independence mean to you, to either take home or contribute to our archive.
Join the Association for Public Art (aPA) and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP) at this hands-on workshop exploring the history behind the symbol of the Liberty Bell as part of aPA’s 250th-themed Let Freedom Ring interactive bell tower by artist Paul Ramírez Jonas at Cherry Street Pier.
Through a pop-up display of historical documents and photos, hear fascinating anecdotes from HSP’s historians about the Liberty Bell’s many lives. Discover its role in abolition and women’s suffrage, as well as a love lost long ago between the cities of Philadelphia and Dallas.
MUSEUM TOUR
With the Marian Anderson Historical Society
Friday, August 7 • 5 PM – 7 PM
Location: Marian Anderson Museum, Philadelphia, PA
It was Marian Anderson’s groundbreaking 1939 performance of “America (My Country ’Tis of Thee)” at the Lincoln Memorial — after she was barred from performing at Constitution Hall because of her race — that directly inspired artist Paul Ramírez Jonas in creating Let Freedom Ring, an interactive sculpture presented by the Association for Public Art and now on view at Cherry Street Pier.
Join us for a tour at the Marian Anderson Museum and Historic Home in Philadelphia that will illuminate the story of the famed singer and civil rights trailblazer, her upbringing in Philadelphia, and her performance of “America (My Country ’Tis of Thee).”
The tour will be led by Jillian Pirtle, stage and opera artist and CEO of the Marian Anderson Historical Society, and the youngest steward of a National Historic Landmark site in the United States.
FAMILY DAY OF ACTIVITIES
“Let Freedom Ring” Event Honoring the March on Washington
Saturday, August 29 • 10 AM – 5 PM
Location: National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA
Enjoy a Saturday of free family activities at the National Constitution Center honoring the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington.
Presented as part of the Association for Public Art’s Let Freedom Ring installation by Paul Ramírez Jonas at nearby Cherry Street Pier, the program features art-making workshops, craft projects, gallery activities, musical performances by Play On Philly students and Marian Anderson Historical Society Scholar Singers, and a special talk exploring the history of patriotic songs like “My Country ’Tis of Thee.”
WALKING TOUR
Discovering the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial
Saturday, September 12 • 11 AM
Location: Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
Explore the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial with the Association for Public Art and Dejay Duckett, Arts Administrator, Curator, and Collections and Exhibitions Specialist.
Learn the story behind this enigmatic site nestled between the Schuylkill River and Kelly Drive and the iconography behind the 17+ sculptures.
This tour is presented as part of the Association for Public Art’s “Public Art Decoded” series. These tours are free and open to the public and are funded in part through the Powering the Arts initiative, with support from PECO, Team Pennsylvania, and PA Creative Industries.
ARTIST TALK
Paul Ramírez Jonas
Wednesday, September 23 • 6 PM – 8 PM
Location: Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
Hear artist Paul Ramírez Jonas discuss his monumental interactive sculpture Let Freedom Ring — on view in Philadelphia at Cherry Street Pier from June 4 – September 27, 2026 — with the Association for Public Art’s Charlotte Cohen and Monument Lab’s Paul Farber.
Presented by the Association for Public Art and Monument Lab.
WALKING TOUR
Public Art on the Parkway: American Perspectives (October)
Saturday, October 17 • 11 AM – 1 PM
Location: Begin at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Join us for a public art tour of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, co-led by the Association for Public Art and Lea Stephenson, curator at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).
This tour is presented as part of A Nation of Artists, the joint exhibition of PAFA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and is also part of the Association for Public Art’s Public Art Decoded tour series. The 1.3-mile route highlights works by American artists along the stretch between the two institutions, exploring the range of styles and historical influences that shaped this iconic corridor of sculpture and public art.
“Public Art Decoded” tours are free and open to the public and are funded in part through the Powering the Arts initiative, with support from PECO, Team Pennsylvania, and PA Creative Industries.