Take a Class
We're now offering a greater number of art classes. We also have need-based scholarships to help make art accessible for everyone.
The Barnes-de Mazia Certificate Program
This special track offers an immersion in the Barnes method and an introduction to other interpretive approaches.
Horticulture Certificate Program
Our three-year certificate program covers horticultural science, methods, and design.
Research Notes
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes Foundation's curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Research Notes
New theories and recent discoveries from the Barnes Foundation's curators, scholars, conservators, and archivists.
Exhibition Tour: 30 Americans
Learn more about the artists and artworks in 30 Americans.
Members-Only Tours: 30 Americans
A free members-only tour of the groundbreaking special exhibition.
Highlights Tour
This one-hour tour is perfect for first-time visitors. Explore highlights of the collection and learn the history of the Barnes.
Premier Tour
This 90-minute docent-led tour takes place while the Barnes is closed to the public.
Personalized Docent Tour
A private one-hour tour for you and up to five guests during regular hours.
Afternoons with
the Art Team
Join us for casual pop-up talks in the galleries led by our Art Team. Each talk focuses on a specific work of art—it’s a great way to explore the collection and learn something new!
December Spotlight Tour: Cézanne—The Man and His Art
This December, we’re looking closer at the life, work, and influence of the “father of modern art.”
Member Appreciation Days
On Fridays in December, members get even more, including free talks and extra discounts!
Lecture: “Sitting Pretty: Renoir’s Women and the Art of Self-Adornment”
This lively talk focuses on the intimate, modern scenes created by Renoir and his contemporaries.
First Friday! Elevate the Spirit
Tenor Allen Pinkney, Jr., lends his voice to a dazzling variety of music, exploring its power to heal and elevate the human spirit.
Stroller Tour
Our Stroller Tours make visiting our galleries less stressful for families with babies.
Behind the Scenes: Special Exhibitions
Associate curator Cindy Kang provides an inside look at the special exhibition process at the Barnes.
In Focus Gallery Talk: Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
Hear the story behind the painting from Amy Gillette, research associate at the Barnes. Free with admission; Room 2
In Focus Gallery Talk: John Bankston’s Man’s Country I
Hear the story behind the painting in 30 Americans from Tamir Williams, a doctoral candidate in the history of art at the University of Pennsylvania. Free with admission; Roberts Gallery
Artist Conversation: William Pope.L with Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw
Performance artist William Pope.L joins 30 Americans curator Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw in conversation.
Barnes Toddler Time
Join us for a combination of storytime, art making, and movement activities just for kids up to age 5 and their parents or caregivers.
January Spotlight Tour: Wicked Paris: The Lure of Montmartre
Learn about the revolutionary artists drawn to the bohemian neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century.
First Friday! Argentine Tango
Get ready to dance! Learn the basics of the Argentine tango and enjoy performances by world-class dancers.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Creative Journeys
Kick off the new year with creative journeys in music, poetry, and sculpture.
Young Professionals Night: Power Patterns
After-hours art, style, and music await Philadelphia’s young leaders and Contemporaries members.
The Elements of Art
Learn basic aesthetic principles and discover art’s communicative power by studying directly in the Barnes galleries.
Matisse: In Color and Light
Explore Matisse’s stunning use of color across major works from the collection.
The Traditions of Art
All artists engage with earlier formal vocabularies in one way or another—even the modernists we often think of as turning tradition on its head.
Member Orientation
New members are invited to learn more about the perks of membership at the Barnes.
February Spotlight Tour: Sacred Art from Antiquity to Modernity
Explore religious and spiritual art in the collection, from ancient works to paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Pippin, and more.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: The Art of Women
Celebrate women in the arts, with a day of story and music. Plus, art activities for all ages!
Building the City of Light: Impressionism in Haussmann’s Paris
Trace the evolution of one of the most famous urban planning projects in European history.
Cézanne’s Card Players in Focus
Join us for an intensive study of one of the greatest masterpieces in the Barnes collection. Learn why The Card Players is so important in the history of modern art and how it fits into Cézanne’s broader career.
Art Deco Fashions of the 1920s
Learn about how influential fashion designers blurred the traditional boundaries between commerce and fine art. Inspired by our Marie Cuttoli exhibition.
The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt
Explore major monuments of architecture, sculpture, and painting from ancient Egypt in this class taught by our new postdoctoral fellow.
Impressionist Techniques: Roots, History, and Practice
Learn about impressionist color theories and techniques through in-class demonstrations and visits to the Barnes galleries.
First Friday! Cookie Diorio
Tonight, the classically trained vocalist shines her light on the collection. Join Cookie for a dazzling evening of song.
Black American Culture and Albert Barnes: Spirituals, Integration, and Social Justice
In this one-day workshop, explore the complex history of the civil rights movement and Dr. Barnes’s role in championing black culture and integration.
Member Morning
Members are invited to join Barnes staff for a chat about membership at the Foundation and benefits, followed by a docent tour of the collection.
Artist Bash: For the Love of the Dead
Tonight our artists flip the script on Valentine's Day by celebrating all things gone from this world.
Member Previews for Marie Cuttoli
As a member, see the exhibition before the public opening.
Indigenous and Native American Arts: Albert Barnes and the Spirit of Santa Fe
Look closely at the influence of Native American art on Dr. Barnes and on modern art as a whole.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Creating Multiples
See student projects that deconstruct and reconstruct Barnes masterworks. Plus, get creative with printmaking techniques!
March Spotlight Tour: Artists and the French Riviera
Learn why favorite artists in the Barnes collection were so captivated by the Côte d'Azur.
Van Gogh
Delve into the life and work of one of the greatest—and most mythologized—painters of the modern era.
“Dear Barnes”: Letters Between Albert C. Barnes and His Artist Friends
Archivist and historian Barbara Anne Beaucar shares the history of the Barnes through authentic archival documents—including a few newly discovered letters.
Ab Ex to Pop: American Art of the 1950s and 1960s
Get a better sense of why artists like Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol took the art world by storm in the decades after World War II.
Consumed by Color: Bonnard and Matisse:
A Friendship in Paint
Learn about the long and fascinating relationship between these two celebrated painters.
Members-Only Tours: Marie Cuttoli
A free members-only tour of the special exhibition on this the pioneering entrepreneur and arts patron.
Member Discussions: Marie Cuttoli: The Modern Thread from Miró to Man Ray
Members are invited to join Ann Moss of the Barnes Art Team for an in-depth talk about our new exhibition on Marie Cuttoli.
First Friday! Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra closes out its tenth year with a performance featuring music by African-American women composers.
Visual Literacy in an Image-Soaked World: The Barnes Method and Beyond
We live in a world saturated with images. Use the principles of the Barnes method to think critically about the images that surround us—in museums, on social media, and beyond.
Holy Faces and Sacred Spaces
Explore the complicated relationship between spiritual belief and artistic production. What does religious art tell us about the people who made it?
Lecture: Avis Berman “Missionaries of Impressionism: American Collectors of Renoir”
Writer and historian Avis Berman traces Renoir's legacy through his promoters and collectors, including Albert Barnes.
Member Orientation
New members are invited to learn more about the perks of membership at the Barnes.
On the Run: European Artists/Intellectuals Flee WWII
Examine key artists and intellectuals who fled Europe during the Second World War as well as the work of those who stayed behind.
Marie Cuttoli: The Modern Thread from Miró to Man Ray
In conjunction with our spring exhibition, survey the career of Marie Cuttoli, the pioneering entrepreneur who introduced leading modern artists to textiles and tapestry.
Poems and Paintings
Explore the analogies between the visual and the textual. Learn about the various strategies used by painters and writers to create imagery.
Decoding Barnes’s Ensembles
Get a better understanding of why Albert Barnes arranged his collection in such an unconventional way.
Threads of History: European Tapestry from Medieval to Modern
Trace the history of tapestry from its princely beginnings in the Middle Ages to its revival by modernist painters and patrons in the 20th century.
Albert C. Barnes and the Harlem Renaissance
Learn about Dr. Barnes’s dialogue with several key figures of the Harlem Renaissance and how this dialogue impacted his approach to education.
Old Masters at the Barnes Foundation
A close look at the old masters in the collection and an introduction to earlier painting traditions more broadly.
The Art of Tapestry Weaving
Learn more about the methods of tapestry design and construction and create your own in the tradition of your favorite era.
Afrofuturism: Introduction to the Multiverse
Artists and activists from across the African diaspora are imagining new myths and radical visions into reality. Learn about them in this one-day workshop.
Painting Time: Monet and the Pace of Modernity
Is it possible to paint time? Join us for an investigation into how Monet articulated a new cultural understanding of time in some of his key landscapes.
The Painted Garden
Explore the visual vocabulary shared by painters and garden designers.
3-D/4-D: Sculpture 1850 to the Present
Inspired by our summer exhibition on Elijah Pierce, this workshop details the various modes of modern and contemporary sculpture.
Matisse and His Palette of Objects
Curator Ellen McBreen brings to light the deeply personal objects that so often found their way into Matisse’s paintings. What is the relationship between 2-D and 3-D in Matisse’s work?
The Intensive Practice of Meditation and Close Looking
A daylong immersion in close looking and meditation. Enjoy the quiet experience of looking at artwork, with Dr. Barnes’s concepts in mind.
Decoding Barnes’s Ensembles
Learn to better understand why Albert Barnes arranged his collection in such an unconventional way in this one-day workshop.
Understanding Color in Painting
Explore the history of color in painting through demonstrations and close looking at works in the galleries.
Art History is a Gated Community: How to Open the Discipline to Elijah Pierce and His Peers
How can art historians, museums, collectors, and critics include artists like Pierce in a fuller and more expansive story of American art?
Modigliani, Pascin, and Soutine
In this three-day workshop, investigate the intersecting lives and contributions of these three key modern painters.