Slow Art Day 2026
Saturday, April 11, 11am – 1:30pm
Maurice Prendergast. Beach Scene with Donkeys (or Mules) (detail), c. 1914–15. The Barnes Foundation, BF116
Free with admission
About the Event
The Barnes is pleased to participate in Slow Art Day 2026, a global event with a simple mission: to help more people discover the joy of looking at and loving art. Our approach to art education is grounded in careful, prolonged observation and critical thinking, a mission that aligns with Slow Art Day’s focus on the art of seeing.
Buy tickets for 11am on Saturday, April 11, to participate in Slow Art Day.
What’s On
11am – 12:30pm
Slow Looking in the Galleries
When you arrive at the Barnes, you’ll receive a list of five paintings for your self-guided experience. Spend an hour or so in the galleries looking carefully at these works, then join us in the Herbert and Joyce Kean Family Classroom on the lower level for a 30-minute discussion about your experience.
1pm – 1:30pm
Discussion in Kean Family Classroom
William Perthes, the Bernard C. Watson Director of Adult Education at the Barnes, leads a discussion about the slow-looking experience.
Speaker
William Perthes
Educator, author, and curator William Perthes is the Bernard C. Watson Director of Adult Education at the Barnes. He has a background in philosophy and art history, and his writing on the Barnes Method was included in The Barnes: Then and Now (2023). Much of Perthes’s work explores how experiences with art can inform fields as varied as business, medicine, law enforcement, and restorative justice. He curated Faces of Resilience, a traveling exhibition of original works created by currently and formerly incarcerated artists at SCI Phoenix.
Go Further
Deep Dive: Cézanne’s Still Life
An in-depth discussion about Still Life with Penn MA student Nina Huang. Free with admission; Room 8
Lecture & Book Signing: Soutine with Celeste Marcus
Author Celeste Marcus discusses her new book Chaim Soutine: Genius, Obsession, and a Dramatic Life in Art.
Red Metal Dust: An Evening with Sky Hopinka
Join us for an evening of poetry and conversation with artist Sky Hopinka, plus a preview of Red Metal Dust.