Artist Residency Programs at Philadelphia High Schools

January 2026

The Artist Residency Program in partnership with the Philadelphia Art Museum, connects professional artists with high school art classrooms. The artists collaborate closely with classroom art teachers to develop innovative art projects inspired by the Museum’s collection. The program provides students interested in pursuing the visual arts the opportunity to work with professional artists, strengthen their portfolio, and explore a range of artistic media.

The program includes customized tours at the Museum, and the student artwork drawing inspiration from the Museum’s collection. Once recent source of inspiration has been the Museum’s current special exhibition: Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100.

This year, four high schools are participating in the program including, Kensington Creative and Performing Arts, Franklin Learning Center, Northeast High, and Esperanza Academy High School. The professional artists include: Adam Ledford, Sammy Kovnat, Marian Bailey, and Cindy Lozito. To date students have created ceramics vessels, soft sculpture, and clay sculpture inspired by Surrealist artists. Beginning in January 2026, students at Esperanza will collaborate with artist Cindy Lozito. Students will be creating shadow boxes inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell, and other Surrealist-influenced projects.