Say goodbye to the Philadelphia Museum of Artwork, and hi there to … maintain onto your hats … the Philadelphia Artwork Museum! *crickets*
On Wednesday, October 8, the historic arts establishment introduced 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 most recent museum rebranding to trigger a public stir, following controversial campaigns by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork in New York, and the Brooklyn Museum over the previous decade.
For these outdoors of Philly, the redesign could not seem to be a big change (in any case, “Philadelphia Museum of Art” and “Philadelphia Art Museum” are each large mouthfuls). However for native residents, lots of whom already knew the establishment as merely “the Art Museum,” it might come as a pure step.
“When I mention to folks who aren’t engaged in the arts and culture community and I say the PMA, they have no idea what I’m talking about,” the museum’s director and chief government officer Sasha Suda advised public radio station WHYY-FM. Beneath its new title, the museum now takes on the George Michael-esque acronym, “PhAM” (maintain the exclamation level), which has already been included into the URL of its redesigned web site.
Not everyone seems to be as enthusiastic concerning the change. “The #phart museum? You gotta be kidding me!” quipped costume designer Rita Squitiere on X. “We had no problem calling it the Philadelphia Museum of Art … We’re smart people, we can handle words.”
Whereas some have welcomed the rebranding, others have voiced criticism of the brand new design. (screenshot Maya Pontone/Hyperallergic through @philamuseum on Instagram)
For the model redesign, the museum labored with Brooklyn-based design studio Gretel, whose purchasers embody 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 is not going to be shocking to critics who took challenge with PhAM’s new emblem depicting the museum’s longstanding symbolic griffin.
“It looks like a soccer team logo,” 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 publish claiming that the brand resembled an athleisure advert marketing campaign.
“It feels both oppressive and bland, not like the charming treasure trove that is PMA’s collection,” 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 filled with so much beautiful and creative art, they really approached this branding shift with the energy and thought process of a NYC design agency working with a soon-to-be-open Fishtown coffee shop,” fumed artist Rushawn Stanley on Instagram.
“It’s been rebranded as the PMA!””A Brooklyn design firm has rebranded it’s logo as a lion’s crest””We’re not your grandfather’s museum””We’re digital-first” pic.twitter.com/inguT0LpyS
— Michael (@phillymike223) October 8, 2025
Greg Hahn, founding father of Gretel, advised Hyperallergic that the corporate sees the general public’s reactions to the museum’s redesign as “a strong response to changing things that they have grown to love.”
“Any brand (person, place, or thing) develops an audience, and if they’re lucky, a following. When that’s the case, there will always be opinions on any changes made, sometimes founded and sometimes simply reactionary,” Hahn stated.
Nonetheless others opined that the model’s new customized typeface, a font referred to 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 unique seal and wall engravings.)
“The logo looks like some kind of Cold War monstrosity,” stated illustrator Bonnie Watts, citing the establishment’s latest disputes with its employees union. In June 2023, unionized employees accused management of backtracking on agreed-upon provisions for longevity pay. The allegations had been made not even a yr after employees held a 19-day strike in demand of wage will increase, paid household depart, and extra reasonably priced healthcare.
“Do better for the people who actually make a difference at the museum,” Watts stated on Instagram. “Then maybe people will actually want to visit.”
