<Tr> <Th> Designated NHL </Th> <Td> May 15, 1975 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Designated PHMC </Th> <Td> November 17, 2004 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a museum and art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . It was founded in 1805 and is the first and oldest art museum and art school in the United States . The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th - and 20th - century American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper . Its archives house important materials for the study of American art history, museums, and art training . </P> <P> The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) was founded in 1805 by painter and scientist Charles Willson Peale, sculptor William Rush, and other artists and business leaders . The growth of the Academy of Fine Arts was slow . For many years it held its exhibitions in an 1806 building, designed by John Dorsey with pillars of the Ionic order . It stood on the site of the later American Theater at Chestnut and 10th streets . The academy opened as a museum in 1807 and held its first exhibition in 1811, where more than 500 paintings and statues were displayed . The first school classes held in the building were with the Society of Artists in 1810 . </P>

The oldest museum in america the pennsylvania academy of fine arts was founded in