Press Release:

Arcadia University welcomes internationally recognized visual artist Polly Apfelbaum back to campus for her second artist residency, continuing a creative partnership that has connected Apfelbaum with Arcadia students, faculty, and the University’s arts community for several years.

The residency follows Apfelbaum’s receipt of a 2026 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, which is supporting a new period of artistic exploration and production. As part of the residency at Arcadia, Apfelbaum will be working in the Ceramics studio on campus where she can develop new work that will ultimately reach audiences through exhibitions around the world.

For Arcadia students, however, the residency offers something equally significant: the opportunity to see the life and work of a world-renowned artist up close. Apfelbaum will continue to engage with students and faculty throughout her time at Arcadia, providing a model not only of what it means to sustain a full-time artistic practice, but also of how artists can create community through their work. Warm, welcoming, and deeply engaged with those around her, Apfelbaum has become a familiar presence within Arcadia’s arts community.

Apfelbaum’s relationship with Arcadia has developed over several years through her collaboration with Gregg Moore, artist and professor at Arcadia University. Their work together was supported by a 2019 Pew Center for Arts & Heritage grant, secured by then-Director of Arcadia Exhibitions Richard Torchia, in support of the exhibition and residency. This collaboration established a creative partnership that has continued to develop and grow.

In 2021, Apfelbaum presented a major exhibition at Arcadia, further strengthening her relationship with the University and its students. Her return as an artist-in-residence represents the next chapter of that collaboration. The connection is both professional and personal for Moore and Apfelbaum, whose shared interest in art, making, and community has fueled their ongoing work together.

Apfelbaum’s newest work will also reach audiences beyond campus. Her upcoming exhibition, A Women’s Circle, will be presented at Wasserman Projects in Detroit, Michigan, from September 26 through December 19, 2026.

Her return to Arcadia brings that professional practice directly into the University environment, creating opportunities for students to learn not only from the work she produces, but from the artist herself. Through the residency, Arcadia continues to provide a space where practicing artists, faculty, and students can work alongside one another.

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Photos: AU