Independent Arts News Reporting The Barnes Foundation Announces Exciting March Lineup: Free Family Day, Live Music, and Exclusive Art Events
Reported: Thursday, February 27, 2025.
Pictured Above: Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra. Photo Credit: Contributed.
NEWSROOM POST: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia, PA – The Barnes Foundation is ushering in spring with a vibrant array of events throughout March, featuring free family activities, world-class musical performances, engaging discussions, and exclusive exhibition previews. Art lovers of all ages are invited to immerse themselves in creativity and culture with these special offerings.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Barnes in Bloom
Sunday, March 2 | 10 AM – 5 PM | FREE (Registration Required)
Celebrate the arrival of spring with free admission to the Barnes! Families can enjoy a day filled with engaging art activities, captivating storytime sessions, and full access to the world-renowned collection. The highlight of the day is a special performance of Mexican Spring by Ñuuxakun, a Philadelphia-based dance troupe dedicated to preserving the beauty of Mexican folklore. Capacity is limited, and registration opens on Thursday, February 27, at 10 AM.
First Friday! Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
Friday, March 7 | 6 – 9 PM | $35; Members & Students $10; Supporters & Sustainers FREE
Experience an evening of live music, cocktails, and light fare at the Barnes’ monthly First Friday event. This March, the acclaimed Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, led by conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson, will enchant audiences with a program blending classical and contemporary compositions. The evening also offers access to the Barnes collection and an exclusive first look at Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations.
Performance Repertoire:
-Jessie Montgomery – Source Code & Strum
-Julia Perry – Prelude
-Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto for Two Violins
-Heitor Villa-Lobos – Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9
-Soloists: Luigi Mazzocchi & Guillaume Combet
*The performance runs from 6:30 to 8 PM. Seating is limited.
Pictured Above: Peco Free First Sunday Family Day: Barnes in Bloom. Photo Credit: Contributed.
Curators in Conversation: Cecily Brown – Themes and Variations
Sunday, March 9 | 1 – 2 PM | On-site: $15; Online: $8; Members & Students FREE
Marking the opening of Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations, this thought-provoking discussion will feature Simonetta Fraquelli and Nancy Ireson, curators of the exhibition. The show highlights Brown’s trailblazing career and her ability to subvert gendered tropes in art history. The event is available for both in-person and online attendance, with on-site registration granting access to the exhibition.
In Focus Gallery Talk: Demuth’s Two Trapeze Performers in Red
Monday, March 10 | 3 – 3:30 PM | Free with Admission
Join Emma Nell Jacobs, a doctoral candidate in art history at the University of Pennsylvania, for an in-depth discussion on Charles Demuth’s masterpiece Two Trapeze Performers in Red. Part of the In Focus series, this talk provides fresh insights into individual works from the Barnes collection.
Book Talk: Deborah Willis on Kamala
Sunday, March 16 | 1 PM | FREE (Registration Required)
Acclaimed author Deborah Willis joins journalist Dyana Williams for an insightful discussion on Willis’s new book, Kamala: Her Historic, Joyful, and Auspicious Sprint to the White House. This event will be held in the Comcast NBCUniversal Auditorium and includes access to the Barnes collection and Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations.
Pictured Above: Henri Rousseau. Bouquet of Flowers with China Asters and Tokyos (detail), 1910. The Barnes Foundation, BF580. Public Domain.
Throughout the month of March, the Barnes Foundation will also be offering a special tour: Spotlight Tour: Henri Rousseau and His Fabulous Foliage which will include access to the collection and Cecily Brown: Themes and Variations (opening March 9) before and after the tour.
Flower Show attendees save $5
Guests may show their Flower Show ticket at the Barnes’s box office (20th Street between the Parkway and Callowhill Street) and enjoy $5 off general admission (regular price $30) and daily public tours (regular price $39–$49). Limit 4 tickets per transaction.
(Also, PHS members get $10 off!)
Plus, when guests present their Flower Show ticket, they will receive a free treat at the Garden Restaurant or Reflections Café at the Barnes.
To learn more about all opportunities celebrating art, music, and culture at the Barnes Foundation this March, visit www.barnesfoundation.org.
ABOUT THE BARNES FOUNDATION
The Barnes Foundation is a nonprofit cultural and educational institution that shares its unparalleled art collection with the public, organizes special exhibitions, and presents programming that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes collection is displayed in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression. Home to one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and modern paintings—including the largest groups of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne in existence—the Barnes brings together renowned canvases by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh, alongside African, Asian, ancient, medieval, and Native American art as well as metalwork, furniture, and decorative art.
The Barnes was established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.” A visionary collector and pioneering educator, Dr. Barnes was also a fierce advocate for the civil rights of African Americans, women, and the economically marginalized. Committed to racial equality and social justice, he established a scholarship program to support young Black artists, writers, and musicians who wanted to further their education. Dr. Barnes became actively involved in the Harlem Renaissance, during which he collaborated with philosopher Alain Locke and Charles S. Johnson, the scholar and activist, to promote awareness of the artistic value of African art.
Since moving to Philadelphia in 2012, the Barnes has expanded its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and social justice, teaching visual literacy in groundbreaking ways; investing in original scholarship relating to its collection; and enhancing accessibility throughout every facet of its programs.
The Barnes Foundation is situated in Lenapehoking, the ancestral homeland of the Lenape people. Read our Land Acknowledgment.
Pictured Above: The Barnes Foundation, Detail Room 19, North Wall. Photo Credit: Image © The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia. Photo by Sean Murray.
