Fairmount Park Art Association Staff

Penny Balkin Bach, Executive Director
Ms. Bach is a noted curator, writer, cultural observer, educator who provides artistic direction for the Art Association. She initiated the pioneering Light Up Philadelphia, Form and Function, and New•Land•Marks programs, and led a movement to preserve and protect Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture. Ms. Bach has written extensively about public art and the environment in Public Art in Philadelphia published by Temple University Press, “Lessons Learned: the Past Informs the Future” in the Public Art Review, and as essayist and editor of New•Land•Marks: public art, community, and the meaning of place, published by Ariel Editions, an imprint of Grayson Publishing. Ms. Bach wrote on private funding for public art in Public Art by the Book, published by Americans for the Arts and the University of Washington Press. She has served on numerous juries and selection panels and has presented lectures, workshops, and exhibitions. She has worked with communities and organizations worldwide, including the Scottish Sculpture Trust in Edinburgh, the ARCO International Contemporary Art Forum in Madrid, and the Yuzi Sculpture Garden in China. A graduate of the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Ms. Bach received a Master’s Degree in Visual Communications and Social Organization from Goddard College in Vermont and pursued graduate studies in fine arts and design at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule in Switzerland. She has served on the Board of Trustees of The Fabric Workshop and Museum and the Charter High School for Architecture and Design (CHAD).

Laura S. Griffith, Assistant Director
Ms. Griffith manages daily administration, including contractual and insurance issues, landscape and conservation programs, public relations, special events, policy development, and research.  A graduate of Allegheny College, Ms. Griffith received her master’s degree in art history from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and previously held positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Institute of Contemporary Art.  She has served as the Philadelphia contact and award reviewer for the Heritage Preservation and Smithsonian Institution’s Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) program, and has presented at numerous conferences and workshops, including Conservation and Maintenance of Contemporary Art whose proceedings were published by Archetype Press.  Ms. Griffith coordinated the landmark national interdisciplinary conference Public Art in America ’87, currently serves on the City’s Conservation Advisory Committee, and is the co-founder/facilitator of the Philadelphia Public Art Forum. 

Susan Myers, New•Land•Marks Project Manager
Ms. Myers is responsible for coordinating artists, design professionals, contractors, and community organizations in the creation of new permanent public art. Prior to joining the Art Association, Ms. Myers worked at the Pew Fellowships in the Arts overseeing the development and creation of the Artists' Resource Guide for artists in the Philadelphia region. She also worked as a Project Manager for the public art project Past Presence: Contemporary Reflections on the Main and served as Program Director at Artist Trust in Seattle, WA, a widely recognized nonprofit arts organization that supports artists of all disciplines. She is a practicing artist and holds an M.F.A. from Syracuse University and a B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.

Jennifer Richards, Development and Communications Manager
Ms. Richards oversees fundraising activities and produces content for the Art Association’s publicity materials and web site. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Richards has worked as a development consultant for several large nonprofit organizations in New York City and as a fundraiser and operations administrator for Teach For America and The Lance Armstrong Foundation/LIVESTRONG Challenge in Philadelphia.

Ginger Osborne, Office Manager

Contact Us:
Fairmount Park Art Association
1616 Walnut Street, Suite 2012
Philadelphia, PA 19103-5313
Ph: 215.546.7550
Fx: 215.546.2363
www.fpaa.org
postmaster@fpaa.org