Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Ferracci.
Hi Amy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
About Woodmere
Housed across two Victorian stone mansions on ten acres in Chestnut Hill, Woodmere’s mission is to create meaningful experiences with the art and artists of Philadelphia.
Woodmere was founded by Charles Knox Smith (1845–1916), who first opened the Museum’s doors to the public in 1913. Born of humble means, Smith had built a successful mining company and served on Philadelphia’s Common Council (the precursor to today’s City Council). In 1898, Smith purchased the estate already known as “Woodmere,” and began transforming it into a showcase for his vast art collection. Smith believed that the experience of art and nature together offers a path to spiritual beauty.
Woodmere continues to honor Smith’s vision with WOW (Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder) across the grounds: an experience that brings together monumental outdoor sculpture, horticulture, environmental conservation, and education. Smith’s magnificent collection of 19th century American landscape paintings remains on view. With its stately tower on Germantown Avenue, Charles Knox Smith Hall also houses galleries for special exhibitions, an adult art studio, and the Helen Millard Gallery for art made by children in the Museum’s many education programs.
For almost forty years, from the early 1940s through 1978, Woodmere thrived under the leadership of Edith Emerson, who, along with her life partner, the artist Violet Oakley, brought women artists into the collection. Among the distinguishing elements of Woodmere’s collection are over 3,000 works of art by Oakley alone.
In 2025, Woodmere expanded with Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art & Education, which added fourteen new galleries, a children’s art studio, and new public spaces for events and programs. Named for artist, Woodmere trustee, and philanthropist Frances M. Maguire, Maguire Hall houses galleries that showcase work by twentieth-century artists and those living and working in Philadelphia today. Highlights include galleries dedicated to Philadelphia’s distinctive school of American Impressionism, Modernism, Mid-century Abstraction, and Figurative Realism; a new “vault” for the city’s historic Jewelry Arts; Violet Oakley murals; galleries for Works on Paper; and the recently opened Mary McFadden Lending Library.
Woodmere is dedicated to collecting and showing work by the diverse spectrum of artists who make Philadelphia their home. Woodmere seeks to offer an increasingly inclusive dialogue in the arts through its exhibitions, programs, concerts, and events.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Woodmere has been fortunate to experience tremendous growth in recent years. With the opening of Maguire Hall in 2025, the grounds now span 10 acres, and 14 new galleries showcase permanent works of art. The MacDonald Children’s Art Studio offers young artists a welcoming space to experiment, create, and discover the joy of making art. A recent rebrand, along with the launch of a new website, has also helped visitors discover that the Museum offers much more than art on the walls.
Alongside groundbreaking exhibitions that spark conversation, challenge perspectives, and bring fresh ideas to life, Woodmere offers Gallery Talks featuring fascinating insights from artists, curators, and special guests. Live performances, from jazz and classical concerts to thought-provoking films, entertain, educate, and open new windows onto the world. Engaging art classes and programs also inspire artists of all ages and experience levels.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Woodmere’s mission is to inspire creativity, learning, and self-expression through experiences with the art and artists of Philadelphia and the region. Charles Knox Smith, founder of Woodmere, believed that collecting art was a noble journey with a moral, spiritual, and patriotic dimension. Born in 1845, the defining political and social event of Smith’s life was the Civil War, and his collection is grounded in the social context of post Civil War Philadelphia. Certain works of art tell stories that are directly tied to the war, like Sarah Fisher Ames’ extraordinary marble bust, Abraham Lincoln (date unknown), which is among the greatest treasures of Smith’s collection. Other works of art tell stories of nobility and self-sacrifice, such as Benjamin West’s The Fatal Wounding Sir Philip Sydney (1806), and Edward Harrison May’s Lady Jane Gray Going to Her Execution (1864). Smith was a devout and pious man, and he collected landscape paintings by such great American artists of the 19th century as Frederic Edwin Church, Jasper Cropsey, and Edwin Darch Lewis that expressed the cycles of day and night, life and death, and the spirituality of nature.
In addition to the Founder’s Gallery, the original building, now known as Smith Hall, showcases special, rotating exhibitions. Maguire Hall houses galleries that showcase work by twentieth-century artists and those living and working in Philadelphia today. Highlights include galleries dedicated to Philadelphia’s distinctive school of American Impressionism, Modernism, Mid-century Abstraction, and Figurative Realism; a new “vault” for the city’s historic Jewelry Arts; Violet Oakley murals; galleries for Works on Paper; and the recently opened Mary McFadden Lending Library.
What makes you happy?
Woodmere is always happy when the galleries are full of people. We offer many free or low-cost events to welcome the community. Admission is always free for children and is free for everyone every Sunday. We also have a large free parking lot at both locations.
Pricing:
- Adults $15
- Seniors $10
- Children FREE
- FREE to all on Sunday
Contact Info:
- Website: https://woodmeremuseum.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodmeremuseum/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodmeremuseum
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/woodmereart
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@WoodmereMuseum
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/woodmereart
