On a recent Thursday evening, Philadelphia art collector William Skeet Jiggetts sat in the foyer of Awbury Arboretum’s Francis Cope House surrounded by grand collages taken from the walls ofhisEast Falls home.
The art — all made by living artists and friends of Jiggetts — is striking. A framed paper and antique lace dress by textile artist Rosalind “Nzinga” Vaughn-Nicole sits next to portrait-size cameos that mixed media artist Danielle Scott fashioned from newspapers and other found objects.
A guest looks at artwork collected by William Skeet Jiggetts during the Museum of African American Art Collections’ inaugural exhibit at the Awbury Arboretum in East Germantown.
Jiggetts, 57, an art collector for more than 30 years, has had pieces from his collection on display in small shows, but never in his wildest dreams did he think that they would anchor an exhibition — in a traveling museum that he founded.
While the Barnes Foundation houses the late chemist and art collector Albert C. Barnes’ collection, there are very few other — if any — museums whose walls are solely dedicated to the collections of collectors. Nomadic, traveling museums, at that.
“It got to the point where I had more art than walls,” Jiggetts said looking over his black-framed glasses. “Nobody saw it … I didn’t even see it. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool for a bunch of collectors to get together and create a space to show our work. Tell our story?’”
Guest look at art work during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
Jiggetts got the itch to show his collection in the early 2020s after talking with colleagues who wanted to show theirs, too. In 2023 he set up a foundation, started approaching collectors, and began nailing down locations.
“There is a treasure trove of African American art in our living rooms, in our reading rooms, and in our dens that need to be shared,” Jiggetts said. “The Museum of African American Art Collections is a forum to host these collections and tell the stories that come with them.”
That’s how the Museum of African American Art Collections began.
A $200 frame and an obsession
Jiggetts, who works as a tax accountant, grew up in Germantown and spent Sunday afternoons at the Philadelphia Art Museum gazing at the impressionist works of Manet and Monet.
When he was in his 20s, he bought a poster of Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. “I spent $200 of 1989 money on that frame,” he said with a laugh. That purchase marked the beginning of an obsession. He bought his first piece of original art from Germantown painter Lucien Crump Jr., who, according to a 2006 Inquirer obituary, owned the first gallery in the city dedicated to Black art.
Jiggetts scoured galleries and festivals for original art, buying any piece that tickled his fancy for under $500. In the early 2000s, his mentors — well known Philadelphia appraiser Barbara Wallace and the late African American collector Ronald Ollie — urged him to start evaluating his choices and he became a serious art collector.
“I figured out what it was I really liked,” Jiggetts said, describing his favorite pieces as ones that marry impressionist and abstract art, like the ones on display at Awbury Arboretum. “I realized I enjoyed the experience of buying art as much as the art. I like the company of artists.”
His collection is comprised of mostly living artists like the mixed media artist Danielle Scott; abstract painter Ben F. Jones; and Paul Goodnight, who is known for his colossal oil paintings featured in the backdrops of TV shows like Seinfeld and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. (Although Jiggetts does have a pencil sketch by the late Bahamian artist Purvis Young.)
Graphic designer for the Museum of African American Art Collections, Staci Cherry, places labels for the art collection from Stephanie Daniel during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. The piece in the center is the Dox Thrash mezzotint.
Keepers of history
Collectors are the glue that keep the fine arts ecosystem — artists, patrons, buyers, gallerists, and museum creators — connected and running.
They are often patrons of the arts like James J. Maguire and his late wife, Frances, investing in artists and art institutions, building impressive art collections in their homes. Collectors Adrian Moody and Robyn Jones connect artists to buyers at Jenkintown’s Moody Jones Gallery, but their personal collection has more than 400 pieces.
Art collectors Adrian Moody and Robyn Jones during the Museum of African American Art Collections’ inaugural exhibit at the Awbury Arboretum in East Germantown.
“Collectors drive the market,” said Valerie Gay, chief cultural officer for the city of Philadelphia. “They have the power to catapult an artist from obscurity to a household name.”
It’s the Black collector who discovers artists at street fairs, off-the-beaten-path galleries, hair salons, and their friend’s basement.
Their interest — like mid-20th-century author Ralph Ellison’s enthusiasm for Harlem Renaissance-era oil on canvas master Romare Bearden — brings artists’ work to a wider audience that can lead to cementing an artist’s place in the fine arts canon. Their picks speak to the collective Black experience, shaping Black America’s historical image.
“They are the keepers of our history,” Green said. “Mediators who carry the work forward and continue the legacy.”
A guest walks past art collected by Diana Tyson during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. Artis Beverly McCutcheon created Dad (left) and a piece titled Untitled.
Setting value
The Black collectors’ library, Jiggetts says, is the first stop on living artists’ journeys to corporate boardrooms or the walls of major museums. “Our role is that of an economist,” Jiggetts said. “We set the value.”
Collectors shared their experiences over white wine and sweet potato cupcakes on opening night.
Daniel — whose collection features local masters — spoke effusively about her Dox Thrash mezzotint. She will never let the print by the important early 20th-century Black artist go, she said. Robyn Jones interpreted the Jesse Read and Antoinette Ellis-Williams vibrant abstracts. (This reporter thought both of those pieces were images of shoes.)
Art collector Stephanie A. Daniel with Samuel Benson’s.Gay Head Cliffs MV painting during the Museum of African American Art Collections inaugural exhibit at the Awbry Arboretum in East Germantown on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
The concept of a collectors museum is a new one. Black collectors are not.
“We’ve always collected our work,” Jiggetts said, stressing that these times require Black people to be stewards of their own stories.
“At the Museum of African American Art Collections, no one can tell us what to do, what not to do, and what we need to do differently. We don’t have to worry about having it being taken away. It’s ours.”
The Museum of African American Art Collections, through Dec. 31, Awbury Arboretum’s Francis Cope House, 1 Awbury Rd., Phila.Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free.
Concert pianist Leon Bates, whose musical authority and far-reaching versatility took him to the world’s greatest concert halls, died Nov. 21 after a seven-year decline from Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
An articulate, charismatic presence, Mr. Bates was a Philadelphia born and educated pianist, and while growing up in Germantown, showed talent as early as age 6.
He started formal study at Settlement Music School and graduated from Temple University’s Boyer College of Music, where he studied under the legendary Natalie Hinderas. In his final student recital, Mr. Bates played Ravel’s fearsome Gaspard de la Nuit.
As a leading figure in the generation of Black pianists who followed the early-1960s breakthrough of Andre Watts, Mr. Bates’ dream-come-true career encompassed Ravel, Gershwin, and Bartok over 10 concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra between 1970 and 2002. He played three recitals with Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and taught master classes at Temple University, where he also gave recitals at the Temple Performing Arts Center.
Though he maintained residency in Philadelphia with his wife and three children in Mount Airy, Mr. Bates toured the great concert halls of Europe, China, South Africa, and America, often playing 100 concerts a year. His forceful repertoire of Rachmaninoff and Liszt was partly enabled by his hobby — body building — and the stamina that came with it.
“What set Leon Bates apart was his genuine character and the way he focused on the music above all else. He impacted countless lives through his generosity, his example, and the depth of his artistry,” wrote his student of 10 years, pianist Dynasty Battles, on Instagram. Beyond that, added Battles, Mr. Bates showed him how every concert program could be “a journey” and that rich, “radical” elements in music were already there to be found.
Pianist Leon Bates in 2018
Mr. Bates’ sense of communication was illustrated by how he embraced outdoor concert settings. In such acoustically risky circumstances, he performed at Chicago’s Grant Park, played Rhapsody in Blue in the July 4, 1995 Concert on the Parkway at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and, with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, had an audience of 20,000 at Rome’s Olympic Stadium.
In less-recreational settings, Mr. Bates’ Philadelphia Chamber Music Society programs were a high-style mixture of the lesser-known and the familiar: Edward MacDowell and Samuel Barber, for example, were followed by the mighty Liszt Sonata in B Minor.
Most adventurous of all was his 2018 recital that he did not personally perform due to his Parkinson’s diagnosis, but had students and other associates step in to play Ives and George Walker. In his prime, Mr. Bates premiered new works by living Black composers such as Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 3 and the Adolphus Hailstork Piano Concerto No. 1, in performances acclaimed for the same commitment he brought to masterworks of the past.
“When you really are involved in the process of making music, it’s something that’s with you when you’re sleeping, when you’re awake, when you’re relaxing, when you’re truly focused on working at the instrument,” he told Chicago-based journalist Brice Duffie during an in-depth 1991 interview. “It is the sum total of all of that time together that really produces what people get when they see the performer come out on stage.”
Besides being a fine pianist, Mr. Bates was also a great talker. He traveled with two prepared lectures — one on the 1954 Brown v. the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation unconstitutional, and the other, titled “American Originals,” on modern American composers.
“Leon offered school shows where he often dressed in the local football team’s jersey. No suits or ties — just to connect visually with the students,” recalled his longtime agent Joanne Rile. In his WRTI-FM radio show titled Notes on Philadelphia during the 1990s, Mr. Bates was what Charles Abramovic, chair of the Temple University keyboard studies, described as “beautifully articulate and a wonderful interviewer. The warmth of personality came out. He was such a natural with that.”
And he was fun, says fellow-Philadelphia-born Lambert Orkis, now professor of piano at Temple, who was among the musicians interviewed on the show.
Even during interviews, the Bates body-building regimen didn’t let up with his squeezing a rubber ball for hand exercise, and inevitably exposing his impressive musculature.
When tapped to choose a Steinway piano to reside at the Temple Performing Arts Center, Mr. Bates “was looking for projection and power that were hallmarks of his playing,” recalls Abramovic. The Parkinson’s symptoms were noticed by others before he did — though he bore the onset of the disease with public dignity.
He declared, “My spirit is still there.”
Mr. Bates made numerous recordings and received an honorary doctorate from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., as well as the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award from the Greater New York Wallenberg Committee.
He is survived by his wife of many years, Jocelyn; his three sons, Christopher, James, and Jock; and five grandchildren.
Details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Comedian and Eagles die-hard fan Shane Gillis will take center stage at Lincoln Financial Field for a one-night-only show next summer.
Gillis will headline one of the biggest shows of his career in South Philly on July 17, 2026. More than 60,000 fans will be in attendance to see the Mechanicsburg, Pa., native crack his edgy and often controversial jokes.
He will be joined by a lineup of special guests, who will be announced at a later date. Who knows: Maybe Gillis’ good friend and country star Zach Bryan will make a surprise appearance.
Host Shane Gillis speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on July 16.
Tickets to the show will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Black Friday. Presale tickets went on sale Wednesday.
“Lincoln Financial Field is thrilled to set the stage this summer for one of the world’s biggest entertainers in Shane Gillis,” Brian Napoli, the Eagles’ senior vice president of corporate partnerships, said in a statement.
The 37-year-old stand-up has risen to stardom thanks to his brash comedic style, his long-running podcast with fellow comic Matt McCuster called Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, and his viral impersonations of President Donald Trump.
Comedian Shane Gillis reacts after throwing out a pitch before a baseball game between the Phillies and the Texas Rangers on May 22, 2024, at Citizens Bank Park.
Along with donning Eagles gear at shows and interviews, the central Pennsylvania native has plenty of ties to the Philadelphia region.
Gillis graduated from West Chester University and cut his teeth in the local comedy scene by performing shows at Helium Comedy Club and other Philly venues. He was announced as a Saturday Night Live crew member in 2019 but was quickly fired for making homophobic and racist jokes on his podcast with McCuster.
His hit Netflix series, Tires, which is a collaboration with Philly comic and show director John McKeever, is being renewed for a third season.
His latest stand-up, Beautiful Dogs, was a massive success for Netflix. It ranked in the streaming service’s Top 10 in five countries and remained in the U.S. Top 10 for two weeks. His second Netflix special is currently in the works.
The new show, aptly named Far Cry, was recently ordered by FX and will stream on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally.
Mac will also star in the adaptation.
Far Cry is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games created by French-based company, Ubisoft. The details for the television adaptation are still unknown, but it will be action packed, featuring a different cast and setting each season.
“Getting to work alongside Noah Hawley is a dream realized,” Mac, a South Philly native, told Variety. “Ubisoft has been remarkably generous, entrusting us with one of the most iconic video game worlds ever created. And through it all, my FX family continues to lift me up with their constant belief and support.”
Mac created and stars in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which aired its 17th season earlier this year. He also stars in and executive produces the Emmy-winning FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham.
The forthcoming series, Mac told Variety, stands to deepen his friendship with Hawley, who also has a long-standing relationship with FX as the creator of Fargo and Alien: Earth
“Each game is a variation of a theme, the same way each season of Fargo is a variation on a theme,” Hawley told Variety. “To create a big action show that can change from year-to-year while always exploring the nature of humanity through this complex and chaotic lens is a dream come true.”
Bridget the Dino was a symbol for the neighborhood’s green spaces and neighborly affection, who oversaw the Manayunk Bridge Trail gardens.
When all hope was lost, the original owners of Bridget, and other neighborhood dinosaurs that have become a staple to Roxborough and Manayunk, saved the day.
Holod’s, the Lafayette Hill home and garden store, donated a brand new stone dinosaur to the Manayunk gardens at Dupont and High Streets, taking over Bridget’s yearslong watch as the garden guardian.
“After the heartbreak of seeing Bridget damaged, this unexpected act of kindness means more than words can say. The neighborhood love is real, and this Dino is already feeling it,” park organizers announced on Tuesday.
Now that the difficult task of placing a new 300-pound stone garden dinosaur is complete, the fun part comes: choosing a name for the new dino. When park organizers learned they would be getting a brand new dino, they decided they couldn’t just name the new statue Bridget, as she is “irreplaceable,” said park volunteer and Roxborough resident Juliane Holz.
“The community is so much a part of this that they can help us name this new one,” Holz said. “I like Manny. But we also have to decide whether she is a girl or a boy dino. I do like ‘Holly’ for Holod’s.”
Park organizers have already posted a list of suggested names for the new statue. This reporter is partial to “Yunker.”
Potential dinosaur names:
Manny (for Manayunk)
Archie (for the arch of the bridge)
Roxie (for the Roxborough side)
Schuylie (for the Schuylkill)
Ivy (garden vibes)
Rocky (Philly and Roxborough)
Ledger (bridge and connection vibes)
Petra (means “rock”)
Yunker (play on Manayunk)
Residents from Manayunk, Roxborough, and beyond can drop a comment below the park’s latest Instagram post to vote on one of the above names or suggest a new one.
Last Sunday, a neighbor found Bridget’s head lying at the feet of her stone body after it was smashed between late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. The vandalism came as a shock to the community that welcomed Bridget with open arms, as she grew into a beacon for the ever-growing green spaces that the families of Manayunk and Roxborough have come to revitalize.
Bridget the Dino, a beloved stone garden statue at the Manayunk Bridge Garden, had its head smashed off between late Saturday night, Nov. 22, and early Sunday morning, Nov. 23, 2025. The 300-pound stone statue would be hard to move, neighbors say, leading some to believe an adult purposefully broke the statue.
“It seems like something silly to be upset about, but someone put a lot of effort and money — these statues and improvements are not cheap — into making that bridge garden a really nice place,” Manayunk resident Annie Schuster said. “I hate the fact that somebody did that.”
Neighbors believe the cowardly act to have been perpetrated by an adult who intended to destroy the iconic statue. Holz believed the statue proved too heavy for someone to mistakenly bump into it. Police reached out to Holz and park organizers to let them know they will investigate the crime, Holz said.
Bridget the Dino, a beloved stone garden statue at the Manayunk Bridge Garden, pictured in an Easter Bunny costume for Easter. The community often dresses up Bridget during different holidays and themed events. In November 2026, her head was smashed off her body.
Meanwhile, they’ll repurpose Bridget elsewhere among the garden beds and usher a new dinosaur dynasty with Holod’s latest statue. Holz said perhaps Bridget’s new iteration will be as a bird bath installation or an addition in a new sensory garden.
The Manayunk Bridge Garden is one of the many public spaces being transformed into neighborhood gardens and pedestrian thoroughfares. Since COVID-19 lockdowns, residents have donated their time, alongside the Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy, to making this place special for local families. Bridget and her new friend encapsulate all of that passion.
Bridget the Dino, a beloved stone garden statue at the Manayunk Bridge Garden, pictured in a construction worker’s uniform. The community often dresses up Bridget during different holidays and themed events. In November 2026, her head was smashed off her body.
“We are focused on improving the park’s ecology and creating opportunities for the community to enjoy and use the space. The gardens are stunning in autumn with their masses of purple asters and yellow goldenrod,” said Avigail Milder of the Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy.
Along with the welcoming stone dinosaur, volunteers have been planting native shrubs and herbaceous plants that bloom through spring and summer. A new sugar maple tree was planted for much-needed shade. And most recently, Opus Piano donated a mini grand piano to be enjoyed and played by all parkgoers.
It’s been almost two months since the Philadelphia Art Museum unveiled its new name and logo to, let’s be kind and say, a mixed response. To the bane of all graphic designers, rebrands are lightning rods where everyone suddenly becomes a branding expert.
So we wanted to put your knowledge to the test. We’re going to ask you to identify the real logo among those that we’ve subtly modified.
Good luck!
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Before the change, one of these was the real logo for The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Can you pick the right one?
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For those concerned about the changing logo, fear not. Legally the museum’s name isn’t changing, just its “consumer-facing” one.
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The questions will get a little harder from here.
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Which logo replaced the one above?
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The museum said in a statement, “The new brand identity captures Philadelphia’s vibrant culture, reflecting how art influences everyday life and resonates across the city’s diverse communities.” The change surprised many, with lots of critics upset with the new look.
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Let’s move to another art gallery. Which is the real logo for the Barnes Foundation?
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Pentagram, the company responsible for the logo, said about the design: “The identity is based on the forms found within a specific ‘ensemble.’ The letters play with positive and negative space, gaining coherence through the act of reading across the ensemble.”
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The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts is the nation’s first institution that is both an art museum and school. The Heads of State, the brand agency that designed the logo, said: “We felt a classic wordmark would be an opportunity for visual simplicity and increased name recognition.”
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Eastern State Penitentiary also recently rebranded. Can you pick out their new logo?
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Not only does Eastern State have a new look, but they also recently released their 2025-2029 strategic plan, with a focus on criminal justice education and a reimagined visitor experience.
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The Museum of the American Revolution has part of its logo displayed on its building. Can you spot the right design?
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The thirteen stars in the museum’s logo are displayed on the building outside. The stars are based off the Commander in Chief’s Standard flag, which is on display in the museum.
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The Inquirer published some fantastic reads this year — stories you may have meant to read but couldn’t find the time for. The holidays are the ideal time for catching up: Maybe you’re stuck on a delayed flight, waiting for the turkey or ham to thaw, or just looking for an excuse to avoid that one annoying relative who’s a despicable Cowboys fan.
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Annie Schuster couldn’t believe what she saw Sunday night when scrolling Instagram. She ran to the kitchen to show her husband the grisly crime that had occurred in their Manayunk neighborhood hours earlier.
Bridget the Dino, a 3-foot-tall costume-sporting stone Tyrannosaurus rex, was ruthlessly beheaded, in the garden she calls home. Bridget’s head, still wearing a scarf, was lying at the foot of her stone body in the photo posted by the Manayunk Bridge Garden, the dinosaur’s caretakers.
Schuster and her husband, who live in Manayunk and take their children to see Bridget regularly, were in shock. “I thought it was like an unspoken rule, you leave Bridget alone,” she said.
Roxborough resident Juliane Holz felt a wave of anger and sadness as she learned of the vandalism, “She’s actually decapitated,” she said to herself upon reading a text from a neighbor.
Park volunteers notified the community that someone knocked the head off the statue in a heartfelt Instagram post Sunday evening. While the park didn’t announce any suspects or persons of interest, they’re calling on the community for help. “If you saw anything, or know what happened, please reach out,” the statement said. Volunteers filed a report of vandalism with Philadelphia police, but neighbors aren’t expecting police to catch the person who did it, Holz said.
Holz, who serves as a volunteer for the Roxborough Manayunk Conservancy, which oversees the garden at Dupont and High Streets, believes the vandalism occurred between a volunteer event that the garden hosted Saturday evening and early Sunday, when neighbors walk their dogs in the morning.
Schuster and other parents teach their children the golden rules of keeping one’s hands to oneself, so it’s perplexing to think an adult would do something like this, she said.
“I think it definitely had to be an adult, which is unfortunate because it’s not very adultlike behavior. It had to involve a lot of strength because I don’t even know how you carry one, they’re so heavy. Let alone knock it over and put it back up.“
Bridget the Dino, a beloved stone garden statue at the Manayunk Bridge Garden, pictured in an Easter Bunny costume for Easter. The community often dresses up Bridget during different holidays and themed events. In November 2026, her head was smashed off her body.
Holz echoed other neighbors’ sentiments that it must have been an intentional act committed by an adult, seeing as the 300-pound Bridget would be difficult to move even for the strongest Philadelphians, Holz said.
This is a blow to a neighborhood, Schuster said, which has steadily been redefining its community spaces to be more green, inviting, and a safe place for the many young families of Manayunk. Bridget the Dino is a symbol for the patchwork of neighbors who are volunteering their time and contributing to public spaces. On holidays, locals adorn her in themed costumes, like a witch for Halloween or rainbow-colored skirts for Pride.
“It seems like something silly to be upset about, but someone put a lot of effort and money — these statues and improvements are not cheap — into making that bridge garden a really nice place,” Schuster said. “I hate the fact that somebody did that.”
Holz and Schuster both agree that if a perpetrator is caught, they will receive a community service punishment of a full year of mandatory weeding. “The most grueling job in the garden,” Holz said.
Bridget the Dino, a beloved stone garden statue at the Manayunk Bridge Garden, pictured in a construction worker’s uniform. The community often dresses up Bridget during different holidays and themed events. In November 2026, her head was smashed off her body.
Does Manayunk replace or repair Bridget the Dino?
Holz said that the Manayunk Bridge Park will neither replace nor repair Bridget, as the dinosaur is “irreplaceable” and it would be disrespectful to place another stone dinosaur in her stead and refer to is as “Bridget.” Park volunteers are wary of repairing Bridget because of the slanted break across her neck. Any repair could easily succumb to the weight of a child riding her back or a dog leaning on top of her, and cause injury, Holz said.
Bridget originates from the local home and garden center store, Holod’s on Ridge Pike in Lafayette Hill, which hosts an annual stone T. rex costume contest. Last year’s winner was “Rexy the Paleontologist.”
In the wake of Bridget’s destruction, Holod’s will be donating a brand new stone dinosaur statue, Holz said. Several neighbors already own stone dinos from Holod’s, which has become a staple on stoops throughout Roxborough and Manayunk. Holz’s home dinosaur is named Hans.
Many offered to donate their own, but Holz is grateful for Holod’s contribution.
Bridget the Dino, a beloved stone garden statue at the Manayunk Bridge Garden, pictured in a rainbow skirt and accessories for Pride Month. The community often dresses up Bridget during different holidays and themed events. In November 2026, her head was smashed off her body.
This isn’t the first time animal statue vandalism has hit the Bridge Garden. Bridget had a friend named “Gary the Goat,” a similar-sized plush goat toy who dressed up alongside Bridget, who was stolen from the park in 2023. “He was stripped of his clothes, and poof, he was gone from the Manayunk Bridge Gardens. Bridget misses her friend,” one Roxborough Rants & Raves Facebook group member wrote at the time.
As the Manayunk Railroad bridge was converted into a pedestrian and cyclist bridge in 2015, a movement began to revitalize the green spaces along the trail, birthing the Manayunk Bridge Park around 2020. Bridget the Dino, named after the bridge she lives at, soon arrived and graced the park as its loyal guardian and mascot for the wider community.
It also helps that Bridget is eye-level with most young children for approving pats on the head, Schuster said.
Bridget will soon be repurposed elsewhere in the garden to safely rest and continue her tenure as the garden’s guardian, Holz said. Once the new dinosaur statue arrives, the community will have to come together to imagine a new name and backstory, “Could it be Bridget’s child or maybe an entirely new dinosaur altogether?” she said.
For more than a decade, the Penn Museum has offered visitors an encyclopedic history and perspective on Native American history, with artifacts spanning from Alaska tribes to communities in the southernmost part of the continental United States.
On Saturday, the museum unveiled a new gallery showcasing the artistic, linguistic, spiritual, and revolutionary traditions of Native Americans across the country.
A gallery of Native American art is displayed at the Penn Museum on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. As celebrations of Native American culture and precolonial Philadelphia plants grow, museums across the city prepare for America’s 250th birthday.
Christopher Woods, Williams director of Penn Museum, said the new gallery builds on the institution’s expansive Native American collection while offering insights into the lives of Indigenous Americans today. It builds on a former gallery, which similarly focused on first-person narratives and consulted with Indigenous curators.
“We’re an archaeology museum, but this is really about Native American people today, and drawing on the connection between the past and the contemporary world. It’s important to show people that these are vibrant communities,” Woods said during a press preview. “Showing how strong they are, the nature of their resilience, the historical and cultural erasure, and having them speak in their own words is important.”
These works, which build on the previous exhibition, “Native American Voices: The People – Here and Now,” that closed in July, offer a reframing of Native American history from four regions of the United States, including the Lenape Natives of the Delaware.
A gallery of Native American art is displayed at the Penn Museum on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. As celebrations of Native American culture and precolonial Philadelphia plants grow, museums across the city prepare for America’s 250th birthday.
The immersive, multisensory exhibit includes a floral beadwork collar from the Northeast Lenape, a single-weave square basket from the Eastern Band Cherokee in the Southeast, a centuries-old clay ancestral mug from the Pueblo people of the Southwest, and a fringed ceremonial robe, known as a Chilkat blanket, from the Tlingit people of the Northwest.
Among the oldest items on view are chipped stone tools historically used by Native Americans, which were pulled from the Penn Museum’s collections. The newest items include a woven piece that was commissioned from Cherokee mixed media sculptor Brenda Mallory.
The gallery also includes images of regions the tribal nations have inhabited, interactive displays offering insight into the formation of their cultural items, tools, and regalia, and varying stories about their traditions, challenges, and resilience before and after European contact.
A gallery of Native American art is displayed at the Penn Museum on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. As celebrations of Native American culture and precolonial Philadelphia plants grow, museums across the city prepare for America’s 250th birthday.
Alongside co-curators Lucy Fowler Williams and Megan Kassabaum, this comprehensive gallery was developed by cultural educators, archaeologists, and historians who are direct descendants and members of the tribal nations featured in the exhibit.
Among the eight Indigenous consultant curators, who served as narrative guides, were Jeremy Johnson, cultural education director of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, RaeLynn Butler, secretary of culture and humanities of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and Christopher Lewis, cultural specialist of the Zuni Pueblo.
The consulting curators assisted in creating the narrative flow of the gallery and worked with the Penn Museum to recover lost history and study their ancestors’ practices. They also contributed their own art and cultural items to the gallery.
Upon seeing the exhibition for the first time on Thursday, Johnson said it was an “emotional moment.”
“It was overwhelming,” he said. “It’s not just a room with a bunch of paintings or drawings. These are actual people I lived with, know, and are related to. I can tell you about every person here. Being able to give our tribal citizens, considering everyone is a relative, a voice was really emotional. We’ve always been seen as relics of the past.”
A gallery of Native American art is displayed at the Penn Museum on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. As celebrations of Native American culture and precolonial Philadelphia plants grow, museums across the city prepare for America’s 250th birthday.
Kassabaum said the concept of the exhibit began four years ago, but many of the gallery’s elements were shaped by the consulting curators, who willingly shared their stories and welcomed Kassabaum and others into their communities.
Kassabaum and other Penn Museum consultants traveled to Oklahoma to spend a week with members of the Delaware Tribe. They brought back four items, including the floral beaded collar, and let their protectors relay how they were made.
Those kinds of connections can’t be made without the help of the consulting curators, Kassabaum said.
“These aren’t my stories and they’re not my experiences,” he said. “I have not experienced any of the trauma of these communities. I have not experienced the joy of these communities, and everything people have been willing to share with us has been incredible. … No matter how giddy or passionate I am about anthropology and archaeology, I can’t bring the same thing to the gallery. It was totally essential.”
Unlike other exhibitions sprawled throughout the country, Johnson said Penn’s inclusion of him and his Native “relatives” was based in good faith rather than historical or cultural exploitation.
“We know certain art museums have been problematic in the past, and are still doing that work,” Johnson said. “But I feel this is the first time we were asked in the right way. It was in the spirit of an actual collaboration, instead of asking for items to display, and that’s it. This was a good process, and we hope it stands as a model for future exhibits.”
A gallery of Native American art is displayed at the Penn Museum on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. As celebrations of Native American culture and precolonial Philadelphia plants grow, museums across the city prepare for America’s 250th birthday.
The opening ceremony of the Native North America Gallery kicked off with remarks from Johnson and the other Indigenous consulting curators.
Their remarks were followed by traditional dance, songs, and storytelling by New Mexico’s Tewa Dancers. There was also an artist talk by Holly Wilson of the Delaware Nation, curatorial presentations led by Johnson and Joseph Aguilar of the San Ildefonso Pueblo, and a series of family workshops.
The gallery, which is now on display, is available for online and in-person viewing.
Visitors can reserve guided, in-person tours on select days. Tickets are priced at $26 for members and $30 for general admission. For more information, visit penn.museum.
A gallery of Native American art is displayed at the Penn Museum on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia. As celebrations of Native American culture and precolonial Philadelphia plants grow, museums across the city prepare for America’s 250th birthday.
The Philadelphia Art Museum’s trustees responded to the lawsuit filed by recently-ousted director and CEO Sasha Suda, saying she was dismissed after an investigation determined that she “misappropriated funds from the museum and lied to cover up her theft.”
On Thursday, the museum filed a petition in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas that says Suda repeatedly asked for raises, and when she was denied them by the museum board’s compensation committee, she took matters into her own hands.
“Given Suda’s misconduct, no responsible board member could have done anything other than vote to remove Suda for cause,” says the petition, which asks the court to compel arbitration of the dispute. Suda had requested a trial by jury.
“The museum’s accusations are false,” Suda’s lawyer, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said Friday.
“If the museum had nothing to hide, it would not be afraid to litigate in state court where we filed the case.”
In her original complaint, Suda claims she was “terminated when her efforts to modernize the museum clashed with a small, corrupt, and unethical faction of the board intent on preserving the status quo. The museum, in their petition said her complaint was “laden with false, dishonest, and irrelevant allegations.”
