By Nadia McGrath
Rising Stars is a series of thoughts, reflections and perspectives by the interns at Devine + Partners. Nadia McGrath is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in communication and visual studies
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has been a constant in my life – my destination for slow weekend afternoons, walks along the Schuylkill River Trail, outings with visiting family, and where I would spend hours observing a single painting for art history assignments. So, when the Museum changed its visual identity last year, it was a shock.
Now, a rebrand is not the end of the world. It is important for institutions to evolve and refresh their visual identities. So, I continued to browse the website despite my confusion. It turns out that I wasn’t alone. Many people were also shocked and confused.
From PMA to PhAM
In October 2025, the PMA renamed itself to Philadelphia Art Museum, adopted the PhAM acronym, and launched a new logo, typeface, website, and visual identity developed by a Brooklyn design studio. This was an effort to modernize the institution, give it new life, and “revive sagging attendance.” Instead, a backlash ensued. Critics questioned both the logo and why a local museum did not use a local studio, and found the minute name change unnecessary.
What should have been a moment of renewal became a case study in the difficulties of managing institutional change.
Museums Under Pressure
The PMA’s stumble did not happen in a vacuum. Museums and cultural institutions across the country have been navigating rough terrain, attempting to stay relevant or simply survive amid funding cuts, political pressure, and shifting public expectations.
PMA is not immune to these financial struggles. Director and CEO Daniel Weiss stated that balancing the budget is a top priority. The museum faces a deficit of nearly $6 million – a financial situation that makes the investment into a risky rebrand more questionable.
The Role of Public Relations
Amidst this rough landscape and struggle for financial survival, public relations has been more important than ever to support museums’ public perception and change.
What does effective PR look like for museums going forward?
It starts with clarity and transparency. If a museum is making a major change, audiences need to understand why. It should tell a compelling story, engage the local community, and seek collaboration. And perhaps most importantly, it requires a strategy that prioritizes mission and values over prestige.
Did the PMA rebrand have a chance to succeed? It did, and other museums have been successful in taking similar steps, introducing bigger, bolder visuals to stay afloat. It needed a more cohesive narrative.
The griffin logo, for an example, was intended to symbolize a protector of the arts inspired by sculptures on the corners of the museum and was a historical callback to the 1938 logo. This choice was an excellent opportunity for storytelling that could ground the rebrand and resonate with audiences old and new, but the logo’s significance was barely alluded to in press releases and news coverage. The press release for the rebrand stated that it places “Philadelphia front and center, celebrating the city’s grit, creativity, and industrial heritage” and that the objective was to “‘come down the steps’ by putting the museum in dialogue with its community,” but the museum hired a Brooklyn design studio to lead the rebrand. This choice was a missed opportunity to engage the Philadelphia community and partner with a local studio for the work.
For some, this attempt at renewal fell short because of a lack of cohesion between stated goals and outcomes, and for lack of clarity, storytelling, and communication that the community needed to understand the change.
It is a reminder that how you communicate change is just as important as the change itself.
Devine + Partners is a Philadelphia public relations agency. We offer a full range of communications services– from message and content development and media relations to issues management and employee and community engagement.
