Woodmere

Museums, Historical Sites, and ZoosPennsylvania, United States11-50 Employees

Housed across two 19th-century stone mansions on 10 acres in Chestnut Hill, Woodmere is dedicated to the art and artists of Philadelphia.

Charles Knox Smith Hall and its grounds, together with the core of the collection, are the gifts of Charles Knox Smith (1845–1916). Born of humble means, Smith eventually built a successful mining company and served on Philadelphia’s Common Council (precursor to today’s City Council). In 1898, Smith purchased the estate known as Woodmere and transformed it into a showcase for his art. With the belief that the experience of art and nature together offers a path to spiritual beauty, Smith welcomed his first visitors to Woodmere in 1910.

The Museum continues to honor his vision with WOW, Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder, which brings together monumental outdoor sculpture, horticulture, environmental conservation, and education. 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.

In 2025, Woodmere expanded with Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art & Education, adding 17,000 square feet of interior space, with 14 new galleries and a children’s art and education studio, and 4 additional acres of preserved green space. Just steps from Woodmere’s original Smith Hall, Maguire Hall extends the Museum’s mission to celebrate Philadelphia’s artists by showcasing previously stored and newly acquired artworks. Galleries highlight American Impressionism, Modernism, Mid-century Abstraction, and Figurative Realism; a Jewelry Vault, a series by Violet Oakley and the Red Rose Girls; and works on paper.

Today, 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.

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