Internationally known for its collection of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a treasure of a museum in downtown Philadelphia. With some 14,000 works of art in its collection, the museum curators produce masterful exhibitions focusing on themes like women in the arts, fantasy and nostalgia, and the role of art in times of war. Famed artists represented in the collection include Charles Willson Peale (the museum’s founder), John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper and Cecilia Beaux. The museum itself is also a work of art: The current building was built in 1867 and has been named a National Historic Landmark. And in the new Samuel M.V. Hamilton building opened in 2005, a vibrant 118-foot wall painting, created onsite by Markus Linnenbrink, transforms the space.