The National Academy of Design was founded in December 1825 to promote and cultivate art in America. The first members included Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, and John Frazee. From its inception the Academy served as a museum, fine arts school, and honorary society of artists. Modeled after the British Royal Academy, the National Academy of Design incorporated painting, sculpture, architecture, and printmaking. Members of the Academy are elected by their peers. Never changing its primary purpose to hold annual exhibitions, the Academy continues to foster the arts today. The following exhibit explores the Academy’s history from its foundation to the mid-twentieth century. Letters, photographs, diaries, and clippings from the Archives of American Art’s collections illustrate the dynamic life of the Academy and its members. This exhibition complements the National Academy of Design exhibition, Seeing People: Portraits from the Permanent Collection at the UBS Art Gallery, January 15, 2004–March 26, 2004.