Sam Maitin's involvements in Philadelphia's cultural life were so deep he was known as the "Mayor of the Arts" in his lifetime.
After graduating from Simon Gratz High School, Maitin won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts). A painter, printmaker, sculptor, muralist, graphic designer, political activist, and beloved teacher, Maitin headed the Visual Graphics Communication Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication from 1965–1972 and served on the board of Woodmere Art Museum from 1995–2004. He received a number of awards, including a 1968 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. He created murals and other public art for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry, the Please Touch Museum, and Hahnemann University Hospital, among others.
Maitin's work is museum collections in the United States and Europe, including (but not limited to):
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate Gallery, London
Bauersche Geisserie, Germany
Oakland Museum, California
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, N.H.
Tokyo Jewish Community Center, Japan
Camden Art Center, London
U.S. Federal Reserve Bank
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
New Jersey State Museum
Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Annenberg School, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia
ARCO Collection
SmithKline Beckman Collection
Cigna Corporation
Moyes Museum, Oceanville, New Jersey
Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia
Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey
Peace Collection, Swarthmore College
Chestnut Hill Academy
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Picker Gallery of Art, Colgate University
Below is an incomplete list created by the artist of artworks that he created and donated (usually print editions) to worthy causes and non-profits.
