The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," an exhibition opening April 25, 2026, that explores the cultural significance of the Rocky statue and its connection to Philadelphia's boxing legends, immigrant neighborhoods, and public monuments. Featuring over 150 works by more than 50 artists—including Keith Haring, Rashid Johnson, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol—alongside artifacts spanning 2,000 years, the show includes sculptures, paintings, video, and new commissions, timed to the 50th anniversary of the film "Rocky" (1976), the city's World Cup matches, and Philadelphia's Semiquincentennial.
The exhibition matters because it reframes one of America's most visited public artworks—the Rocky statue—as a lens for examining civic identity, sports heroism, and the evolving role of monuments in public space. By pairing contemporary art with historical objects and highlighting voices from Mural Arts Philadelphia's Restorative Justice Program, the show challenges dominant narratives and invites dialogue about whose stories are memorialized, making it a timely contribution to broader cultural conversations about representation and public art.