Philadelphia museum brings Rocky statue inside after decades of tension
[April 25, 2026]
By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Every day, visitors from around the world make their
way to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art — not necessarily for
the galleries inside, but for a statue of a fictional boxer from South
Philadelphia.
The bronze figure of Rocky Balboa — arms raised in victory, clad in
boxing trunks and boots — has become a point of pilgrimage for people
around the world.
For decades, the museum kept an uncomfortable distance from this kind of
devotion. Now, it is embracing it — and inviting Rocky in.
Opening this weekend, “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments”
examines how a fictional fighter became a real-world symbol, placing the
statue within the sweep of art history and Philadelphia’s identity. The
exhibition is the brainchild of guest curator Paul Farber, who spent
years exploring the meaning of the statue and public monuments —
including through his NPR podcasts — before bringing the conversation
into the museum.
The exhibition spans more than 2,000 years of boxing imagery, tracing a
thread of human struggle that Louis Marchesano, the museum’s deputy
director of curatorial affairs and conservation, said helps explain
Rocky’s enduring pull.
“The common theme that runs throughout 2,000 years of boxing imagery is
that people respond to the body under struggle, a conflict in much the
same way today as they did 2,500 years ago,” Marchesano said. “It’s not
simply about watching two people beat each other up — it’s about
endurance, internal fortitude and internal struggle.”
When the bronze statue was left on the steps after filming the “Rocky”
movies, the museum fought to have it removed. It was eventually
relocated to South Philadelphia before returning to the bottom of the
steps in 2006. It was welcomed back, but never fully embraced. The city
owns the spot where the statue sits — not the museum.
“The museum has had — and I hate to say this, no pun intended — a rocky
relationship with the statue,” Marchesano said.
“It took us decades to come to terms with it,” he added. “But I’m glad
that we did.”
According to the Philadelphia Visitor Center, about 4 million people
visit the steps each year — rivaling the nearby Liberty Bell in annual
foot traffic.
David Muller, a wrestling coach from France who recently brought his
students to the steps, said he thinks Balboa’s trials and travails are
“good for the next generation.”
“The movie ‘Rocky’ is important for the mind of sport and the mind of
life,” Muller said, after running with them up the steps as they raised
their hands at the top, smiling and punching the air like boxers.
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Visitors pose in front of the Rocky statue at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 (AP
Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)
 Kate Tarchalska traveled from Poland
with family and made the statue one of their stops.
“He was my hero when I was younger,” she said. “And now I am so glad
I could be in the same spot as him.”
Suraj Kumar, visiting his aunt in Philadelphia from St. Louis, made
a point to photograph the statue to share with his father, who first
introduced him to the films when he was growing up in Bengaluru,
India.
“When I got to know this statue is here, I was like, I really have
to come down here,” he said.
One gallery places Rocky in the global boxing fever of the 1970s,
featuring works by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy
Warhol — all created during a time when boxing had the world’s
attention.
“In the 1970s, we knew minute by minute who the heavyweight champion
of the world was,” Marchesano said. “The artists in this gallery are
responding to that global frenzy. Sylvester Stallone, in ‘Rocky,’
was doing the same — thinking about internal and external struggle.”
Another gallery turns to Philadelphia itself, presenting photographs
of the Blue Horizon boxing gym and a section on Joe Frazier, whose
real-life story at least partially inspired Rocky.
“Without Joe Frazier, Rocky doesn’t exist,” Marchesano said.
When the exhibition closes in August, the statue inside will move to
a permanent home at the top of the museum’s steps — a place it has
never officially held. The statue currently outside remains on loan
from Stallone.
Rocky’s longtime spot at the bottom of the steps won’t be empty — a
statue of Frazier will replace it.
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