The previous location of the Rocky statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Nearly 50 years after Rocky Balboa triumphantly ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the fictional boxer is finally getting a permanent place at the top.
Construction has begun to permanently install Philadelphia’s famous Rocky statue at the top of the museum steps. The bronze sculpture, which depicts Sylvester Stallone’s titular character with both arms raised victoriously above his head, has spent much of the past two decades at the bottom of the steps. Now, it will stand in the same spot made famous by the beloved 1976 film.
The statue was created by sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg, commissioned by Stallone for Rocky III and originally appeared at the top of the museum steps in the 1982 movie. After filming, Stallone donated it to the City of Philadelphia, but it took quite some time for the fictional boxer to find a permanent home.
Over the years, the sculpture moved between the museum and Philadelphia’s former Spectrum sports arena before settling near the bottom of the museum steps in 2006. This sparked a debate over whether a movie prop belonged outside one of the country’s major art museums, but Rocky quickly became one of Philadelphia’s most recognizable public artworks, drawing millions of visitors eager to recreate his famous run up the steps.
Earlier this year, the original sculpture moved inside the museum as part of Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments. Featuring works and artifacts spanning more than 2,000 years, the exhibition used Rocky as a starting point to explore how monuments are created, interpreted, and reshaped over the years.
Now, Rocky will become a more permanent member of the museum. City crews are creating an underground foundation that will secure the 8-foot-6-inch bronze sculpture at the top of the steps. It will sit about 14 feet back from the edge, near the bronze footprints marking the spot where Rocky completed his famous run.
Rocky isn’t the only boxer getting a place of honor at the museum, though, and the space at the bottom of the steps will not remain empty. A statue of real-life Philadelphia boxing legend Joe Frazier now stands at the bottom of the steps, taking over the location previously occupied by the fictional fighter.
One of the fun elements of this move is that visitors will be able to follow Rocky’s famous path themselves, climbing the steps and arriving at the bronze boxer with his fists raised over the Philadelphia skyline.
Construction on the permanent installation is expected to be completed by the end of September 2026.
Construction has begun to permanently install the Rocky statue at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.
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Over the years, the sculpture has been moved around the city before finally settling near the bottom of the museum steps in 2006.
The Rocky statue at its previous location outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Construction on the permanent installation is expected to be completed by the end of September 2026.
The Rocky statue at its previous location outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Rocky statue to be permanently installed atop Philadelphia Art Museum steps
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