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‘A Cultural Destination for the Entire Region.’ New Palmer Museum of Art Set to Open at Penn State Arboretum

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A gallery in the new Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State, located on Bigler Road next to the Arboretum. Photo by Geoff Rushton | StateCollege.com

Geoff Rushton

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Penn State’s new $85 million Palmer Museum of Art building next to the Arboretum is set to open to the public this weekend, marking the culmination of years of planning and construction.

The stunning, 73,000-square-foot building designed by architect Allied Works doesn’t just provide expanded, state-of-the-art space for the largest museum collection between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It also integrates with the Arboretum to create a regional cultural attraction.

“By seamlessly integrating art, architecture and nature, the Palmer has created an accessible and welcoming gateway to Penn State and, with the Arboretum, a cultural destination for the entire region,” Erin Coe, Palmer Museum of Art director, said during a media tour of the new building on Wednesday morning. “A thoughtfully designed and expanded sequence of galleries allows us to showcase more works from the collection in conversation with the stunning landscape, reminiscent of those that inspired many of the American works in our renowned collection.”

Clad in Pennsylvania sandstone and surrounded by 5 acres of landscape designed by Reed Hildebrandt, the museum’s exhibition and administration/education wings are joined by the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Gateway, which also serves as an entry to the Arboretum’s H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens. Around the interlocking pavilions are six courtyards with terraces, gardens and a sculpture path.

Inside the exhibition wing, 20 double-height galleries — 15 for permanent collections and five dedicated to special exhibitions — double the display space from the museum’s former home on Curtin Road. The new facility can display about 8% of the Palmer’s growing collection of more than 11,000 works of art.

Anchoring the museum’s feature staircase is “Lupine Blue Persian Wall,” a 13-foot site-specific installation by artist Dale Chihuly. The Kish Bank and William P. Hayes Family Exploration Gallery, meanwhile, will feature “a plant-themed artwork creation activity that welcomes visitors to color plants that are brought to life when synthesized into a collective digital canvas,” according to the museum.

In its first year, the new museum will reveal recent acquisitions of work by artists such as Fernando “Coco” Bedoya, Joseph Delaney, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Rodrigo Lara, David MacDonald, Malcolm Mobutu Smith, Toshiko Takaezu, Akio Takamori, Kukuli Velarde, Patti Warashina, Purvis Young, Malcah Zeldis and Arnold Zimmerman. 

Debuting with the opening of the new museum are three exhibitions, including “Made in PA.” On view through Dec. 1, the exhibition of paintings, sculptures and mix-media works created after 1945 highlights artists who are natives of or built their careers in Pennsylvania, including Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Howardena Pindell, Amber Cowan, Keith Haring, Edna Andrade and many more.

A companion exhibition, “Made in PA on Paper” explores Penn State’s legacy as a land-grant institution and features works that celebrate Pennsylvania’s natural resources and urban centers from the 18th to 20th centuries by the likes of Mary Cassatt, Henry Varnum Poor, Dox Thrash, Morton Schamberg and others.

Another new exhibition, “The Art of Teaching: Medical Education and the Integrated Curriculum,” is a partnership between the museum and Penn State’s College of Medicine “that connects art and science to train the medical professionals of the future,” Coe said. Curated by faculty and students, it presents works from the permanent collection that relate to core concepts in medical education and patient care.

“This is more than a museum. It is more than a place that displays art,” said B. Stephen Carpenter II, dean of Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture. “…In my view the Palmer Museum of Art is an interdisciplinary institute for inquiry, knowledge construction and wonder… The visual arts are crucial to what it means to be human, and that means the Palmer Museum of Art is crucial to what it means to be at Penn State, to be within the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, within the country and just as a human being.”

With event and educational spaces and purposefully designed galleries, the new museum will provide expanded learning opportunities to Penn State and K-12 students. Its location also helps to make it more accessible for guests than the previous building in the central campus. Parking for the new museum is in the Lewis Katz Building lot across Bigler Road, and a bus drop-off area is located in front of the museum.

“The new Palmer Museum of Art will showcase Penn State’s commitment to innovative outreach and education by presenting the university’s art collection in spaces intentionally designed to foster robust academic collaborations, strengthen student engagement and interdisciplinary programs while serving as an enriching resource for underserved audiences,” Coe said.

Founded in 1972 and expanded in 1993, the Palmer Museum has been “bringing our local, regional and campus communities together through exceptional arts and educational experiences” for more than 50 years Coe said. With the largest capital investment in the museum’s history, it will offer “new exhibitions and programs to engage our community like never before.”

“I like to think it’s the museum’s track record of building strong and longstanding connections with our local audiences that is truly the hallmark of this vibrant institution,” Coe said. “The Palmer’s new museum will greatly expand on that track record to serve our local and regional communities and student populations, and connect these audiences to and with each other in new ways.”

In addition to a need for more space and accessibility, Penn State officials have said the previous building’s aging systems pose a concern for preserving works of art. The university’s Board of Trustees approved final plans and funding in May 2021 and construction began that summer.

The Palmer Museum’s Brandi Breslin discusses Simon Dinnerstein’s “The Fulbright Triptych.”

About $25 million in philanthropic support has been raised for the new museum, with fundraising ongoing. The remaining funding will come from borrowing, with debt service of up to $4 million annually paid from the portion of the university’s Big Ten media revenue set aside for difficult-to-fund campus projects,

The Palmer began moving out of the Curtin Road building in May 2023. The university is currently in the planning stages for a $40 million project to renovate the Curtin Road building for general purpose classrooms and, potentially, storage for art that hasn’t been moved to the new museum.

Museum staff, meanwhile, are looking toward a bright future in their new home.

“This is a transformative step into vibrant future,” Coe said.

Grand Opening

A grand opening celebration will be held for the new Palmer Museum of Art from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 2.

Both days will include museum tours every 30 minutes, a paper sunflower activity, selfie station, gallery activity sheet and refreshments.

Saturday will also feature Arboretum tours at noon and 2 p.m. and strolling artist impersonators performed by State College Area High School Thespians.

Free parking will be available in the Lewis Katz Building lot across from the museum both days.

The Downtown State College Improvement District also is sponsoring free shuttle buses from the Palmer Museum of Art to downtown State College on Saturday. Buses will run in a continuous loop from noon to 5 p.m. with stops at the museum and 204 W. Beaver Ave.

After the museum closes on Saturday, DSCID will present live music by Biscuit Jam from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the MLK Plaza on South Fraser Street, while The Makery, 123 S. Fraser St., and Tempest Studios, 140 Kelly Alley, host free creative activities.

Starting June 1, museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The opening will also kick off a summer of special activities, including drop-in tours, gallery talks, workshops, camps, classes, yoga sessions and more. Visit palmermuseum.psu.edu/programs for details.