What's happening at Penn State? Here's a look at some of the cultural events — both in-person and virtual — taking place across the University:
Performances
Bach's Lunch — 12:10 p.m., April 17, Recital Hall, School of Music, University Park campus. Bach's Lunch is a weekly Thursday afternoon concert series during the school year, jointly sponsored by the School of Music and the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Development. Concerts are approximately thirty minutes in length in order to make it possible for the University community to attend during the lunch hour. Free.
“R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” — 7:30 p.m., April 17, Pullo Center, York campus. “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” is an electrifying tribute celebrating the music of the legendary Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. This concert experience takes audiences on a journey of love, tragedy, courage, and triumph. Starring a live band and supreme vocalists, come experience a night of music by one of the greatest artists of all time.
Symphonic Band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble concert — 7:30 p.m., April 17, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. The Penn State School of Music presents a thrilling evening of wind band music as the Symphonic Band, conducted by Robert Hickey, and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, led by Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, present their final concert of the semester
Ivyside Pride presents “All Things Under Heaven” — 7:30 p.m., April 24 and 25, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. The Ivyside Pride choral group has performed both nationally and internationally, including at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Strasbourg Cathedral, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. Performances are free and open to the public thanks to the Kjell Meling Arts for All Initiative.
"Alice in Wonderland" — Through April 26, Playhouse Theatre, University Park campus. A combination of the well-known stories of Lewis Carroll, this PG-13 production looks at the indelible themes of change, growth, desire, status, societal rules, and loss of innocence, as we unravel the mystery of the human psyche through a highly physical and metaphoric trip down the rabbit hole. Adapted and directed by Jenny Lamb.
Events
Café Laura Theme Dinner: Te Fiti’s Table - A Moana Adventure — April 17, Café Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Café Laura Theme Dinner: Emerald Isle - A Toast to Ireland — April 22, Café Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Yoga + Mindfulness at the Palmer — 12-1 p.m., April 23, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Join Latisha Franklin for a free yoga class at the Palmer. All bodies are welcome, no experience is necessary.
Art After Hours: Poetry and Paint – 5-8 p.m., April 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Get creative, connect with others, and learn about self-care art techniques, while taking time to relax and rejuvenate before final exams. Prioritize self-care with therapeutic art practices, build community with other creative people, and get inspired during an ekphrastic poetry tour through the galleries, led by students in the Poetry Club.
Creative Studio at the Palmer: Poetry and Paint – 5:30-7:30 p.m., April 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Hosted by museum educators, interns, or guest artists, these sessions will focus on the practice of creativity, exploring artistic mediums, and making personal connections rather than on final products.
Bike Den Biking Safety 101 Workshop — 6:15-8:15 p.m., March 26, the Bike Den, University Park campus. This workshop will teach participants the rules of the road and bike safety skills before bringing the group outside to a beginner-friendly practice course. A bike and helmet are required to participate.
Café Laura Theme Dinner: An Evening in Oz: A Wicked Meal Awaits — April 24, Café Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Lectures
Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts: "Document, Celebrate, Testify, Resist: Queer History through Book Arts" — 4-5:15 p.m., April 17, via Zoom. Book artists gino romero, Rowan Renee, Sky Syzygy and Emilee Taxman will participate in an artists’ panel discussion exploring the themes and subjects that inspire them. The discussion will explore how book arts practices contribute to the documentation and celebration of queer and trans identities and how the act of creation resists the erasures of queer and trans existence. Free.
“Retractions: On the Rise, But Not Enough” — 3 p.m., April 21, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. The Penn State Open Scholarship Initiative, with support from Penn State University Libraries, will host a talk by Ivan Oransky, co-founder of the Retraction Watch blog.
“How AI is Reshaping Your Paycheck: Personalized Wages in the Inference Economy” — 2:30 p.m., April 23, E202 Westgate Building, University Park campus and via Zoom. The Penn State Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) will host Dana Calacci, assistant professor in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, as part of its AI for Social Impact series.
“Postcards from the Disaster Fields: A Preservation Librarian’s Tale” — 4 p.m., April 24, Paterno Library, University Park campus and via livestream. Penn State University Libraries’ 2025 William D. Minter Lectureship in Conservation on Thursday, April 24, will feature guest lecturer Randy Silverman, an internationally recognized, innovative expert in preservation and disaster recovery and leader in safeguarding global documentary cultural heritage. Registration requested.
In-person exhibits
"This too, shall pass" — Through April 17, The Gallery, Penn College. Large graphite drawings that intertwine the influences of traditional Japanese calligraphy with the techniques and aesthetics of Western drawing are on display in Mayuko Ono Gray’s exhibition. The showing of “This too, shall pass” is its Pennsylvania debut. The exhibition has been displayed in nine other states and Canada.
“Monstrum” — Through April 19, McLanahan Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A body of work by visual art studies student Kai Deline will use acrylic, graphite and digital design to explore the experience of being neurodivergent and queer through unrealistic, alien and inhuman characters.
"Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection" — Through April 20, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibition considers how perceived vulnerabilities — shaped by gender, racial, economic and other inequities — can become strengths that spark action and collective movement to change the course of injustice toward safe, peaceful and joyous living.
"A Fly on the Wall, A Story Untold: Objects Imbued with the Human Soul" — Through April 26, Ronald K. De Long Gallery, Lehigh Valley campus. The soulful, down-home spirit of American folk art will be on display, featuring pieces from the private collection of Vincent DiCicco, a passionate collector of Americana and American Folk Art. The items featured portray the likeness of people in paintings, photographs and objects that were used in human interaction.
"Empty and Full: Series & Introduction to Self-Painted Korean Traditional Art Pieces" — Through April 30, Friedman Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre campus. The artist, Tae Hee Kim ("Ajin") was born in 1978 in Seoul, South Korea and now lives and studies in State College while teaching an art course and pursuing a doctorate in art education at Penn State's University Park campus. Ajin’s artistic practice focuses on creating photographs, paintings and installations that explore the philosophical theme of “Empty is Full; Full is Empty.”
"Apprentice" — Through May 9, Freyberger Gallery, Berks campus. Visiting artist Abbey Muza uses artwork to share her archival research on the history of the textile industry in northeastern Pennsylvania and the history of Penn State Berks, whose forerunner was Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute, a training school established by the owners of Textile Machine Works to provide training its workers.
"The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art" — Through May 11, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Drawn from the rich holdings of the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Walter P. and Jean Chrysler collection, this exhibit showcases more than 120 glittering Art Nouveau objects — including furniture, paintings, sculpture, mosaics, posters, Japanese prints, lamps, jewelry and glass — that introduce the exuberant, radical, international Art Nouveau style and its celebration of beauty, nature and innovation.
"Capacities of Care" — Through June 1, HUB Gallery and Art Alley, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. “Capacities of Care,” a group exhibition curated by Aaron Knochel, associate professor of art education in Penn State’s School of Visual Arts, is a concept framework to understand and explore how care relationships manifest in our lives in distinct and interconnected ways.
"nosegay" — Through June 1, Exhibition cases, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. “nosegay,” curated by Philadelphia-based artist Caitlin McCormack, features sculpture work that explores the complexities of crochet to straddle the line between fine art and craft, and its cultural ubiquity. The heavily embellished sculptures assume the form of domestic and sartorial objects laden with text, as well as silent, observational beings.
“Biomachine” — Through Spring 2025, Hite Lobby, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A collaboration between Daryl Branford and Talley Fisher of Huck SciArts offers a glimpse into the microscopic world of viruses and is a reaction to how humanity must learn to coexist with them.
"I Am a Penn Stater: Nittany Lions in World War II" — Through June 2025, Penn State All-Sports Museum, Beaver Stadium, University Park campus. Timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the conflict, "I Am a Penn Stater" chronicles the contributions of Nittany Lion varsity lettermen and Women’s Recreation Association athletes during the conflict and follows their service from training in the United States, to fighting on battlefields around the globe, to their postwar occupations. Free.
"Sustainable Narratives: Visualizing Data, Design and Community" — Through July 25, Henry Art Gallery, Great Valley campus. The exhibition, led by Huiwon Lim, assistant professor of graphic design at Penn State, showcases his solo works as a graphic designer and design educator, as well as collaborative projects with students, offering diverse perspectives on how data can be transformed into powerful narratives. The projects reflect on pressing global issues — climate change, social equity and community resilience — while exploring creative solutions through design.
“Give us also the right to our existence: Collecting and Surfacing Queer Narratives” — Through Sept. 12, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, University Park campus. Gathering together a selection of materials that illustrate the varied formats and expansive time periods of queer history, “Give us also the right to our existence: Collecting and Surfacing Queer Narratives” explores the many facets of gender and sexuality. The exhibition — inspired by the Penn State motto “We Are” — provides context for how we collect, describe and represent our shared humanity in the library. Free.
Virtual exhibits and online resources
In addition to in-person events, a number of virtual exhibits and online resources are available through University departments. The Palmer Museum of Art and Penn State University Libraries offer a rotating selection of historical and artistic collections to view via their websites, as well as other online resources.