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
GloRilla – 8 p.m., April 3, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. GloRilla, born Gloria Hallelujah Woods, is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. Recently referred to as “Memphis’ Reigning Hip-Hop Queen,” she’ll bring award-winning hip hop to her performance to Penn State.
President’s Concert in Philadelphia – 7:30 p.m., April 3, Stotesbury Mansion, Philadelphia. Join the Penn State School of Music, the Penn State Alumni Association and President Neeli Bendapudi on for “Baroque, Brass, and Song,” an unforgettable evening of music that spans centuries and styles.
Penn State School of Music choir concerts — 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., April 6, Recital Hall, University Park campus and via livestream. The Penn State School of Music will present two concerts. The first concert, beginning at 1:30 p.m., will feature the University Choir, which showcases a wide-ranging choral repertoire, and Essence of Joy, which focuses on sacred and secular works rooted in African and African American musical traditions. At 4:30 p.m., the Oriana Singers, an ensemble dedicated to treble choral literature, and the historic Penn State Glee Club, one of the oldest collegiate choral ensembles in the country, will present a dynamic program celebrating a wide range of musical styles.
Massimo Delle Cese performance — 7:30 p.m., April 9, School of Music Recital Hall, University Park campus. The Penn State School of Music will present internationally acclaimed classical guitarist Massimo Delle Cese in concert. Recognized as “an admirable artist” with “an exceptionally distinguished tone,” Delle Cese is regarded among the finest classical guitarists in the world. His compelling performances and superb programming have earned him international acclaim.
Events
Café Laura Theme Dinner: Le Petit Bistro: Served with French Charm — April 3, 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.
Bike Den Women and Queer Night — 6:15-8:15 p.m., April 3, the Bike Den, University Park campus. Open to Penn State students, faculty and staff as well as local community members, attendees can work on their bikes, enjoy free pizza, talk to Bike Den staff and volunteers and learn more about biking at Penn State and the surrounding area.
"Backyard Wilderness" screening and discussion — 7 p.m., April 3, Musser Auditorium, Great Valley campus. Penn State Great Valley will host a community screening of "Backyard Wilderness," a film about the unexpected wonders of nature and wildlife in suburban backyards. A panel discussion on the importance of native plants in maintaining watershed health, building climate resilience, and creating habitat for birds and other wildlife will follow the film.
2025 Penn State Jazz Festival — Multiple events and locations, April 4-5, University Park campus. The Penn State School of Music will present a two-day celebration of jazz featuring workshops, performances and adjudications by esteemed faculty members and world-class guest artist Matthew Garrison.
BioArtist Mellissa Monsoon — April 4-5, Multiple locations, University Park campus. The Penn State One Health Microbiome Center, a part of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, and Cynthia White, adjunct research associate in the Arts and Design Research Incubator, College of Arts and Architecture, invite all campus and community members to participate in three events featuring internationally recognized BioArtist Mellissa Monsoon. These events include two unique workshops and a seminar that will explore the intersections of art, science and the human body.
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live – Multiple performances, April 5-6, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live will bring its 2025 show, Glow-N-Fire, to Penn State for a show full of fun and excitement, with an added fiery twist.
Drop-in Tour: Roots & Renewal – 2 p.m., April 6, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Drop in and discover the Palmer’s world-class collections and exhibitions with a friendly and knowledgeable museum guide.
The Joyfull: Bang on a Can Edition – 6 p.m., April 6, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. Join the Center for Performing Arts and Student Affairs for an evening of food and entertainment, designed to show the importance of food in our lives.
Café Laura Theme Dinner: Golf & Gourmet - Southern Elegance on the Fairway — April 8, 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 — Noon-1 p.m., April 9, 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.
"Autism Goes to College" screening — Noon-1:15 p.m., April 9, Fireside Lounge, Slep Student Center, Altoona campus. The film offers an eye-opening look at the unique challenges a growing number of neurodivergent students are experiencing in college and what they bring to their campuses. Free.
“Before and After Nature” with Bang on a Can All-Stars – 7:30 p.m., April 9, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. David Lang’s “Before and After Nature” is a meditation on the natural world, both before human existence and after humans are gone. The performance features Lang’s music and text; video design by Tal Rosner; and is performed by Bang on a Can All-Stars, with the Penn State Concert Choir under the direction of Christopher Kiver.
WPSU Film Screening: Art Happens Here – 5:30-7 p.m., April 10, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Join actor John Lithgow as he goes back to school to demonstrate the transformative power of arts education. Immersing himself with teachers and students, he explores four arts disciplines: dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing, and vocal jazz ensemble. Free. Registration required.
Café Laura Theme Dinner: Hell’s Kitchen: Bringing the Heat to Happy Valley — April 10, 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.
Ivyside Dance Ensemble spring performance — 7:30 p.m., April 10 and 11, Wolf Kuhn Theatre, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Penn State Altoona’s Ivyside Dance Ensemble will hold its spring performance with Allied Motion Dance Company. Free.
Lectures
"Writing in Displacement: A Day of Readings and Conversation with Sri Lankan Writers" — 11 a.m.-5 p.m., April 4, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. V.V. Ganeshananthan, who recently won the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction and the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for her novel “Brotherless Nights,” will be one of the four Sri Lankan writers visiting Penn State to read from their works and discuss the challenges of writing in areas of displacement and conflict. Free.
"Brain and Environment in Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Complex Connection" — 6 p.m., April 4, Hiller Auditorium, DuBois campus. Inga Kadisha, associate professor in cell, developmental and integrative biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will explore the intricate connections between environmental factors and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. She will discuss how toxins, lifestyle choices, and social and physical surroundings impact brain health and contribute to these conditions.
Eric Klinenberg, keynote speaker at Colloquium on the Environment — 4 p.m., April 9, 118 Katz Building, University Park campus and via livestream. Eric Klinenberg, author and Helen Gould Shepard Professor of Social Science and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University, will be Penn State’s 2024-25 Colloquium on the Environment keynote speaker. Klinenberg’s talk will expand on his bestselling book, “2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year that Changed Everything,” which explores lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about how sociological factors intersect with health outcomes.
"From Earth to Space: Advancing Materials Technologies and Embracing Life's Mission" — 3:05 p.m., April 10, 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, University Park campus. Rose Hernandez, science program director at the International Space Station National Laboratory, will deliver the 2025 David Ford McFarland Award Lecture for Achievement in Metallurgy. Hernandez’s lecture will delve into examples from her career on the commercialization of new material technologies and their profound economic impact across various industries.
Gallery Talk: Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection – 4 p.m., April 10, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Enjoy an in-depth engagement on special exhibition Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection with the theme “Vulnerable Environments and Protection” with Professor Karen Keifer-Boyd.
In-person exhibits
"How Else Can I Tell You" — Through April 3, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for the Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Through layers of uncanny visual metaphors, sensory symbols and fragments of known things, Sophie Brenneman, assistant teaching professor of visual art studies at Penn State Altoona, creates a body of work that stems from the ache associated with the inability to articulate an idea beyond language; an attempt to try and show the feeling of time, trauma, nostalgia and other abstract ideas.
"Every Day Prey" — Through April 3, McLanahan Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for the Performing Arts, Altoona campus. As an Appalachian artist, Taylor Pate draws inspiration from the landscapes and cultural traditions of her homeland, weaving together the natural world and the narratives of human experience. Viewing nature as both subject and collaborator, she explores cycles of transformation — shedding, renewal and growth — mirroring the painful yet wondrous evolution of womanhood and girlhood.
"Defining the New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance a Century Later” — Through April 7, Pattee Library, University Park campus. Drawing upon the distinctive collections of Penn State University Libraries, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the works of featured Black authors and artists and their efforts to redefine Black identity, life and culture.
"The Global Majority" — Through April 13, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibition brings together a selection of photographs and contemporary works on paper to explore representation and the role it plays in fostering a sense of belonging, especially among communities that have been historically disempowered and excluded from museums, asking visitors to think about what it means to feel seen, to be pictured, or to have power over your own image.
"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.
"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.”
"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.