Editor's Note: This is the final edition of "Things to Do at Penn State" ahead of spring break. "Things to Do" will resume publication when classes resume after spring break.
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
Small Island Big Song Dance Class — 7:30 p.m., March 1, via livestream. Artists from Small Island Big Song will teach two dance pieces from separate traditions. Free, but registration required.
"Waitress" — 7:30 p.m., March 3, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. The hit Broadway musical about Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker, comes to the University Park campus.
Lectures
Celebrating Women in Energy and Water Research: Laura K. Pyrak-Nolte — Feb. 24, University Park campus and via Zoom. Laura J. Pyrak-Nolte, distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University, will give two talks. Free, but registration required.
Mary E. Rolling Reading Series: Grace Talusan: 7:30 p.m., Feb. 24, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. Memoirist and fiction writer Grace Talusan will be featured. Free.
"Gallery Conversation: Diverse Voices at the Palmer" — 6 p.m., Feb. 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Victoria Kenyon, graduate assistant, will discuss artists in the Palmer's collection who found success while pushing through oppressive cultural structures. Free.
"Art After Hours: Black History at the Museum" — 5-8 p.m., Feb. 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Celebrate Black History Month and learn more about Black artists represented in the museum's permanent collection. Free.
IST Identity Talks: Women in Tech — 6 p.m., Feb. 28, via livestream. Information Sciences and Technology alumni from underrepresented backgrounds share the diverse experiences they've gained, and the challenges and opportunities they've faced, through their educational and professional journeys. Free.
Robert Kagen — 4 p.m., March 1, Katz Building, University Park campus, and via livestream. Robert Kagen, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, will talk about how the United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, as well as what to expect in the 2022 midterm elections. Free.
"Museum Conversation: Winslow Homer and 'An American Place'" — 4 p.m., March 2, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Take a deep dive into the work of Winslow Homer, one of the foremost painters of 19th-century art. Free, but registration required.
Bracken Lecture: Robin Wall Kimmerer — 6 p.m., March 2, via livestream. Robin Wall Kimmerer, scientist and author of The New York Times' best-selling "Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants" will discuss the relationship among three metaphors for types of knowledge in application to the landscape. Free, but registration encouraged.
Events
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: Welcome to the Wizarding World: A Taste of Magic — Feb. 24, Cafe 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 Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Harlem Globetrotters — 7 p.m., March 1, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters return to Penn State with their "Spread Game" tour.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: Element: A Sensory Experience — March 2, Cafe 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 Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Black History Month — Through March 3, various Penn State campuses. Student organizations and units at campuses across the commonwealth are holding events in honor of Black History Month. Free.
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: The Voyage: A Sail Through the Mediterranean — March 3, Cafe 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 Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
William Shatner — 7:30 p.m., March 4, Pullo Center, Penn State York. "Star Trek" actor William Shatner will be live onstage to share stories and answer questions after a screening of the film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."
Virtual exhibits
"The World According to Doyle: Editorial Cartoons from The Jerry Doyle Papers at Penn State" — This Penn State University Libraries digital exhibition examines Jerry Doyle, one of the preeminent editorial cartoonists of the 20th century. Free.
"African Brilliance and the Purpose of Art" — This interactive virtual tour accompanied the Palmer Museum of Art’s spring 2020 special exhibition "African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting" and will remain available throughout the current academic year. Explore the exhibition installation, images of selected works, videos for guided viewing and related art-making activity suggestions. Free.
"Celebrating the ADA: The Legacy and Evolution of Disability Rights and Lived Experiences at Penn State" — The University Libraries virtual exhibit explores the first 100 years of national disability rights legislation and the movement's impact on the Penn State community. Free.
"Global Asias: Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundations" — This web-based, interactive program from the Palmer Museum of Art features guided video tours of selected exhibition artists in addition to an introductory overview by the curator. Learn about the “Global Asias” concept of personal and cultural identity in a contemporary world. Artists featured include: Jacob Hashimoto, Dinh Q. Lê, Hung Liu, Takashi Murakami, Roger Shimomura, Do Ho Suh and Rirkrit Tiranvanija. Free.
"Pandemic Spaces (1918 Edition)" — The University Libraries virtual display explores architecture related to the devastating influenza epidemic of 1918. Free.
"Who Am I? Art and Identity" — This self-directed, interactive, online tour features a selection of objects from diverse areas of the Palmer Museum of Art’s collection, related through a common exploration of personal or cultural identity. Free.
"Women in Art: Activism + Resistance" — This self-directed, interactive, Palmer Museum of Art online tour is intended for college-level courses and features a selection of objects by female artists in the museum’s collection. In celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, this tour highlights artists working in a variety of mediums during the 20th and 21st centuries who have contributed to political, social and cultural change. Free.
In-person exhibits
"America's Social Fibers: Mobility and Migration in the Western Hemisphere Before 1492" — Through Feb. 26, 3 Dots Downtown, 137 E. Beaver Ave., State College. Art history doctoral candidate and artist Kyle Marini's traveling exhibit uses fiber arts to recreate historic textiles that featured prominently in the myth-historic migrations and social cohesion efforts of the Aztec and Inca empires. Free.
"MASKED" — Through March 2, 125 Borland Building, University Park campus. An exhibition exploring the complexities of "masking" hosted by the Penn State Arts and Design Research Incubator. Free.
"Sentinel Lands: The Geospace of Mine Fires" — Through March 4, Rouse Gallery, Stuckeman School, University Park campus. "Sentinel Lands" examines the long-term spacial and ecological consequences of extraction economies and their impact on climate change. Free.
"Americans and the Holocaust" — Through March 10, Pattee Library, University Park campus. The University Libraries is hosting a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum that examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans' responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. Free.
Lehigh Art Alliance 2022 Winter Juried Exhibition — Through March 15, Ronald K. De Long Gallery, Penn State Lehigh Valley. The campus for the first time will host a local exhibition of original works in various media. Free.
"Gross Bremen: Escaping Genocide Through Agricultural Education" — Through March 15, Linda Schwab Reading Room, Madlyn L. Hanes Library, Penn State Harrisburg. The exhibit about Gross Bremen, an agricultural training farm on the border of Germany and Poland from 1936 to 1940, features a narrative, archival photos and a video. Free.
"True Likeness" — Through March 20, HUB-Robeson Gallery and Art Alley, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. "True Likeness" presents an exhibition of contemporary portraits from diverse makers in a variety of media including video, photography, painting, collage, installation, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. Free.
"Golden Legacy: Original Art From 75 Years of Golden Books" — Through March 30, Madigan Library, Pennsylvania College of Technology. An exhibition of America's beloved Little Golden Books. Free.
"The Historic Hayfield House — Creating a Legacy" — Through April 1, Friedman Art Gallery, Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Images of the Hayfield House and the Conynham family, a part of whose estate was donated to establish the Wilkes-Barre campus, are on display. Free.
"An American Place: Selections from the James and Barbara Palmer Collection" — Through April 24, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, the Palmer is exhibiting its signature collection of American art. Free.
"Printmaking in the Age of Dürer" — Through May 8, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Engravings and woodcuts by Albert Dürer, Germany's most important artist of the Renaissance and the first to fully realize the possibilities of printmaking as an expressive vehicle equal to that of painting and sculpture. Free.
"Lunchbox Moments: Seek Understanding. Share Stories. Stop Hate" — Through May 15, exhibition cases, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. A multi-faceted exhibition about "lunchbox moments," formative occurrences in many Asian Americans' lives where a traditional Asian meal is eaten at school or home and the meal elicits some sort of reaction, whether it is positive or negative. Free.
"A Way Through: Abstract Art of the 1940s" — Through May 15, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibit provides the comprehensive look at midcentury abstraction in the Palmer's history. Free.
"FRESH" — Through May 17, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. "FRESH" invites viewers to look for what makes someone unique as an individual and to celebrate each person's journey, and features works by Harrison Boden, Emily Furr and Sydney Lee. Free.
"Inside the Frames" — Through May 17, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. The exhibit tackles the intricacies of body image and disordered eating, and promotes body positivity and acceptance. Free.
Zombie Ant Experience — Through May, School of Science complex, Penn State Behrend. An interactive sculpture melding art and science models the interactions between spores and ants. Free.