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 — 12:10-12:45 p.m., Sept. 12, Eisenhower Chapel, University Park campus. "Bach's Lunch" is a weekly concert series during the school year. These popular concerts are brief in order to make it possible for the University community to attend during the lunch hour. Free.
“Haunted Objects Live! - Chilling, True Tales from the Newkirk Museum of the Paranormal” – 7:30 p.m., Sept. 12, Pullo Center, York campus. Greg and Dan Newkirk, from Travel Channel’s “Kindred Spirits” and Amazon Prime’s “Hellier,” will be sharing the stories behind some of the cursed objects they’ve encountered through their time as paranormal investigators.
Move Mix Festival featuring BJ The Chicago Kid – 2 to 8 p.m., Sept. 14, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. The Move Mix Festival featuring BJ The Chicago Kid will kick off the Center for the Performing Arts fall season in Eisenhower Auditorium. The takeover event will feature a variety of artist performances and workshops inside and outside the building, an homage to the venue’s 50th anniversary. Free.
Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra: “Dance and Folk Music” – 3 p.m., Sept. 15, School of Music Recital Hall, University Park campus. Join the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and Maestro Gerardo Edelstein for the opening concert of the 2024-25 season.
"Improvising a Life" — 12:15 p.m., Sept. 18, Shenango Auditorium, Shenango campus. 2024-25 Penn State Laureate Michele Dunleavy, professor of dance at the University Park campus, will present and perform.
Events
“‘Cameraless’ Photography and the Natural World” – Sept. 12-Nov. 14, Lehigh Valley campus. As part of the Fall 2024 Arts Project at Penn State Lehigh Valley, Susan Morelock will conduct a course centered on photography and the natural world. The course, which is open to the community, includes a $300 participation fee.
Night at the Museums — 4 to 8 p.m., Sept. 12, Various locations, University Park campus. The Penn State Museum Consortium will hold its fall 2024 event with free admission at participating museums and galleries. Free.
“Inside Out 2” screening — 8 p.m., Sept. 13, outside Pullo Center, York campus. Penn State York will host an outdoor screening of Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” which follows a young girl experiencing teenage emotions for the first time. Free.
Beach Party Film Screening: 'Jaws' — 8 p.m., Sept. 13, Misciagna Family Center parking lot, Altoona campus. Bring your beach chairs and blankets and stake out a prime spot in the sand. Light refreshments will be available, and you can bring your own snacks.
Great Insect Fair – 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sept. 14, Snider Agricultural Arena, University Park campus. Take a deep dive into the wide world of insects — including a special spotlight on the Pennsylvania firefly — at this year’s Great Insect Fair. Free admission.
National Hispanic Heritage Month events – Mid-September through the end of October, Multiple campuses. Penn State units at campuses across the commonwealth will be holding events in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 as a time to honor and celebrate the historic background, culture, heritage and many influences of the Hispanic and Latino communities throughout the years.
Let’s Dance Workshop – 5:30 p.m., Sept. 16, Room 148, Misciagna Family Center for the Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Join members of The Penguin Project from Altoona Community Theatre as they perform excerpts from their favorite musical theater songs. After the performance, Michele Dunleavy, Penn State professor of dance and the 2024 Penn State Laureate, will teach all in attendance some basic choreography. Free.
Let's Dance movement workshop — 6 p.m., Sept. 19, Junker Hall Gym One, Behrend workshop. A movement workshop for all ages and abilities.
Lectures
Stuckeman School lecture: Mindy Cooper — Noon, Sept. 12, Stuckeman Family Building Jury Space, University Park campus. Mindy Cooper, a 2003 Penn State Stuckeman School landscape architecture alumna and principal at the Austin, Texas-based firm dwg., will deliver a lecture about her career and design interests. Free.
Suicide Prevention Speaker PJ Shell — 5 p.m., Sept. 12, Pond View Lounge, Slep Student Center, Altoona campus. Shell will talk about the loss of his son, Maverick, who died by suicide in 2022. He will also explain the suicide prevention and awareness organization Maverick’s Mission, which promotes mental health awareness and offers educational programs for mental health and suicide prevention.
Sustainability Showcase: Tim Palmer — Noon, Sept. 18, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus and via Zoom. Penn State Sustainability will welcome award-winning photographer, author and Penn State alumnus Tim Palmer, who will lead a public talk and signing of his latest book, “Seek Higher Ground: The Natural Solution to Our Flooding Crisis.”
Artist Lecture: Devan Shimoyama — 6 p.m., Sept. 19, Palmer Museum, University Park campus. As part of the Palmer Museum of Art’s programming celebrating the special exhibition MADE IN PA, artist and Penn State alum Devan Shimoyama will talk about his installation The Grove (2021) as well as his broader work in painting and self-portraiture, which investigates the politics of queer culture while navigating his own personal narratives.
In-person exhibits
“Familiar Strands” – Sept. 12-Oct. 24, McLanahan Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Zoraye Cyrus uses vintage photographs as the foundation for drawings that utilize personal experiences, family relationships and her Afro-Caribbean American heritage to delve into the intricate connections between belonging and identity. Free.
“Color Intaglio: Fauna, Flora, Figures” — Sept. 12 through Oct. 25, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A body of work by Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Yuji Hiratsuka reflecting on everyday human conditions such as wryness, satire, whimsy, irony, paradox or mismatch. Free.
“Lost in Paradise” – Through Oct. 19, Friedman Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre campus. A new solo exhibition by artist Seth Ellison will feature various paintings reflecting Ellison's life growing up in the rural South. Ellison is a Philadelphia-based painter and multimedia artist.
“Made in PA” – Through Dec. 1, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. An ambitious show highlights post-1945 paintings, sculpture, mixed-media assemblages and installations by artists who hail from Pennsylvania or who have made their homes and sustained their careers in the Keystone State.
“Re(de)fining Landscape” – Through Dec. 13, Abington Art Gallery, Abington campus. Bonnie Levinthal’s work is rooted in the exploration and re-presentation of landscape, incorporating methods and mediums that connect process with content to create a visual record of her experiences in response to place. This exhibition showcases three bodies of work alongside artist’s journals, reflecting Levinthal’s response to place through a sampling of artworks completed at home and abroad.
"Caretelling: Stories to Sustain Ourselves" — Through December, Woskob Family Gallery, University Park campus. This interdisciplinary group exhibition explores the intersection of storytelling and caregiving through collaborative art-making, video installations and graphic narratives.
"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.
Virtual exhibits
In addition to in-person events, a number of virtual exhibits are available through University departments. The Palmer Museum of Art and University Libraries offer a rotating selection of historical and artistic collections to view online.
Current exhibitions include 20th and 21st century ceramics, the Black Student Alumni Oral History Project, and a history of Penn Staters at the Olympic Games.