UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State celebrates its 50th anniversary, the Palmer looks ahead to a bright future in a new building at the Arboretum. A newly released fly-through animation offers an immersive 3D view of the $85 million facility. The Palmer created the two-and-a-half-minute video in collaboration with Allied Works and the Brooklyn Digital Foundry. The 71,254-square-foot facility will open in spring 2024.
The Palmer’s new building, designed by Allied Works, will double the museum’s exhibition space to 20 galleries; improve accessibility; bring inviting, natural light into the museum; and include the Palmer’s first educational and event spaces, a museum store and café, sculpture path, and outdoor terraces.
As part of its anniversary year, the Palmer Museum of Art will present several exhibitions this fall, including two that reflect on the museum’s past, examine the present and preview the future. "Looking at Who We Are: The Palmer at Fifty," on view Sept. 23 to Dec. 18, draws on Penn State’s iconic “We Are” cheer and signals an introspective reckoning as the museum marks this historic milestone. Featuring a selection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture from the permanent collection, the exhibition explores how history, place and community shape our conception of museums and of ourselves. It invites viewers to take a broader look at personal and cultural identity through the lens of specific works of art and to consider how collections are formed and institutional histories are written.
"Designed for the Future: The New Palmer Museum of Art at the Arboretum," also on view Sept. 23 to Dec. 18, allows visitors to experience the new building’s innovative and versatile design through the architect’s model, drawings, plans, renderings and animation.
For a full schedule of upcoming summer and fall exhibitions, visit palmermuseum.psu.edu.
About the Palmer Museum of Art
The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is the largest art museum collection between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and the most significant academic art museum in the state of Pennsylvania. A key element of Penn State’s land-grant mission of teaching, research and public service, the museum is a vital and accessible cultural resource for Penn State’s students, faculty and scholars, as well as for all visitors to and from the entire central Pennsylvania region. Through its world-class objects, programs and outreach, the museum is a welcoming, inclusive and vibrant forum for authentic arts experiences and cultivates meaningful dialogue about today’s most potent ideas and pressing concerns.
An expansive 21st-century teaching museum, the Palmer Museum of Art is a beacon for advancing the arts and humanities on Penn State’s University Park campus and throughout its diverse communities. The museum is dedicated to catalyzing groundbreaking research, scholarship and publications, as well as providing impactful, object-based learning for Penn State and K-12 students. The museum’s rewarding and thought-provoking exhibitions and programs promote visitor participation, belonging and discovery. The new museum building will allow the Palmer to foster academic collaborations and strengthen student engagement through hands-on learning in a purpose-designed classroom space, and in spaces like the Teaching Gallery, designed for innovative cross-disciplinary programs.