Palmer Museum of Art

Palmer Museum of Art Free-admission art museum at Penn State, serving the University and Central PA!
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The new building for the Palmer Museum of Art is nearing the end of construction and will open to the public in spring 2024. Located on Bigler Road at the Arboretum at Penn State, the new state-of-the-art facility will replace the 51-year home on Curtin Road. The much larger building will feature first-time education and study spaces, flexible event spaces, and nearly twice as much gallery space,

allowing for expanded student, faculty, and public access to Penn State’s growing collection of 10,500 works of art. With its world-class collection and programs, the free-admission Museum will be a welcoming, inclusive, and vibrant forum for authentic arts experiences, cultivating meaningful dialogue about today’s most potent ideas and pressing concerns.

09/02/2026

Penn State University Libraries in collaboration with Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), temporarily installed a portable MISHA (Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts) system on Penn State campus. Palmer Museum Staff were invited to bring items for scanning and research. MISHA takes photographs of an object in 16 bands of light including wavelengths that are visible and some invisible to the human eye that can help can help to read faded, damaged, or hidden text on historical items. Palmer Museum Preparatory and Registration Team members took several works on paper with faded text and a variety of paintings in the hopes to uncover what lies below the top paint layers.

🖼️Works featured🖼️

Hendrick Goltzius
The Circumcision, 1594
Engraving
Museum Purchase (2026.016.0001)
Elbridge Ayer Burbank

Portrait of Gi-aum-e Hon-o-me-t'ah, 1898
Oil on canvas
Bequest of Alvin L. and Jean Y. Snowiss (2025.79)

🍃 🍂 September is here and we have a plethora of events and programs for you to enjoy! For more information, visit our pr...
09/01/2026

🍃 🍂 September is here and we have a plethora of events and programs for you to enjoy! For more information, visit our programs page at the link in bio or at our website, https://bit.ly/4cgJC9r

🌻 The colors of late summer, drawn from our collection. As August fades into fall, this palette captures that in between...
08/31/2026

🌻 The colors of late summer, drawn from our collection. As August fades into fall, this palette captures that in between light 🍃🍂

Works Featured

🖼️ Violet Oakley (American, 1874–1961), Venus Rising from the Sea, 1940, oil on canvas, 40-1/4 x 30-1/4 inches. Gift of Bette and Arnold Hoffman, 2017.114

🖼️ Manierre Dawson (American, 1887–1969), Minerva, 1912, oil on wood panel, 32-1/4 x 23-3/4 inches. Gift of Obiarts, Inc., in recognition of Dr. Randy Ploog, 2003.33

🖼️ Heidi Theresa Manfred, Secure and Moving Forward, 2024, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches. Collection of the artist, L2026.50

🖼️ Ernest Lawson (American, b. Canada, 1873–1939), Boys and Canal Boat–Spuyten Duyvil, 1911–1914, oil on canvas, 25-1/8 x 30-1/8 inches. Bequest of James R. and Barbara R. Palmer, 2019.78

Join us on a bus trip to Pittsburgh! ✨ On Thursday, September 24, we're heading to the Steel City for a day of art and c...
08/29/2026

Join us on a bus trip to Pittsburgh! ✨ On Thursday, September 24, we're heading to the Steel City for a day of art and connection. Highlights include a guided tour of the 59th Carnegie International, lunch at Café Carnegie, and a guided tour of Sharif Bey's Homecoming exhibition at The Andy Warhol Museum. Spots are limited, see the link in bio for more information and to reserve your seat!

The Palmer Print Club is back. 🖨️Spend select Friday afternoons this academic year up close with woodcuts, etchings, lit...
08/29/2026

The Palmer Print Club is back. 🖨️

Spend select Friday afternoons this academic year up close with woodcuts, etchings, lithographs, and works on paper from the Palmer's collection, led by senior curator Patrick McGrady.

Participants get curator-led tours of special exhibitions and occasional visits with print dealers bringing rare pieces to share.

The Print Club meets 1–2 p.m. on select Fridays, September through April. Space is limited!

The first meeting is September 18 from 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Email Becky Harris at [email protected] to register.
$250 annual fee ($200 for Palmer Museum members).

Payment can be provided either through cheque or the Palmer Museum’s online payment portal; instructions will follow registration.

One week! Come join us while our special exhibition Constellations: Celebrating the Legacies of Betye Saar is explored t...
08/28/2026

One week! Come join us while our special exhibition Constellations: Celebrating the Legacies of Betye Saar is explored through an interdisciplinary gallery conversation with Joyce Robinson, assistant director, and Nashormeh N. R. Lindo, doctoral candidate in art education and African American and diaspora studies.

Friday, September 4

12:30 p.m.

Barbara and Lee Maimon Teaching Gallery | Level 2

Betye Saar turned found objects such as beads, bottles, bones, discarded photographs into powerful vessels of memory, ri...
08/27/2026

Betye Saar turned found objects such as beads, bottles, bones, discarded photographs into powerful vessels of memory, ritual, and resistance.

Join us Thursday, Sept 10 at 5:00 p.m. in the Event Space for "Beyond Boundaries: The Artistic Constellations of Betye Saar," a talk with Jane Carpenter-Rock, acting Margaret and Terry Stent Director at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery.

Carpenter-Rock traces the artistic, cultural, and spiritual threads that shaped Saar's boundary-defying practice, and explores her lasting influence on how artists make meaning today.

Free and open to the public.

————————————————————————

🖼️ Betye Saar (American, 1926–2026), Vision of El Cremo, 1967, assemblage, 20-3/8 x 9-1/8 x 2-3/4 inches. Museum purchase, 96.34

Date night, but make it art. 🎨💛Thursday, Sept 10, 5:30–7 p.m. Start with a tour of "Out of the Shadows: Drawings and Wa...
08/26/2026

Date night, but make it art. 🎨💛
Thursday, Sept 10, 5:30–7 p.m.

Start with a tour of "Out of the Shadows: Drawings and Watercolors by American Women," then head into the studio for a hands-on painting workshop with your person. Mix earth-based pigments, experiment with washes, and make something together (paint splatters included).

You'll leave with a keepsake, a new skill, and maybe a little inspiration for your next date.

Bring a date or a friend! 18+. $45 per couple. Registration required — link below

🏞️ Happy National Park Week!America's national parks have inspired artists for generations and our collection is no exce...
08/26/2026

🏞️ Happy National Park Week!
America's national parks have inspired artists for generations and our collection is no exception. From sweeping vistas to quiet wilderness moments, these works capture the same awe that draws millions to our parks each year.

Swipe through to see how artists in our collection have captured the beauty of these landscapes 🌲 Which park is your favorite to visit?

Works Featured

🖼️ Grafton Tyler Brown (American, 1841–1918), Hot Springs at Yellowstone, 1889, oil on canvas, 16-1/8 x 24-1/8 inches. Purchased with funds from the Terra Art Enrichment Fund, 2020.97

🖼️ Norman A. Forsyth (American, 1869–1949), Giant Cedars in Glacier National Park., 228: Glacier Park, Montana, 20th century, mounted stereograph, 3-1/2 x 7 inches. Gift of Betsy Rodgers Allen, 2014.39.6

🖼️ Gunnar Widforss (Swedish, 1879–1934), Mountain Lake, Yosemite National Park, 1927, watercolor on paper, 6-7/8 x 9-13/16 inches. Gift of David and Susan Werner, 2022.143

🖼️ Eliot Porter (American, 1901–1990), Mountains in Clouds with Mountain Ash, Jump-off Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, October 11, 1967, 1967, dye-transfer print, 8-1/8 x 10-3/8 inches. Gift of Stephen and Martha Porter, 96.25

🖼️ Neal Slavin (American, b. 1941), Grand Canyon National Park, National Park Service, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 1979, chromogenic print, 10-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches, from the portfolio/series Groups in America. Gift of Jonathan Eichner, 86.28.3

🖼️ Marguerite Thompson Zorach (American, 1887–1968), Three Figures, Yosemite, 1919, graphite, 14 x 10-3/4 inches. Museum purchase, 73.6

We're back with another Wednesday Yoga session 🧘 Join Sima Farage tomorrow for yoga, mindful movement, and meditation:12...
08/25/2026

We're back with another Wednesday Yoga session 🧘 Join Sima Farage tomorrow for yoga, mindful movement, and meditation:

12:30pm at the museum. Free, drop-in, all bodies welcome, no experience necessary.

Space is limited to 20 participants, so get there early! Mats are provided (or bring your own). Presented in partnership with Penn State Health Promotion & Wellness.

See you on the mat! 🎨

Address

650 Bigler Road
University Park, PA
16802

Opening Hours

Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 8pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+18148657673

Website

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