UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Night at the Museums — a biannual event that offers students, faculty, staff and the local community an opportunity to explore free of charge various campus museums and galleries during extended evening hours — will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on May 1 at the University Park campus.
This event not only promotes cultural engagement but also reflects Penn State's commitment to community involvement and educational outreach, according to Rita Graef, chair of the Penn State Museum Consortium, which organized the occasion.
The following University museums and galleries are participating:
– The Arboretum at Penn State: Where spring has sprung!
– The Armsby Respiration Calorimeter Museum displays a historic calorimeter used in animal metabolism research.
– Center for the Performing Arts offers a 5:30-6:30 p.m. event (advanced registration would be appreciated).
– Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Art Gallery features crystals, fossils and artwork from the Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art.
– Frost Entomological Museum offers exhibits on insect diversity and their ecological significance.
– HUB Robeson Galleries presents various art exhibitions.
– Matson Museum of Anthropology is opening May 1 at its new location in the Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building.
– The Pennsylvania Agricultural College (PAC) Herbarium houses a collection of plant specimens dating back to 1830.
– Palmer Museum of Art will showcase a variety of art collections.
“Night at the Museums accommodates those who may not be able to visit during regular hours,” Graef said. “This is one of the few times a year that the historic Armsby Respiration Calorimeter is open to the public. We encourage people to enjoy an evening exploring sites across University Park Campus. They can navigate a route from collections, to galleries, to museums and the arboretum using Penn State’s map (linked below).”
For more information and updates on "Night at the Museums," visit Penn State Museums and Galleries and link to individual museum and gallery websites.
Need help locating a site? Use Penn State’s campus map to find the location of different museums.
The Penn State University Museum Consortium is a network of museum and archival professionals, and education specialists associated with the unique facilities and irreplaceable institutional collections housed at Penn State’s University Park Campus. These collections and spaces are used by members of the Penn State community for teaching, research, and public service across many academic disciplines.
Collections are integral to the teaching, research, and engagement mission of our institutional land grant mission. Collections are not only the result of research and field work, but they are also opportunities for new findings and discoveries without the cost of going out into the field. These locations are opportunities for student engagement, providing experiences in research, collection care, science communication and outreach.