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
"Urinetown" — Feb. 20-March 1, Playhouse Theatre, Theatre Building, University Park campus. Penn State Centre Stage presents "Urinetown," a musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, municipal politics and musical theater itself. "Urinetown" imagines a world where a terrible water shortage gives rise to a draconian system that outlaws private toilets and forces citizens to urinate only in paid-use public amenities.
Bach's Lunch — 12:10 p.m., Eisenhower Chapel, Feb. 22, University Park campus. "Bach's Lunch" is a weekly Thursday afternoon concert series during the school year, jointly sponsored by the School of Music and the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Development. Concerts are brief in order to make it possible for the University community to attend during the lunch hour.
Step Afrika! — 6:30 p.m., Feb. 23, Wolf Kuhn Theatre, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Step Afrika! blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities, traditional African dances, and an array of contemporary dance and art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience.
Jim Brickman: "HITS LIVE! In Concert" — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 24, Pullo Center, York campus. Grammy-nominated songwriter Jim Brickman will bring his most popular songs, “Love of My Life,” “Angel Eyes,” and of course, “Valentine,” to the Pullo Center stage.
Harlem Globetrotters 2024 World Tour — 7 p.m., Feb. 27, Bryce Jordan Center, University Park campus. World-famous Harlem Globetrotters will make their triumphant return to the Bryce Jordan Center. The record-breaking stars of basketball will bring an unforgettable performance to the court, taking on their fierce rivals, the Washington Generals.
Time for Three — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 28, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. Beyond-classical-rock string trio Time for Three will return to the Center for the Performing Arts for the first time since 2015.
Events
Black History Month — Various locations, through February. Penn State campuses across the commonwealth will be holding events in honor of Black History Month. Here’s a look at some of the events and opportunities taking place at the University’s campuses during the month of February.
Café Laura Theme Dinner - Country Roads, Take Me Home: A Taste of the Music City — Feb. 22, Café 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 Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Matthew Salesses reading — 6 p.m., Feb. 22, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. Award-winning author Matthew Salesses will offer a reading as part of this year’s Mary E. Rolling Reading Series. Free.
ENVISION: STEM Career Day Supporting Young Women — Feb. 24, University Park campus. Students in grades 6 through 12 will hear from inspiring speakers, learn from Penn State scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technology experts, and participate in informal conversations with students and professional scientists. Attendees will also participate in various STEM activities. Two Penn State graduate students will give keynote presentations.
Penn State Powwow — Feb. 24-25, C3 Sports Complex, 200 Ellis Place, State College. The 18th annual Penn State Traditional American Indian Powwow, a family friendly event featuring drum music and songs, dance and foods. It also features vendors from all over Indian Country who sell Native-made arts and goods, such as beadwork, quillwork, turquoise, wampum and silver. Free.
Quartez Harris — 12:15 p.m., Feb. 26, Lecture Hall room 223, Shenango campus. As part of its ongoing celebration of Black History Month, Penn State Shenango will host renowned author and poet Quartez Harris. Harris was named the Ohio Poetry Association's Poet of the Year for 2021 and was the first Barbara Smith Writer-in-Resident and Baldwin House Fellowship recipient.
IDREAM Team Art Show — 4 p.m.-7 p.m., Feb. 28, PAW Center, DuBois campus. Penn State DuBois is inviting students, faculty, staff and members of the community to its second annual campus and community art show. This event will celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging through artwork.
Café Laura Theme Dinner - A Night at the Met Gala: Dine in Elegance — Feb. 28, Café 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 Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Café Laura Theme Dinner - Wonderland: Fall Down the Rabbit Hole — Feb. 29, Café 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 Café Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Lectures
“Estimating Bandgap Energy of Nanoarchitectured Nonconforming Heterostructures for Solar Cell Application” — 12:05 p.m., Feb. 22, Fireside Lounge, Slep Student Center, Altoona campus. The Spotlight on Teaching and Research (STAR) lecture series continues with a presentation by Professor of Physics Kofi Adu and mathematics student Philip Chamberlin.
Breakfast and Learn Series: Organizational Change — 8-9 a.m., Feb. 28, 201 Sheetz Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Altoona campus. A presentation by Shawn Bernecky, assistant teaching professor of business administration at Penn State Altoona.
“Beekeeping Around the World” — Feb. 22, 12-1 p.m., Zoom. A webinar series designed for beekeepers, farmers and social insect enthusiasts. Webinars will take place from Thursdays from Feb. 15 to March 28.
Rachel Einwohner — 12 p.m., Feb. 22, Zoom. Penn State Harrisburg’s Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies will welcome historian Rachel Einwohner. She will present “Hope and Honor: Jewish Resistance in the Ghettos of Warsaw, Vilna, and Łódź.”
Ashtekar Frontiers of Science Lecture: Morteza Kayyalha — 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Feb. 24, Berg Auditorium, 100 Huck Life Sciences Building, University Park campus. Morteza Kayyalha, assistant professor of electrical engineering, will present a talk titled “Going beyond classical computers,” with a research update and topic introduction by past speaker Nitin Samarth, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Physics and professor of materials science and engineering.
Harold Kohn Endowed Distinguished Chemistry Alumni Lecture: Richard Silverman — 2:30 p.m., Feb. 27, Verne M. Willaman Gateway to the Sciences, University Park campus. Richard Silverman, the Patrick G. Ryan/Aon Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University and Penn State alumnus, will present a lecture, titled “Inhibition of Protein Aggregation and the Development of NU-9 for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases." Free.
“The Art of Poetic Environmental Architecture and Design” — 4:30-5:30 p.m., Feb. 27, Stuckeman Family Building Jury Space, University Park campus and Zoom. Artist and architect Yussef Agbo-Ola, founder of Olaniyi Studio, will highlight the importance of the ephemeral, entropy in design and poetic environmental architecture relating to his work over the last decade.
"Container Gardening: Add a Little Spring to Your (Door)step" — 7-8 p.m., Feb. 27, Zoom. Join the Penn State Alumni Association to learn the ins and outs of container gardening with the help of master gardeners Andy Faust and Molly Sturniolo.
“Grounded Landscapes – Exploring the Land, Sea and Culture” — 4:30-5:30 p.m., Feb. 28, Stuckeman Family Building Jury Space, University Park campus and Zoom. Landscape architect Kona Gray, principal of the planning, landscape architecture, and urban design firm EDSA, Inc., will explore a new understanding and appreciation for the land and sea, discover the possibilities of connecting cultures with the environment, and celebrate diversity highlighting a common human future.
In-person exhibits
“In Vulnerability” — Through March 3, Woskob Family Gallery, University Park campus. Curated by project ieerie, “In Vulnerability” invites audiences to engage with the intricacies of creative expressions within the realm of mental health through works by Peri Law, Kate McCammon and Meg Wolensky.
“Animating Autotheory: Personal Essay Films” — Through March 21, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Featuring work by Emerging Artist John Summerson.
Student art exhibit — Through March 29, Friedman Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre campus. The exhibit features artwork by independent students and students who were enrolled in diverse Penn State Wilkes-Barre courses.
"Something About the Sky" — Through April 27, Ronald K. DeLong gallery, Lehigh Valley campus. A series of cloud drawing and skyscape light paintings featuring movement drawings created by Lori Hepner, 2023-24 Penn State Laureate.
"Under Pressure" — Through August, Woskob Family Gallery, Downtown State College. A participatory experimental art installation featuring the work of Ryan Kough, a neurodivergent artist, experimental letterpress printmaker and design educator who focuses on participatory community-driven social design initiatives.
"'Where Beauty’s At': Expressions of Black Visual Culture" — Through Sept. 9, Special Collections exhibit space, 104 Paterno Library, University Park campus. Brittany Frederick, a postdoctoral scholar with the Africana Research Center, and Adisa Vera Beatty, a Just Transformations Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Black Digital Research, have curated an exhibit highlighting the diversity of Black artistic and literary expression in partnership with Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library.
"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 virtual exhibitions include an exploration of the first 100 years of national disability rights legislation and the movement's impact on the Penn State community; a virtual exhibition of design, craft and makery; and a variety of abstract images that push the boundaries of photography as a medium.