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
“What Does PURPLE Sound Like?” — 2 p.m., Feb. 6, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. “What Does PURPLE Sound Like?” is a visual and performance art installation that celebrates the older adult communities throughout central Pennsylvania. The experience features local community participants in performance alongside SLMDances artists in excerpts from the dance company’s work “PURPLE: A Ritual in Nine Spells.”
The Cyrus Chestnut Jazz Trio and D.K. Harrell Blues Band — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 7, The State Theatre, Downtown State College. Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut and blues guitarist and vocalist D.K. Harrell will headline this performance as part of Penn State’s 2025 African American Music Festival.
Rhapsody Series: "Vistas and Visions" — 4 p.m., Feb. 9, School of Music Recital Hall, University Park campus. Horn Professor Sarah Schouten presents music centered on painting pictures through sound, featuring works by Daniel Baldwin, Justinian Tamusuza, James Naigus and Gina Gillie.
"Les Caractères de la Danse: The Important Role of Baroque Dance in European Society" — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 10, School of Music Recital Hall, University Park campus. This "informance" is designed to introduce the major forms of dance music common during the baroque era and explain its central role in European society at the time. Performances of music by Handel, Marais, Purcell, and Rebel are given context by students, who will explain the history of the various dances and their primary characteristics.
Barron Ryan Trio: "There Arises Light (in the Darkness)” — 7:30 p.m., Feb. 11, Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Harrisburg campus. Pianist and Tulsa native Barron Ryan will take the audience on a journey of struggle, discovery and triumph, featuring pieces from the classical canon as well as Ryan’s original composition “There Arises Light (in the Darkness),” a moving tribute to resilience and hope, commemorating the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Events
Black History Month events — Multiple dates and campus locations. Penn State campuses across the commonwealth will be holding events from the end of January and throughout February in celebration and commemoration of National Black History Month.
African American Music Festival — Through Feb. 8, Various locations on the University Park campus and in downtown State College. The Penn State School of Music will host the 2025 African American Music Festival, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of African American music.
Creative Studio at the Palmer: Watercolor for Relaxation – 5:30-7:30 p.m., Feb. 6, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Hosted by museum educators, interns or guest artists, these sessions will focus on the practice of creativity, exploring artistic mediums, and making personal connections rather than on final products.
Student Farm succulent sale – 3-7 p.m., Feb. 10, HUB Main Lounge, University Park campus. The Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm will offer unique, low-maintenance plants for anyone to purchase and take home. Succulents sold at the event are grown by the Student Farm Club and can help brighten up dorms, apartments, or offices.
Yoga at the Palmer — Noon-1 p.m., Feb. 12, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Join Latisha Franklin for free, drop-in yoga, mindful movement and meditation classes at the museum. All bodies are welcome, and no experience is necessary.
“Fire Through Dry Grass" — 7 p.m., Feb. 12, via Zoom. Penn State Sustainability is hosting an online screening of a documentary profiling the experience of residents in a New York City nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film illustrates the structural inequalities faced by low-income communities, disabled communities, and communities of color that affected differences in health outcomes during the pandemic.
Food Justice Summit at Penn State — 4-7 p.m., Feb. 13, HUB-Heritage Hall, University Park campus. Join the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm for the first Food Justice Summit, a dynamic and engaging event for students and faculty to come together to explore and address food justice at Penn State. Enjoy free food from a local caterer while participating in meaningful discussions and action-oriented workshops.
Lectures
“Changing Atmosphere Cools the Subpolar North Atlantic Throughout the Past Century” — 3:30-4:30 p.m., Feb. 7, 112 Walker Building, University Park campus and via Zoom. The Penn State Department of Geography will host Laifang Li, assistant professor of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State, as part of its spring 2025 Coffee Hour lecture series. Free.
Ashtekar Frontiers of Science Lecture: Xiantao Li — 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Feb. 8, 100 Thomas Building, University Park campus. Xiantao Li, professor of mathematics, will present a talk titled “What can quantum computing do for scientific computing?” as part of the 2025 Eberly College of Science Ashtekar Frontiers of Science Lectures series. Free.
“Run on the Reservoir: Evidence on Administrative Competition for Groundwater in India” – Noon, Feb. 12, 157 Hosler Building, University Park campus. Shweta Bhogale, postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will discuss groundwater access and environmental policy. Bhogale uses a difference-in-differences framework that relies on the overlap of groundwater resources with districts, and the permeability of aquifers, which facilitates spillovers across borders. Free.
Gallery Talk: Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection – 3 p.m., Feb. 12, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Enjoy an in-depth engagement on special exhibition Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection with the theme “Vulnerable Identities and Protection” with Karen Keifer-Boyd, Professor of Art Education and Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and graduate students. Free.
In-person exhibits
"Myth, History, and the Written Word: Manuscript and Print Culture in Latin America" — Through Feb. 7, 2025, Special Collections exhibition space, 104 Paterno Library, University Park campus. The rare and distinctive Latin American collections held by the Eberly Family Special Collections Library are the focus of this exhibition, curated by Manuel Ostos, librarian and curator of Romance Language and Latin American Collections. Free.
Allied Artists of Schuylkill County Member Exhibit — Through Feb. 21, Art Space, Schuylkill campus. This vibrant exhibition will feature works from 28 local artists, showcasing a variety of styles and mediums that reflect the rich artistic talent of the region.
"People, Place, and Things" — Through Feb. 26, Multiple locations at Berks campus. This campus-wide exhibition showcases artists with ties to eastern Pennsylvania whose work engages ideas of place-making and regional identity.
"Reunion" — Through March 4, HUB Gallery and Art Alley, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. The exhibit by New Mexico-based contemporary artist Cannupa Hanska Luger is an immersive, multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring sculpture, regalia and digital media. The selection of works presented in this iteration makes up a spectrum of possibilities and sheds light on historical truths to tell a narrative of complexity in the act of survival.
"Visionary Visuals Re:Vamped” — Through March 6, Rouse Gallery, Stuckeman Family Building, University Park campus. The Stuckeman School will host exhibition looking at the future through the lens of a changing, modern architecture landscape, organized by Orsolya Gáspár, assistant professor of architecture, and Luisa Caldas, professor of architecture and director of the XR Lab at the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design. Free.
"DVAL Presents" — Through March 14, Henry Art Gallery, Great Valley campus. The exhibit showcases the unfiltered imagination of the Delaware Valley Art League, an association of professional artists that promotes interest in the fine arts within the community and advances the skill and creativity of its membership.
"Defining the New Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance a Century Later” — Through April 7, Pattee Library, University Park campus. Drawing upon the distinctive collections of Penn State University Libraries, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the works of featured Black authors and artists and their efforts to redefine Black identity, life and culture.
"The Global Majority" — Through April 13, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibition brings together a selection of photographs and contemporary works on paper to explore representation and the role it plays in fostering a sense of belonging, especially among communities that have been historically disempowered and excluded from museums, asking visitors to think about what it means to feel seen, to be pictured, or to have power over your own image.
"Profiles of Vulnerability and Protection" — Through April 20, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. The exhibition considers how perceived vulnerabilities — shaped by gender, racial, economic, and other inequities — can become strengths that spark action and collective movement to change the course of injustice toward safe, peaceful and joyous living.
“Biomachine” — Through Spring 2025, Hite Lobby, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A collaboration between Daryl Branford and Talley Fisher of Huck SciArts offers a glimpse into the microscopic world of viruses and is a reaction to how humanity must learn to coexist with them.
"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.