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
African American Music Festival — Feb. 8-10, Recital Hall, School of Music, University Park campus. The 2024 African American Music Festival will feature students and faculty of the School of Music across multiple performances at the Recital Hall, along with a guest recital with Gilbert L. Bailey II and Allyson Kaye Daniel.
Bach's Lunch: African American Music Festival — 12:10 p.m., Eisenhower Chapel, Feb. 8, 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.
Rhapsody Series: "Sounds of the Saxophone" — 4 p.m., Feb. 11, School of Music Recital Hall, Music Building, University Park campus. Professor David Stambler presents a recital of classical music for saxophone including works by John Anthony Lennon, David Stambler, Bela Bartok and more. With Kathy Cinatl, piano, and Jonathan Dexter, cello.
Lunar New Year Lion Dance — 2 p.m., Feb. 11, Perkins Student Center Auditorium, Berks campus. Penn State Berks will celebrate the Lunar New Year with a live performance of the traditional Asian art form of the Lion Dance by the Penn Lions dance troupe. Free.
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.
"Drawing with Light: Creating Community with Movement, Light, & Time” — 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Feb. 12, Auditorium, Shenango campus. 2023-24 Penn State Laureate Lori Hepner will lead a participatory artmaking workshop where everyone is invited to “draw with light” using programmable LED light devices, including wearable LEDs and a 6’ tall light stick, to visualize movements in real-time projections.
Storyteller Odd Rod — 7 p.m., Feb. 13, Pond View Lounge, Slep Student Center, Altoona campus. Odd Rod is a perseverance speaker who survived childhood traumas dealing with addiction, death and neglect. He is the five-time voted APCA's Spokenword Artist of the Year, and his use of authenticity in poetry, storytelling and multimedia provides a dynamically engaging performance of inspiration.
Lectures
"A Magic Formula for Social Change? How Humor, Dilemma Actions, and Creative Tactics Can Save Democracy" — 4:30 p.m., Feb. 8, Sutliff Auditorium, Lewis Katz Building, University Park campus. Author and activist Srdja Popovic will present a lecture on social change and democracy. Popovic has been recognized as one of the world's leading voices for the creative use of nonviolent activism for social change.
Showcase Speaker Series: Geoff Dembicki — Feb. 8-10, University Park campus. Reporter and environmental author Geoff Dembicki will visit for climate writing workshops, brainstorming sessions, interviews and class visits centering around publishing opportunities and climate writing.
Gilman Global Food Security Virtual Seminar — 1 p.m., Feb. 9, Zoom. A virtual seminar series from the College of Agricultural Sciences will address the four pillars of food security and examine them from economic, political, social and technological perspectives.
"Musical-Technological Representations of Speaking Voices in Video Games" — 4-5 p.m., Feb. 9, 102 Music Building, University Park campus. Elizabeth Medina Gray, associate professor of music theory at Ithaca College, will present a lecture as a part of the Music Theory and History Colloquium series.
Ashtekar Frontiers of Science Lecture: Nikki Crowley — 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Feb. 10, Berg Auditorium, 100 Huck Life Sciences Building, University Park campus. Nikki Crowley, assistant professor of biology and Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology and Neural Engineering, will present a talk titled “Signaling between cells in the brain: Bridging the past and present of neuroscience at Penn State with new tools and new questions,” with a research update and brief introduction by past speaker Andy Ewing, professor of chemistry and molecular biology at the University of Gothenburg.
"Sexual Selection and the Differences between the Sexes in Mandrills (Mandrillus Sphinx)” — 3 p.m., Feb. 15, Freeman Auditorium, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. Joanna “Jo” Setchell, professor of anthropology at Durham University in England, will deliver a lecture as part of this year’s annual Darwin Day celebration. Setchell is a noted anthropologist and primatologist whose research focuses on primate conservation and sexual selection among mandrills — research that has taken her to Cameroon, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Borneo.
In-person exhibits
"Workout" — Through Feb. 8, McLanahan Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A gallery exhibit featuring student pieces selected by art faculty members. Work from art majors and students taking general education art classes will be on display.
“Invisible Bodies” — Through Feb. 8, Art Alley, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. The HUB-Robeson Galleries present "Invisible Bodies," an exploration of migrant labor through an artistic lens, curated by the Border Gallery and Emireth Herrera Valdés.
“In Vulnerability” — Feb. 9-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. The exhibit will kick off with an opening reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 9 in the gallery.
“Animating Autotheory: Personal Essay Films” — Feb. 15-March 21, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Featuring work by Emerging Artist John Summerson.
"Under Pressure" — Feb. 15 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.
“Magnificare” — Through Feb. 22, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. The HUB-Robeson Galleries present "Magnificare," an exhibition of ceramic sculptures by Marguerita Hagan.
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.
"'Where Beauty’s At': Expressions of Black Visual Culture" — Feb. 1-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.
"Something About the Sky" — Feb. 5-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. Hepner will also be visiting the Lehigh Valley campus for two days in February.
"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.