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
Bach's Lunch — 12:10-12:45 p.m., Sept. 19, Eisenhower Chapel, University Park campus. "Bach's Lunch" is a weekly concert series during the school year. These popular concerts are brief in order to make it possible for the University community to attend during the lunch hour. Free.
Dionne Warwick — 7:30 p.m., Sept. 21, Pullo Center, York campus. Six-time Grammy Award-winning musician Dionne Warwick will be performing some of her hit singles, including, “Don’t Make Me Over,” “Walk on By,” “Say a Little Prayer,” “A House is Not a Home,” and more.
Kids’ Music with Sonia De Los Santos – 1:30-3:30 p.m., Sept. 22, Schlow Center Region Library, State College. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with traditional snacks, games, arts and crafts, and fun facts about Hispanic/Latin culture. Sonia De Los Santos will perform songs traditional to her hometown in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Registration recommended. Free.
Rhapsody Series: "The Odyssey of Acceptance" — 4 p.m., Sept. 22, School of Music Recital Hall, University Park campus. Renowned saxophone chamber ensemble the Capitol Quartet presents a broad historical program exploring the saxophone's journey from contraption to artistry. The performance will include the first-ever composition for saxophone quartet, transcriptions from traditional chamber repertoire, recent commissions and premieres, and jazz.
Sonia De Los Santos — 10 a.m., Sept. 23, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Sonia De Los Santos and her band will play their jarana, leona, accordion, drums, trumpet and other traditional Mexican instruments in a joyous bilingual concert for all ages that shares the artists’ love for music with a younger generation.
Dendê Macedo — 7 p.m., Sept. 25, Sutherland Auditorium, Abington campus. The pulsing sounds of Afro-Brazilian culture come alive through the powerful rhythms of Brazilian vocalist-musical director-percussionist Dendê Macedo. The band will take listeners on a musical journey deep into the tropics with the rhythms of samba, candomblé, merengue, Afrobeat and more.
Chanticleer: "Sing Joyfully" — 7:30 p.m., Sept. 26, Eisenhower Auditorium, University Park campus. The 12-man-strong Chanticleer choral ensemble will perform “Sing Joyfully,” exploring performances of Renaissance motets, jazz standards and contemporary arrangements of modern songs. A Classical Coffeehouse is also planned for 8 p.m. Sept. 25, in Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.
Events
National Hispanic Heritage Month events — Mid-September through the end of October, Multiple campuses. Penn State units at campuses across the commonwealth will be holding events in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 as a time to honor and celebrate the historic background, culture, heritage and many influences of the Hispanic and Latino communities throughout the years.
Harvest Fest — 4-7 p.m., Sept. 19, Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm, University Park campus. The 9th annual Harvest Fest event brings the community together with free sampling of farm-fresh food, crafts, and opportunities to connect with the student farmers.
Let's Dance movement workshop — 6 p.m., Sept. 19, Junker Hall Gym One, Behrend campus. A movement workshop for all ages and abilities, featuring 2024-25 Penn State Laureate Michele Dunleavy, professor of dance at the University Park campus.
“Day of Dance” — 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Sept. 22, Misciagna Family Center for the Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Dancers ages 10 to 18 can learn about and explore various dance styles including Scottish Highland, body alignment, floor barre, capoeira, somatics, and tap. Some class work will be presented at 6 p.m.
The Global Impact Forum: Accelerating AI for Good — Sept. 22-25, Philadelphia. The Global Impact Forum 2024 is the inaugural event in a collaborative effort between Global Silicon Valley and Penn State, aimed at fostering economic development, social mobility, and positive impact through education and innovation.
Yoga at the Palmer — Noon-1 p.m., Sept. 25, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Join Latisha Franklin for free, drop-in yoga, mindful movement, and meditation at the museum. Space is limited to the first 20 participants per class.
Film screening: "My Ascension" — 6 p.m., Sept. 25, Fireside Lounge, Slep Student Center, Altoona campus. For years, Emma Beniot quietly struggled with anxiety and depression. At 16, she attempted to end her life; the self-inflicted gunshot left her paralyzed. “My Ascension” chronicles Beniot’s recovery journey and advocacy work while addressing the youth suicide epidemic.
Marathon Read: "Youth on Fire: Stories of Growing Up" — 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sept. 26, Dewey Room of the Collaboration Commons, Pattee Library, University Park campus. Marathon Read is an annual event featuring students and members of the Penn State community coming together to read in five-minute increments for 12 hours straight. This year’s new location will allow participants to view graphic novels while they are being read. Food will be provided throughout the day. Free.
Lectures
Artist Lecture: Devan Shimoyama — 6 p.m., Sept. 19, Palmer Museum, University Park campus. As part of the Palmer Museum of Art’s programming celebrating the special exhibition MADE IN PA, artist and Penn State alum Devan Shimoyama will talk about his installation The Grove (2021) as well as his broader work in painting and self-portraiture, which investigates the politics of queer culture while navigating his own personal narratives.
Jai Chakrabarti reading — 6 p.m., Sept. 19, Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, University Park campus. Critically acclaimed writer Jai Chakrabarti will read from his works to kick off the 2024-25 Mary E. Rolling Reading Series. Free.
“Human-Machine Collaboration in Semiconductor Process Development” — 5 p.m., Sept. 19, Robb Hall, Hintz Family Alumni Center, University Park campus. Penn State alumnus Richard A. Gottscho, executive vice president at Lam Research, will present the Müller Lecture on semiconductors. The talk is free and open to the public, with appetizers and conversation to follow.
"Living Sounds: Spatial Audio and Music Composition" — 7:30 p.m., Sept. 20, Studio A, Music Building II, University Park campus. Guest artist David Schnug will discuss spatial audio, offering definitions of several core concepts of psychoacoustics and describing key technologies for spatial audio reproduction.
Chang Tan — 4 p.m., Sept. 23, Woksob Family Gallery, State College. Chang Tan, associate professor of art history and Asian studies at Penn State, will discuss her book, "The Minjian Avant-Garde: Art of the Crowd in Contemporary China." The book explores how experimental artists in China interacted with Minjian, the rapidly transforming and diverse public of the post-Mao era.
"The Invasive New Zealand mud snail in the eastern U.S." — 12:05 p.m., Sept. 24, Fireside Lounge, Slep Student Center, Altoona campus. Penn State Altoona’s Spotlight on Teaching and Research lecture series continues with a presentation by Professor of Biology Ed Levri and students Nicole Flanders and Gavin Suter.
“Race and Democracy: America is Always Changing, but America Never Changes” — 7 p.m., Sept. 26, The State Theatre, Downtown State College. Schreyer Honors College will host Eddie Glaude Jr. for this lecture as part of the college’s Schreyer’s Dilemmas of Democracy series.
Gallery Talks: “Re/Collecting the Andes” with artist Kukuli Velarde and Associate Professor of History Christopher Heaney — 6 p.m., Sept. 26, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. Enjoy in-depth engagement with selected exhibitions or specific areas of the permanent collection. Talks are led by museum curators, educators, or invited specialists.
In-person exhibits
“Lost in Paradise” — Through Oct. 19, Friedman Art Gallery, Wilkes-Barre campus. A new solo exhibition by artist Seth Ellison will feature various paintings reflecting Ellison's life growing up in the rural South. Ellison is a Philadelphia-based painter and multimedia artist.
“Familiar Strands” — Through Oct. 24, McLanahan Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Zoraye Cyrus uses vintage photographs as the foundation for drawings that utilize personal experiences, family relationships and her Afro-Caribbean American heritage to delve into the intricate connections between belonging and identity. Free.
“Color Intaglio: Fauna, Flora, Figures” — Through Oct. 25, Sheetz Gallery, Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts, Altoona campus. A body of work by Ivyside Juried Art Exhibition winner Yuji Hiratsuka reflecting on everyday human conditions such as wryness, satire, whimsy, irony, paradox or mismatch. Free.
Philadelphia Watercolor Society’s 124th International Exhibition of Works on Paper — Through Oct. 29, The Henry Gallery, Great Valley campus. This exhibition will feature a diverse range of styles and techniques, from delicate landscapes to bold abstracts, to evoke emotion, challenge perception, and celebrate the beauty of the medium of paper.
“Made in PA” – Through Dec. 1, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. An ambitious show highlights post-1945 paintings, sculpture, mixed-media assemblages and installations by artists who hail from Pennsylvania or who have made their homes and sustained their careers in the Keystone State.
“Re/Collecting the Andes: Andean Art, Science, and the Sacred at Penn State” — Through Dec. 8, 2024, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. “Re/Collecting the Andes” tells the story of more than 10,000 years of agricultural, cultural, intellectual, and religious innovation in the Andes region of South America. It also narrates how the Incas and their surviving Andean subjects reclaimed that legacy after Spain's invasion, through museums, science, and art.
“Re(de)fining Landscape” — Through Dec. 13, Abington Art Gallery, Abington campus. Bonnie Levinthal’s work is rooted in the exploration and re-presentation of landscape, incorporating methods and mediums that connect process with content to create a visual record of her experiences in response to place. This exhibition showcases three bodies of work alongside artist’s journals, reflecting Levinthal’s response to place through a sampling of artworks completed at home and abroad.
"Caretelling: Stories to Sustain Ourselves" — Through December, Woskob Family Gallery, University Park campus. This interdisciplinary group exhibition explores the intersection of storytelling and caregiving through collaborative art-making, video installations and graphic narratives.
“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.
Current exhibitions include 20th and 21st century ceramics, the Black Student Alumni Oral History Project, and a history of Penn Staters at the Olympic Games.