'Building on Gold': Palmer Museum hosts 50th Anniversary Benefit Gala

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tickets are on sale for the 2022 Palmer Museum of Art benefit gala and auction on Saturday, May 21, at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. This year’s glittering theme, “Building on Gold,” is inspired by the museum’s year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary and excitement around the new building for the Palmer Museum currently under construction at The Arboretum at Penn State.  

Guests at the 50th anniversary benefit gala will enjoy a lively evening complete with dinner, dancing and silent and live auctions organized by the Friends Leadership Council. Throughout the evening, attendees will be treated to a festive party complete with a red-carpet photo shoot and a nostalgic walk down memory lane while “Dancing to the Decades” with DJ Adam Cruse.

“We couldn’t be more excited to gather together — in person — to mark this milestone occasion and celebrate the museum’s vibrant future,” said Terri Sowerby, chair of the Friends Leadership Council. “We’re ready to have a great time in support of a remarkable community gem.”

The honorary chairs for the 50th anniversary gala are State College residents David and Susan Werner, longtime friends and supporters of the Palmer Museum. Highly regarded for their philanthropy and service to the arts and community, the Werners inspired more than 35 individuals to join the Gala Honorary Committee in recognition of the couple’s role as the honorary chairs of this landmark event. This year’s benefit also includes the presentation of the James and Barbara Palmer Philanthropic Service Award to its second recipient, the late Bill Jaffe. 

“The museum’s 50th anniversary gala will be a fun-filled evening of fellowship and reflection, as we come together to celebrate this milestone,” said Palmer Museum Director Erin M. Coe. “We are looking forward to gathering once again with our friends, new and old, and to honoring a very special patron, Bill Jaffe, whom we recently lost far too early. Although it’s bittersweet, we will present the Palmer Philanthropic Service award to his family in recognition of his extensive philanthropy and personal engagement with the museum over these many, many years,” Coe added. 

Bill Jaffe passed away unexpectedly in Palm Springs, California, on April 4. His decades-long devotion to the arts at Penn State has manifested itself in countless ways. Nearly a quarter of his philanthropic gifts to Penn State have been directed to the Palmer Museum of Art. Gifts in the Jaffe name include an endowment for conservation, a significant commitment to the building campaign of the new Palmer Museum at the Arboretum, support for a fly-through animation of the new museum, monies toward the endowed Museum of Art Enrichment Fund and numerous gifts in kind to the Palmer’s expanding art collection. He was a longstanding member of the Friends of the Palmer Museum and regularly attended or contributed to the museum’s galas starting in 2002. Jaffe also served on the museum’s National Advisory Council starting in 2018. 

Jaffe’s dedication to the museum and service to the gala are reinforced this year by other generous donors. Sponsors for 2022 include Presenting Sponsors David and Susan Werner; Platinum Sponsor Kish Bank; Gold Sponsors Rich and Sally Kalin, Heidi Nicholas and Bruce Fleischer and Bob and Karen Shute; as well as Silver Sponsors Linda and Blake Gall and Beth Richards and the Sandy Stover Group of Kissinger Bigatel & Brower Realtors. 

For the gala’s elaborate menu, the committee has selected a mix of hors d’oeuvres and entrees. As a nod to the anniversary theme, dessert will be a decadent raspberry mousse-filled dome of chocolate accentuated with gold embellishments.

Auction items for 2022 feature original works of art by nationally recognized artists, including photographer Steve McCurry, studio glass artist Nick Mount and contemporary artist Donald Sultan, as well as entertainment and sports packages, art-related experiences, vacation getaways and more. For the first time in the museum’s history, the auction will have an online component, making these treasures available to a global audience of supporters.

Tickets for the event are $225 per person. Event reservation with preregistration and payment is available online at the gala website. All proceeds benefit the museum’s 50-year legacy of providing free access to a world-class collection; sponsoring programs such as lectures, gallery talks, musical performances, poetry readings, workshops, films and tours for school and community groups; and sustaining a vital arts resource for the community and all those who visit it. 

Recommended dress for this year’s sparkling event is formal attire with “a touch of gold.”

For more information about the “Building on Gold” Benefit Gala, contact Robyn Krause-Hale, director of arts advancement, at 814-863-4079 or rmk50@psu.edu.

Becoming a friend, or member, of the Palmer Museum of Art directly supports the organization and contributes to its educational impact. Membership may be purchased for as little as $35 a year and includes the following benefits: access to exclusive newsletters, calendar of events and e-blasts; a 10% discount at the Museum Store; invitations to members-only events, such as opening exhibition preview receptions; and more. 

Support raised through the gala will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu. 

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