Programs | Fall 2024

Palmer Ambassadors are volunteers dedicated to welcoming visitors and supporting the museum’s mission through a variety of programs and projects. After completing onboarding sessions, Ambassadors establish regular shifts to fit their schedule and museum needs. More information available at the application link. 

Two required onboarding sessions: Thursdays, October 17 and 24, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. 

Upcoming tours:

• Sunday, September 15, 2 p.m. | Hispanic Heritage 

• Sunday, September 29, 2 p.m. | Art & Object 

• Saturday, October 12, 2 p.m. | Roots & Renewal 

• Thursday, October 17, 6 p.m. | Art & Community 

• Sunday, October 20, 1 p.m. | WE ARE: Penn State Connections 

• Sunday, October 20, 2 p.m. | WE ARE: Penn State Connections 

• Thursday, October 31, 6 p.m. | Zombie Adventure Tour 

• Thursday, November 7, 6 p.m. | Seeing Ourselves, Seeing Each Other 

• Sunday, November 17, 2 p.m. | Pop & Politics 

• Thursday, December 5, 6 p.m. | Art & Object 

• Sunday, December 8, 2 p.m. | Art & Community 

• Thursday, September 12 | 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. 

• Wednesday, October 2 | 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., and 1:30 p.m. 

• Thursday, October 24 | 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m. 

• Wednesday, November 13 | 12 p.m., 12:30 p.m., and 1 p.m. 

Upcoming gallery talks:

• Thursday, September 26, 6 p.m. | Re/Collecting the Andes with artist Kukuli Velarde and Christopher Heaney, associate professor of history  

• Friday, October 4, 2 p.m. | Politics and Daily Life with The McCourtney Institute for Democracy  

• Friday, October 11, 2 p.m. | MADE IN PA: Bloodline with artist Holly Wilson 

• Wednesday, October 23, 1 p.m. | Politics and Daily Life with Alicia Skeath, graduate assistant and Ph.D. candidate in art history 

As part of the Palmer Museum of Art’s programming celebrating the special exhibition MADE IN PA, artist 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. Shimoyama graduated from Penn State in 2011 with a BFA in Drawing/Painting and received his MFA from Yale University in Painting/Printmaking in 2014. He lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  

This program is co-sponsored by the Penn State School of Visual Arts John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series. 

To request live captioning or sign language interpretation, please contact Brandi Breslin, bgb56@psu.edu. 

Click here to request a remote attendance option.

Artist-activist Diane Burko has traveled the globe in search of evidence of humankind’s impact on the natural world. In her monumental painting currently on view in MADE IN PA, Burko bears witness to the unprecedented convergence of global crises—the COVID pandemic, climate change, and sociopolitical unrest—since 2020. Burko will share “before and after” insights about her career, her ongoing engagement with climate scientists and environmentalists, and the “unprecedented” moment we find ourselves living in. 

This program is sponsored by Penn State Sustainability as part of its Sustainability Showcase Series. Outside of this lecture, Burko will participate in a variety of campus events as a Showcase Speaker for the program. Visit Penn State Sustainability’s calendar of events to learn more: https://sustainability.psu.edu/events/. 

To request live captioning or sign language interpretation, please contact Brandi Breslin, bgb56@psu.edu. 

Click here to request a remote attendance option.

Take advantage of this opportunity to register to vote at the Palmer Museum before it’s too late to participate in this year’s election. While you’re here, reflect on the power of art to communicate, question, and inspire change, and explore connections between art and protest music with a self-guided ARTify tour. Stroll through the galleries for inspiration before making your own collage that combines visual materials with text and calls to action. PSU Votes will be onsite to register students to vote.

Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges and The McCourtney Institute for Democracy. 

Multimedia artist Holly Wilson is an enrolled member of the Delaware Nation, one of the five federally recognized tribes of the Lenape, whose ancestral lands include the area now known as eastern Pennsylvania. Based in Oklahoma, Wilson considers herself a storyteller who weaves together a rich a tapestry of narratives that are sacred and precious, personal and universal, powerful and at times volatile. Her monumental sculpture titled Bloodline (2015), which is currently on view in MADE IN PA, explores both the long trail of Native American displacement and the rich lineage of family, history, and identity. Her work can be found in museum collections across the country, including the James A. Michener Art Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Gorman Museum of Native American Art, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Red Cloud Heritage Center, and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Generous support for this program was provided by Art Bridges with co-sponsorship from the Penn State School of Visual Arts. 

To request live captioning or sign language interpretation, please contact Brandi Breslin, bgb56@psu.edu. 

Click here to request a remote attendance option.

Join artist Holly Wilson and museum educators to explore the special exhibition MADE IN PA. Discover museum resources for K–12 educators, enjoy independent viewing and discussions in the galleries, and practice suggested lessons in the studio classroom.   

Generous support for this program provided by Art Bridges. 

As part of Penn State’s Family Weekend, the Palmer Museum of Art offers a full day of drop-in programs to introduce the museum’s brand new, state-of-the-ART building, world-class collections, special exhibitions, and academic resources. A variety of activities will inspire reflection about how art connects us, including tours, in-gallery experiences, and creative art activities related to MADE IN PA and other special exhibitions on view. Meet museum staff, graduate assistants, interns, and volunteers as we share all there is to love about the Palmer. 

Enjoy this advance screening prior to the televised premiere in November. Set against the rich and dynamic backdrop of Renaissance Italy, at a time of skepticism and freethinking, regional war and religious upheaval, LEONARDO da VINCI brings the artist’s towering achievements to life through his prolific personal notebooks, primary and secondary accounts of his life, and on-camera interviews with modern scholars, artists, engineers, inventors, and admirers. The film weaves together an international group of experts, as well as others influenced by Leonardo who continue to find a connection between his artistic and scientific explorations and life today. As the filmmaker and Leonardo admirer Guillermo del Toro says at the beginning of the film, “the modernity of Leonardo is that he understands that knowledge and imagination are intimately related.” 

Following the program, take part in an interactive gallery experience, viewing work by Lawrence and sharing ideas and personal reflections related to migration stories.

A pre-event reception hosted by the CPA’s Student Advisory Council and the Palmer’s Student Ambassadors will begin at 5:30 p.m.

We’ve got you! Printed, self-guided tours and ARTify (art-music) playlists are available at the Visitor Services desk. Drop in, pick one up, and enjoy a personal art experience.