A companion exhibition, “MADE in PA on Paper,” will be on view in the second-level Greider Family Gallery through Sept. 8. It includes prints, drawings and watercolors that explore Penn State’s legacy as a land-grant institution and features works that celebrate the commonwealth’s beauty, natural resources and urban centers from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Works by Mary Cassatt, Charles Demuth, Allan Freelon, Riva Helfond, William Trost Richards, Dox Thrash and Benjamin West will be on view.
The new building allows Penn State to cross-departmentally foster academic collaborations and provides a valuable resource to students studying numerous fields such as art, architecture and Penn State’s top 10-rated biological and agricultural studies programs, as exemplified by the Palmer’s first-ever gallery and classroom hybrid space dedicated to allowing Penn State faculty to incorporate art into their curriculums. The Lee and Barbara Maimon Teaching Gallery opens with “The Art of Teaching: Medical Education and the Integrated Curriculum.” The exhibition extends a partnership between the Palmer Museum and Penn State’s College of Medicine that features an integrated arts and science curriculum for medical students. The collaborative exhibition curated with faculty and students will present works from the museum’s permanent collection that relate to core concepts in medical education and patient care, including communication, teamwork, professional identity, navigating ambiguity, and death and dying.
Visits to the Palmer’s 15 permanent galleries offer encounters with selections from the Palmer’s growing collection of approximately 11,000 works of art. Inspired by the museum’s new location at the Arboretum, the inaugural installation explores the “Roots and Renewal” of artistic lineages and legacies. The reenvisioned installation lays the groundwork for the museum’s community-centered approach to the presentation and interpretation of diverse objects. Interactive digital displays in selected galleries and surprising groupings of works interrupt traditional art historical narratives and invite visitor responses as the Palmer rethinks the ways makers have embraced, adapted and rejected aesthetic traditions.
The museum’s holdings include American art; contemporary studio glass; ceramics from a range of global cultures and eras; African art; Asian art; European Old Master paintings and sculptures; modern and contemporary art; and drawings, prints, photographs and other works on paper. The Palmer Museum also will reveal in its inaugural year several new acquisitions by artists such as Fernando “Coco” Bedoya, Joseph Delaney, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Rodrigo Lara, David MacDonald, Malcolm Mobutu Smith, Toshiko Takaezu, Akio Takamori, Kukuli Velarde, Patti Warashina, Purvis Young, Malcah Zeldis and Arnold Zimmerman.