What's happening at Penn State? Here's a look at some of the cultural events — both in-person and virtual — taking place at the University this weekend and through Dec. 3:
Performances
#LIVEUNITEDLive 2 benefit concert — 6 p.m., Dec. 4, via Facebook live. A concert featuring nearly two dozen local performers — several of whom are Penn State faculty and staff members — will be conducted as part of the University’s annual efforts to benefit the Centre County United Way.
"Cabaret of Many Colors" — 7:30 p.m., Dec. 4, virtual format. Penn State Centre Stage Virtual will present a “Cabaret of Many Colors” directed by Steve H. Broadnax III and music-directed by Delores Duran-Cefalu.
"Meeting the Moment" — 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8, live-streamed. The next episode of the Center for the Performing Arts' "Meeting the Moment" series, hosted by musical artist Michael Mwenso, will feature a conversation with Step Afrika! group founder and executive director C. Brian Williams and the live-streamed debut of "No Justice, No Peace."
Events
Online United Way 50/50 raffle — Penn Staters are invited to take part in an online 50/50 raffle to benefit the Centre County United Way.
McCourtney Institute for Democracy virtual book club — 4 p.m., Dec. 7, via Zoom. The virtual book club will examine questions of civic duty and engagement in a discussion of the book "Engaged: A Citizen’s Perspective" written by Penn State alumnus Andrew Sommers.
Lectures
Palmer Museum Conversations: "How Exhibitions Are Made" — 4 p.m., Dec. 3, via Zoom. Joyce Robinson, assistant director at the Palmer, and Brandi Breslin, museum educator, discuss key elements of exhibition planning such as defining goals, developing checklists, creating programs and managing installations. Free.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative seminar — Noon, Dec. 4, via Zoom. Daniel Mallinson, assistant professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, and graduate student Andrew Bell will discuss the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Crossing Bridges Summit panel discussion — 3 p.m., Dec. 10, via livestream. Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport will host a Crossing Bridges Summit event to discuss “Socioeconomic and Environmental Perspectives on Black Women’s Health.”
Exhibits and virtual tours
"African Brilliance: A Diplomat's Sixty Years of Collecting" Online Catalogue — Online. A digital catalogue of African works collected by retired U.S. ambassador Allen C. Davis, including text entries, high-resolution 360-degree images and contextual videos at the Palmer Museum of Art. Free.
"African Brilliance" Virtual Tour — Online. Explore an interactive tour created with teachers, students and families in mind. The tour includes installation images, pictures of selected works, videos for guided viewing and related art-making activity suggestions. Free.
"Drawing on a Legacy: Highlights from the John Driscoll American Drawings Collection" — Online. High-resolution images, text selections and a photo gallery of works on paper donated by Penn State alumnus John P. Driscoll, including early landscape views and botanical sketches, animal scenes and still lives, and portraits and preparatory figure studies. The works include a number of well-known 19th-century American artists. Free.
"Illuminating Illusions" — Online. The Penn State Museum Consortium presents this exhibition that explores facets of illusions in science, art, literature and nature. Free.
"Photography=Abstraction" — Online. The Palmer Museum of Art's virtual pop-up exhibition is an interactive gallery with images, text and informational videos for selected works. Free, Google Chrome browser recommended.
Snowiss Gallery of American Art — Online. Tour the Palmer Museum of Art's first-floor Snowiss Gallery. Free.
"Women in Art: Activism and Resistance" virtual tour — Online. This self-directed, interactive online tour features a selection of objects by female artists in the Palmer Museum of Art's collection. In celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, this tour highlights artists working in a variety of media during the 20th and 21st centuries who have contributed to political, social and cultural change. Free.
"Human Expectations" — Through Jan. 31, 2021, Display Cases, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. Four artists explore the form of the human head in ceramic, neon and glass. Free.
"Border Exchange" — Through Jan. 31, 2021, Display Cases, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. The exhibition pairs two of artist Carlos Rosales-Silva's paintings with a site-responsive wall painting. Free.
"Small Planet" — Through January 2022, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. The HUB-Robeson Center has commissioned a site-specific wall painting located in the first-floor eateries by artist Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann titled "Small Planet." Free.