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 next week:
Performances
Front Row: National — Bach: The Complete Brandenburg Concertos — Through Jan. 27 via livestream. The Center for Performing Arts at Penn State will continue to host the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's free online concert series "Front Row: National" through the spring 2021 season. The Bach presentation will feature all six works in Johann Sebastian Bach's collection, composed in 1720 for the Margrave of Brandenburg. Free.
Events
Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations — Through Jan. 22. Penn State campus communities are honoring the life and legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with numerous virtual events and activities through Jan. 22. Free.
Lectures
EESI EarthTalks: Kerry Emanuel — 4 p.m., Jan. 25, via Zoom. Renowned meteorologist and climate scientist Kerry Emanuel, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will discuss policy options to slow global warming. Free.
Mark Luchinsky Memorial Lecture Series: Leland Melvin — 7 p.m., Jan. 25, via livestream. Leland Melvin, an engineer, educator, former NASA astronaut and former NFL wide receiver, will present "Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace and Second Chances." Free, but registration required.
Stuckeman School Spring Virtual Lecture Series: Pablo Castro — 6 p.m. on Jan. 27, via livestream. Pablo Castro, co-founder of Obra Architects and an American Institute of Architects fellow, will present "Obra's Journal of Indulgences, or, How Everything We Might Possibly Attempt This Year Seems Trivial Compared To What Is Happening To Those Less Fortunate Than Us And How Might Architecture Be Understood As Not Only Useful But Absolutely Essential To Our Collective Survival." Free, but registration required.
McCourtney Institute for Democracy virtual event series: Donna Shalala — 4 p.m., Jan. 28, via livestream. Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala will discuss the future of the Democratic Party. Shalala also served in Congress, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin and president of the University of Miami. Free.
Penn State Behrend Smith Creative Writers Reading Series: Alberto Rios — 6 p.m., Jan. 28, via Zoom. Alberto Rios, Arizona's first poet laureate, will read from his works of poetry and other writings. Free.
Mary E. Rolling Reading Series: Toby Thompson — 7:30 p.m., Jan. 28, via livestream. Toby Thompson, associate professor of English, will read from his published works of nonfiction. Free.
Exhibits
THON logo exhibition — Online. The THON website is featuring a virtual gallery showcasing logos from previous events, as well as profiles of each student designer. Free.
"Celebrating the ADA: The Legacy and Evolution of Disability Rights and Lived Experience at Penn State" — Online. The University Libraries virtual exhibit explores the first 100 years of national disability rights legislation and the movement's impact on the Penn State community. Free.
"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.
"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, 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, 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.