Penn State’s new Palmer Museum of Art will open soon. Get a first glimpse inside the building

The Palmer Museum of Art is inching closer to opening in its new location at Penn State’s Arboretum.

The new 73,000-square-foot building will “bring the outside in” with its unique design elements, according to a press release from the museum. The space was designed by Allied Works, and the building will double the museum’s footprint and include 20 light-filled galleries, educational and event spaces, a museum store and cafe, a sculpture path and outdoor terraces, the release states.

The museum — which closed its location on campus while a new $85 million building was constructed at The Arboretum — will open June 1. Construction began in July 2021. The new building will nearly double its original footprint and Penn State officials previously said they expect to nearly triple annual attendance from 35,000 to 95,000 while creating more job opportunities and more visiting opportunities for K-12 students.

Erin M. Coe, the Palmer Museum of Art’s director, hopes visitors view the museum as one with the landscape.

“A visit to the new Palmer Museum provides a remarkable opportunity to meander through spaces filled with works of art as though one were strolling through the landscape, experiencing art, architecture and nature as something both intimate and immense,” Coe said. “Enhanced accessibility to the Museum’s collection and other new amenities, such as educational and events spaces, elevate those experiences further. It is my hope that visitors will not discern a separation between the architecture that contains these spaces and the outside landscape, but rather conceive of both as one.”

The museum’s design features interlocking pavilions with sunscreens, lofted skylights and windows among the 5 acres of landscaping designed by Reed Hilderbrand. An overhead bridge, The Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Gateway, connects the museum’s exhibition wing to the administration/education wing and will serves as a gateway to the gardens, meadows and woodlands, the release states.

The nature continues even inside with Dale Chihuly’s “Lupine Blue Persian Wall,” an installation inspired by flowers in The Arboretum. Additionally, the new Kish Bank and William P. Hayes Family Exploration Gallery features a plant-themed artwork creation activity.

There are 15 permanent galleries with selections from the Palmer’s growing collection of approximately 11,000 art works. It will also debut three exhibitions organized by the Palmer Museum of Art. The museum has 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. When it opens in June, it will also reveal several new acquisitions.

Below are several photos of the inside and outside of the new museum.