Exhibits, talks, tours move online at Penn State’s Palmer Museum, HUB-Robeson Galleries
As more local businesses and organizations turn to the internet to serve customers and communities, art galleries in Centre County are doing the same. At Penn State, both the HUB-Robeson Galleries and the Palmer Museum of Art are offering online events, exhibits and more.
“During this time of the Palmer Museum’s temporary closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have migrated our programming to the virtual arena to keep our audiences engaged and informed,” said Erin Coe, director, Palmer Museum of Art.
Museums worldwide are part of this digital movement and have mobilized the use of the new hashtag #museumfromhome to engage the public using social media to deliver content including online exhibitions and other digital content such as virtual talks, tours and art activities, Coe said.
“Through these new digital offerings, the Palmer has demonstrated its resiliency during this challenging time,” she said. “We are here for our audiences now more than ever. We hope our community finds comfort, inspiration and some creative expression through our new online initiatives until we can gather again in the galleries of the museum.”
Staff at the HUB-Robeson Galleries express a similar sentiment.
“We wanted to continue to bring students and the Penn State community contemporary art experiences,” said Dani Spewak, visual arts exhibition specialist with HUB-Robeson Galleries and Penn State. “We have three exhibitions online now, with more on the way.”
Exhibitions can be viewed at studentaffiars.psu.edu/art-galleries or on social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram.
Currently, visitors to the HUB-Robeson Galleries’ virtual exhibitions will find “Still Here”, an exhibition featuring videos, documentaries and performances focused on the African Diaspora; “Women Photojournalists of Washington”, a collection of images cataloging significant moments in recent history, photographed by members of the organization by the same name; and “Illuminating Illusions”, a collaborative exhibition detailing the art of illusion.
The Palmer Museum’s online offerings — all available on the website’s Virtual Museum Resources page — include a range of options, such as online exhibition catalogs with comprehensive written information and high-resolution images, virtual museum tours and video demonstrations of art-making activities inspired by works or exhibitions at the museum. All the activities, said museum educator Brandi Breslin, use common supplies found around the home.
“Something not to miss,” she said, “is the online catalog of our spring exhibition, ‘African Brilliance: A Diplomat’s Sixty Years of Collecting’.”
The Palmer Museum also features a variety of artwork on its social media accounts, as well as updates on changing online resources.
Both museums plan to add new virtual offerings in the coming weeks.
At the HUB-Robeson Galleries, Spewak said, “We plan to launch new virtual exhibitions and projects over the next few weeks; some are supporting students whose exhibition spaces are now unavailable, some are brand new and some are a sneak peek into projects that we hope to bring to campus once we are all together again.”
The HUB-Robeson Galleries also plans to begin hosting virtual artist talks alongside new virtual exhibitions, with artist talks available on the galleries’ Instagram page.
At the Palmer Museum, Breslin says the staff expect to continue adding online offerings for as long as the museum is closed to the public.
“We want to make it easy for our museum-goers and friends to experience art, even remotely, and we are always interested to share great things about our collection. So, even if you’ve already taken advantage of the resources we’ve offered so far, please check back for more because they are constantly being updated,” she said.