Here’s why Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art will close its 2nd floor for 80 days
Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art plans to soon close its second floor for nearly three months due to “much-needed repair work,” the university announced Tuesday.
The art museum on Curtin Road will see its second floor, which houses special exhibition and permanent collection galleries, close down Monday and reopen Aug. 27. The first-floor galleries and Museum Store will remain open to the public during that time.
“We are taking the summer months to address critical needs in our facility that relate to the vapor barrier on the second floor of the museum,” museum director Erin M. Coe said in a written statement. “We have carefully planned this temporary closure and the needed repair work in close consultation with Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant and a building envelope consultant.”
Vapor barriers can lead to significant moisture problems and mold, per experts.
The new Palmer Museum of Art, an $85 million building set to be constructed near the Arboretum, isn’t expected to open until fall 2023. Until then, the current 49-year-old Palmer Museum will continue to operate.
A current gallery, titled “Summer Light: American Impressionist Paintings” from the Thomas Clark Collection, will continue to be on view in the first floor through Aug. 29. (A “museum conversation” on the exhibition will be held 4 p.m. July 8.) On the day the second floor reopens, Palmer Museum also expects to unveil another exhibition titled, “Global Asias: Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art” from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.
Free timed tickets to the museum can be reserved on the website for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The last-timed ticket reservation is set for 4:30 p.m. and lasts a half-hour.
The museum is closed Mondays, Tuesday and some holidays.
