UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.- As the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State celebrates its 50th anniversary, the Palmer looks ahead to a bright future in a new building at the Arboretum. A newly released fly-through animation offers an immersive 3D view of the $85 million facility. The Palmer created the two-and-a-half-minute video in collaboration with Allied Works and the Brooklyn Digital Foundry. The 71,254-square-foot facility will open in spring 2024.

The Palmer’s new building, designed by Allied Works, will double the Museum’s exhibition space to 20 galleries; improve accessibility; bring inviting, natural light into the Museum; and include the Palmer’s first educational and event spaces, a museum store and café, sculpture path and outdoor terraces.

“The fly-through animation brings the essence of the new museum building to life and reveals the strategic goal to connect art, nature and architecture,” said Museum Director Erin M. Coe. “It accurately captures many of the distinguishing architectural features and finishes, including the beautifully variegated sandstone cladding, the metal lenses on the windows and the interlocking and meandering design of the new building that both contains works of art and frames views of nature, providing visitors with a sense of wonder and wellbeing as they journey through the Museum, as if they were strolling through the grounds of the Arboretum.”

As part of its anniversary year, the Palmer Museum of Art will present several exhibitions this fall, including two that reflect on the Museum’s past, examine the present and preview the future. Looking at Who We Are: The Palmer at Fifty, on view Sept. 23-Dec. 18, draws on Penn State’s iconic “We Are” cheer and signals an introspective reckoning as the Museum marks this historic milestone. Featuring a selection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture from the permanent collection, the exhibition explores how history, place and community shape our conception of museums and of ourselves. It invites viewers to take a broader look at personal and cultural identity through the lens of specific works of art and to consider how collections are formed and institutional histories are written.

Designed for the Future: The New Palmer Museum of Art at the Arboretum, also on view Sept. 23-Dec. 18, allows visitors to experience the new building’s innovative and versatile design through the architect’s model, drawings, plans, renderings and animation.