Palmer Museum of Art - Art in the Arboretum

A stop on Penn State University Park Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

This long sandstone building at the edge of The Arboretum at Penn State is the new home of the Palmer Museum of Art, opened to the public on June 1, 2024. Designed by the architecture firm Allied Works, it covers 73,000 square feet, nearly double the old museum on Curtin Road, with 20 galleries lit by daylight.

The museum dates to 1972 and holds nearly 11,000 works of art. Moving it here was meant to join art and nature: the building is clad in Pennsylvania sandstone, and its landscape, designed by Reed Hilderbrand, includes a sculpture path and terraces. Part of the building also serves as a gateway to the Arboretum's H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens.

You can enjoy this stop entirely from outside. Walk the sculpture path and step into the gardens beyond, and if you have time, check the museum's website for current hours and admission before heading in.

Getting here: This is the longest walk on the tour: head north from the library on the walks toward Park Avenue and Bigler Road, about 15 minutes, to the museum at 650 Bigler Road.

Did you know?: The museum's original building on Curtin Road was famous for the giant bronze lion paws, modeled by sculptor Paul Bowden in 1993, that flanked its front steps.

Photo op: From the garden side, frame the building's sandstone walls with the plantings of the Arboretum in the foreground.

Palmer Museum of Art - Art in the Arboretum

Stops on this tour