College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State

Associate Dean Folayemi Wilson spoke about her mural, "Promise (for tomorrow from the past looking to the future)," which was unveiled on Monday as part of the opening of a new subway station in Chicago. The work considers the migration of the various racial and ethnic groups moving in and out of Chicago’s Near West Side starting in the 19th century and makes direct reference to the pioneering work of Florence Kelley, who fought for government regulation to protect working women and children.

“The artwork asks the question, as the kids are looking up the stairs: Where are they going? What kind of Chicago future might the Green Line take them to?”

Read more in the article below. Photos by Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/transportation/2024/08/05/cta-damen-green-line-station

Some photos of "Newsies" at Sundance Summer Theatre, directed by MFA directing alumni Jennifer Delac and Erin Speer. The production runs through August 10. Penn State School of Theatre

proud of Lisa Iulo, professor of architecture and director of the Hamer Center for Community Design in the Stuckeman School, who was named the winner of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2024 Faculty Award.

Architecture professor named DOE Solar Decathlon Faculty Award winner | Penn State University Lisa Iulo, professor of architecture and director of the Hamer Center for Community Design in the Stuckeman School at Penn State, was named the winner of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2024 Faculty Award.

If you caught a BBC documentary this summer, then Penn State School of Music senior Torra Bridges may have had a hand in getting it to your screen. Bridges, who is double-majoring in violin performance and business, is a programming and content strategy intern at BBC Studios in New York City, where she screens documentaries and plans and strategizes content for BBC viewers.

“The BBC found value in my skills that I have gained over my years at Penn State."

Penn State School of Music Penn State Smeal College of Business

Music student pursues interest in ‘business side’ through BBC Studios internship | Penn State University Penn State School of Music student Torra Bridges has had a hand in what you see on the BBC this summer thanks to her work as a programming and content strategy intern at BBC Studios in New York City.

proud of Penn State School of Music alum Luke Gall and his brother, Josh, who were awarded the Texas Bandmasters Association Music Industry Award for their contributions to music education through their work with the marching band apps Ultimate Drill Book and Beam Music, and Stride TV, a dedicated media platform for the arts community.

Congratulations to World Campus student Stephany Silva Farjado, who was named the College of Arts and Architecture student marshal for summer 2024 commencement. She will receive a bachelor of design in digital multimedia design at the Penn State ceremony on August 10. Penn State World Campus

College of Arts and Architecture announces summer 2024 student marshal | Penn State University Stephany Silva Fajardo has been named the summer 2024 commencement student marshal for the College of Arts and Architecture.

In May, Penn State alumna Deanna Grandstaff, a band teacher at Cecil Intermediate School located just south of Pittsburgh, walked into what she thought was a budget meeting with her school’s principal. As she got settled, onto the flat screen in the room popped country music star Tiera Kennedy.

With a personalized video, Kennedy informed Grandstaff, who graduated in 2007 from the University with a bachelor's degree in music education, that she was selected as a Country Music Association (CMA) Foundation 2024 Music Teacher of Excellence. As a bonus, Kennedy invited her to the Country Music Hall of Fame in September for a celebration of music educators hosted by the CMA.
Penn State School of Music CMA Country Music Association

School of Music alum named Country Music Association music teacher of excellence | Penn State University Penn State alumna Deanna Grandstaff, a band teacher at Cecil Intermediate School located just south of Pittsburgh, has been selected as a Country Music Association Foundation 2024 Music Teacher of Excellence.

Stuckeman School names diversity, inclusion, access, well-being, equity honorees | Penn State University The Stuckeman School has named Marc Miller, associate professor of landscape architecture, the school’s inaugural associate director for access, wellbeing and equity (AWE). He will oversee the school's Diversity and Inclusion Fellow Program as well as the newly created AWE Ambassador Program.

We have not had many rainy days this summer, but rainy days do make colors POP. Photos by

Stuckeman School professors author chapter in new Routledge handbook - College of Arts & Architecture UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A chapter in the recently published “The Routledge Handbook on Greening High-Density Cities: Climate, Society and Health” is author

School of Theatre alumni are featured prominently in the Penn Stater's article on Rock Lititz, a one-of-a-kind production company in the Lancaster area that handles all aspects of live event production, with credits ranging from Super Bowl halftime shows to Taylor Swift's 2023-24 Eras Tour. Penn State School of Theatre

They Will Rock You From Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to the Super Bowl and beyond, the creative visionaries at Rock Lititz bring the world’s most iconic events to life. And from the beginning, Penn Staters have had some of the biggest parts to play.

Did you know Arts Fest started in 1967 as a collaboration between the College of Arts and Architecture and State College Chamber of Commerce? 📸:

proud of '24 Music Ed grad Alex Almonte, who received a Fulbright Award to teach English in Taiwan during the 24-25 academic year.

“Penn State showed me that the world is too big not to explore it. And most importantly, it showed me that success does not look one certain way—that I define my own success.”

Penn State School of Music

Music education grad explores intercultural learning thanks to Fulbright Award | Penn State University Alex Almonte, a recent Penn State graduate, will travel to Taiwan where he will serve as an English teaching assistant for the 2024–25 school year as part of the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Attention Penn State SoVA alumni, today is the deadline to apply to participate in the 2024 SoVA Alumni Exhibition in Seattle.

Penn State SoVA Alumni Exhibition Application We are working to reconnect alumni and empower the artists that Penn State has educated over the years. The exhibition will take place at The Fish Bowl Gallery in uptown Seattle in Aug. 2024.

grateful for longtime Advancement Office staff member Janeann Lindsay!

Sending a 'We Are!' to these Penn Staters -- July 9 | Penn State University As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 13 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.

proud of Art History faculty members Amara Solari and Chang Tan, who were awarded senior fellowships for the 2024-25 academic year with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the National Gallery’s world-renowned research institute.

Two art history faculty awarded National Gallery research institute fellowships | Penn State University Amara Solari, professor of art history and anthropology, and Chang Tan, associate professor of art history and Asian studies, have been awarded senior fellowships for the 2024-25 academic year with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the National Gallery’s world-renowned research ins...

Graphic Design Professor Emeritus Lanny Sommese's work will be featured in the first "Hintzpiration" art exhibit, July 12-13, during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Penn State Alumni Association

Alumni Association to host 'Hintzpiration' art exhibit during 2024 arts festival | Penn State University The Hintz Family Alumni Center will be the site of “Hintzpiration: Artistry at the Alumni Center,” an art exhibit happening July 12–13, 2024, featuring the work of the late Lanny Sommese, a world-renowned State College artist and Penn State professor emeritus.

Penn State Associate Professor of Art Brian Alfred embarked on a transformative journey when he was invited by Bayern Munich, one of the most iconic and storied soccer clubs in the world, to collaborate with the 2024 World Squad to create permanent murals at their Munich headquarters.

Visual arts professor leads soccer players in creating murals in Munich | Penn State University Penn State Associate Professor of Art Brian Alfred embarked on a transformative journey when he was invited by Bayern Munich, one of the most iconic and storied soccer clubs in the world, to collaborate with the 2024 World Squad to create permanent murals at their Munich headquarters.

School of Theatre faculty member Allegra Ritchie is combining her love of sonnet writing and fly fishing during her summer residency at the Catwalk Institute. As an offshoot of her professional and personal enjoyment of heightened text, Allegra developed a daily sonnet writing practice that fostered a deep observational curiosity about her relationship with the natural world. She is working on a project dubbed “Human Animal,” which combines sonnet writing and kinetic sculpture/mobiles to explore this relationship between woman and wilderness though the lens of another one of her hobbies—fly fishing. Penn State School of Theatre

Registration is now open for the Summer Institute on Contemporary Art, to be held at the NEW Palmer Museum of Art, Aug. 7-9. https://sites.psu.edu/sica/

Image: Brian Alfred (American, b. 1974), The Palmer, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 60 in. Gift of Miles McEnery Gallery,
L2024.4 © Brian Alfred

University Choir members from the 1970s embraced the spirit of "We Are" by reuniting for a special concert during We Are Weekend. The June 22 concert, which, took place in the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, celebrated the 50th anniversary of their performance at Eisenhower Auditorium, which was the first-ever concert in that venue. The alumni used a new program, "Reunions & Reconnections with A&A" (R&R with A&A), offered by the college's alumni relations office, to plan their reunion. Learn more about R&R with A&A here: https://tinyurl.com/2nn6cx72

Photos by Penn State School of Music

On June 22, to kick off the celebration of Eisenhower Auditorium's 50th anniversary, the Center for the Performing Arts hosted "Flashback Forward," featuring Happy Valley bands through the decades, including Famly Brew (former members of the Phyrst Phamly), The Screaming Ducks and Pure Cane Sugar. Photos by Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

proud of School of Theatre alum and audio engineer Heather Augustine, who was the sound mixer on the Tony Award-winning sound design team for "The Outsiders," which also won Best Musical. She's quoted in this story on sound mixing that came out right before the Tony Awards broadcast. Penn State School of Theatre

When you can hear every word, thank the sound mixers - TPR: The Public's Radio They sit behind a console that looks like the bridge of a spaceship and use complicated technology to bring words from the actors mouth to the audience's ears.

School of Theatre MFA Acting grad Elle Jae Stewart has published a book, "The Invention of Elle Jae," which she describes as "a vulnerable account of how childhood trauma led me to the world of entertainment."

"My ultimate objective along with speaking unabashed truths is to encourage those who have experienced unthinkable-unforgettable acts to understand that we are not the trauma! We can and do survive!"

Learn more on Elle Jae's website: https://www.ellejaestewart.com
Penn State School of Theatre

Have you seen the exhibition at Woskob Family Gallery yet? The gallery is open Fridays, 12:30-5, and the exhibition is on display through July 14. Photos by

The Stuckeman School’s annual Student Awards Gallery exhibition is now open in the Rouse Gallery! If you’re in town this summer, be sure to stop by the Stuckeman Family Building to see some of the award-winning work our architecture, graphic design, and landscape architecture students produced during the 2023-24 academic year. Here’s a sneak peek 👀

School of Theatre faculty member Bill Doan’s collaborative research project with Penn State psychology faculty examining how drawing can be a tool for managing mental health is among the first recipients of the Renée Fleming NeuroArts Investigator Awards.

“Our ability to add neurophysiological data to our study will contribute to our goal of providing empirical evidence for the use of artistic endeavors to reduce anxiety and shape neurophysiological emotion regulation." Penn State College of the Liberal Arts

Drawing and mental health research project receives award in field of neuroarts | Penn State University Penn State School of Theatre faculty member Bill Doan’s collaborative research project examining how drawing can be a tool for managing mental health is among the first recipients of the Renée Fleming NeuroArts Investigator Awards.