Palmer Museum of Art

The Museum of Art at Penn State originally opened in 1972. It was expanded and renovated in 1993 and renamed the Palmer Museum of Art in honor of a leadership gift from James and Barbara Palmer. The Museum has a diverse collection of 11,000 works of art spanning from antiquity to the present but had outgrown the existing facility. A new site for a relocated, enlarged and enhanced Palmer Museum of Art at the Arboretum at Penn State located at the edge of the main campus was identified to help overcome issues of access, visibility and parking and be more welcoming for the general public.

Allied Works was hired as the architect in 2019 and  developed a plan and design for the new building. That same year Lord Cultural Resources was retained to prepare a business plan and projections of attendance, operating revenues and expenses for the new Palmer Museum of Art. In response to our report, Museum Director Erin M. Coe said in a testimonial letter to Lord Cultural Resources:

“On behalf of the Palmer Museum of Art, I want to thank you for your exceptional work creating a business plan for Penn’s States new art museum at the arboretum. This was no doubt a challenging project, yet you provided a comprehensive market analysis and financial report that will greatly inform the opening of the new museum….”

The 73,000 sq. ft., $85 million new museum building opened in June of 2024 to exceptional reviews.