Explore. Create. Design. Perform. Succeed!
Envision your future here. Undergraduate Degrees Graduate Degrees
We are a vibrant community of artists, performers, researchers, designers, and educators committed to making meaning, learning, traveling, experiencing, and sharing. We collaborate. We build. We act and play.
We impact lives – your life.
Pursue your passions.
The College of Arts and Architecture offers more than 30 undergraduate and 15 graduate degrees in a resource-rich setting with world-class faculty and facilities, coupled with diverse arts, performance, and design programs, all in one of the Best College Towns in America. Our alumni get amazing jobs and make a difference.
Engage with the arts!
Penn State Arts and Architecture is a comprehensive college of arts and design, presentation, and performance. Supporting and elevating our extensive academic programs, the college also holds important collections and hosts powerful performances.
The Palmer Museum of Art and the Center for Performing Arts, as well as other A&A engagement units, foster significant partnerships and connections across the University, enrich the student experience, and expand the impact of arts, design, and performance at Penn State and within the broader community.
From welcoming world-class performers and premiere performances to housing globally relevant art collections and featuring contemporary exhibitions, the College of Arts and Architecture marshals the power of art, performance, and design to deeply investigate the most significant challenges of the times. And our invitation is open to all – visit, explore, experience. Engage with the arts!
Center for the Performing Arts
The Center for the Performing Arts (CPA) provides a context, through artistic connections, to the human experience. By bringing artists and audiences together CPA sparks discovery of passion, inspiration, and inner truths. CPA motivates creative thinking and examination of our relationship with the world.
Explore the Palmer
In addition to its growing collection that spans world cultures and centuries of art, the Palmer Museum of Art – a leading cultural resource for the region – is providing a diverse array of online programming and events, plus virtual tours and exhibitions. It’s a fantastic time to experience the Palmer.
Alumni Spotlight
Alumni Spotlight
Meliza Fermin
B.A. in Integrative Arts 2004Meliza Fermin is an award-winning visual effects artist across television and film genres. She won an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects for her work on the television show Heroes, and Emmy certificates for her contributions to The Battle of Gettysburg and American Horror Story. Currently, Meliza works at Fuse FX as a senior digital matte painter on shows such as American Horror Story and Timeless.
The student experience matters here.
Engage. Learn. Grow.
Thrive.
100%
100% of people are creative and have the potential to make massive impact on the world. We are here to help you realize your potential.
Faculty Spotlight
Pep Avilés
Stuckeman Career Development Professor in Design
Pep Avilés is a historian, architect, and professor specializing in postwar and contemporary architecture. His academic research explores the impact media had on the materiality of architecture and the redefinition of modernism after World War II.
Avilés’ work has been sponsored by the Canadian Center for Architecture, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and the Getty Research Center, and has been exhibited at the Centre de Cultura Contemporànea de Barcelona (2017) and the Oslo Architecture Triennale (2019), among others. He is the founding editor of the journal Faktur: Documents and Architecture.
News from A&A
Spivey and Trost named voice pedagogy award recipients
Norman Spivey, professor of voice and voice pedagogy, and Jennifer Trost, professor of voice, have been named by The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) as recipients of the
Award-winning architect named head of Penn State Department of Architecture
Interim architecture department head to retire after 35 years at Penn State
World-class performances, exhibitions, lectures, recitals, symposia and more.
The College of Arts and Architecture is home to a stunning variety of events that are enjoyed by thousands each year. The college fosters a vibrant and inclusive culture of inquiry and excellence within the arts and design disciplines.