The Borland Project Space showcases the research happening in the College of Arts and Architecture. We look to expand the definition of research to encompass the full range of diverse creative practices in which we engage to create new knowledge in our disciplines. Our goal is to move beyond traditional notions of exhibition and scholarly programming and reveal the processes of arts research.
We strive to deepen our understanding of artistic processes by emphasizing the process and exploration that artists undergo in their research endeavors. Thus, we prioritize ongoing projects and works in progress over finished artworks and final research products.
By placing ongoing research projects in a gallery-like setting, the Borland Project Space brings visibility to the research process in all its forms and stages.
Exhibitions may include documentation of the creative process, multimedia presentations, cross-disciplinary collaborations, process demonstrations, displaying multiple iterations of a work, presenting a timeline of key milestones in the research process, educational components, discussion panels, Q&A sessions, etc.
In addition, we seek to engage the larger community through events held in conjunction with each featured arts research project. We also welcome classroom research activities, gatherings, community-building events, and wellness programs.
Goals
Show creative work as research: Demonstrate that creative work is research by focusing on projects in progress and documenting how artists work and think through problems.
Make research visible: Help people understand what arts research looks like by showing the steps and changes that happen during creative projects.
Build community: Bring together artists from different disciplines and the broader community through events, collaborations, and opportunities to share ideas.
Offer diverse programming: Present work in different ways through showcases and documentation, hosting talks, panels, and community gatherings.
Support the college: Highlight the important research happening in Arts and Architecture by giving faculty and students a place to share their work.
Questions, inquiries, reservations?
Contact Zsuzsanna Nagy at zzn24@psu.edu.
Fall 2026 Schedule
September 14–25
Humans Are Living Histories (2022–2026)
Venus Bayat
September 28–October 2
Materials and Techniques Showcase for Art History
Surveys
Heather McCune Bruhn
October 5–30
Penn State Art Education turns 80! Graduate Research Wayfaring in the Archives
Doctoral student research in the History of Art Education course (AED588) with instructor Dr. Ann Holt
November 2–13
The Justice Singers of Centre County as Community Music Exemplar
Presented by: Bryan Nichols and Jen Agans
Collaborator: Jennifer Blackburn Miller
Installation: Sudip Ghosh, ADRI graduate assistant
November 16–December 4
Testimony Without Words
Four Iranian Artists on Distance, Silence, and Survival
Artists: Amir Behroozi Rad, Mozhdeh Moazenzadeh, Marzieh Ahmadi, Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh
Curated by Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh
December 7–18
Finals Week Festivus Study Break and Relax Room
Organized by Robin Bierly
Events & Announcements
Penn State Art Education turns 80!
October 5–30, 2026
Graduate Research Wayfaring in the Archive
In Spring 2026, doctoral students in art education traced the early antecedents of their research ideas using the archival materials housed at the Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Penn State University Archives, which is a major center for art education historical materials in the United States.
This exhibition showcases current graduate student projects, which continue the legacy of critical art education research as they bring contemporary questions and perspectives to the history of the field. Highlighting the archive, the exhibition both celebrates and critically addresses the historical contributions of Penn State Art Education within decades of evolving, complex, sociopolitical entanglements and ideas about the nature and role of art education in knowledge-production.
The exhibition includes the telling of stories around child art and creativity, curriculum, technology, sensory-aesthetic, and embodied knowledges, as well as concerns about missing and misrepresented narratives. Together, the projects demonstrate how Penn State art education continues to expand the field and shape the future.
Financial support for the Art Education 80th Birthday is provided by the College of Arts and Architecture and the Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean's Chair.
The Justice Singers of Centre County as Community Music Exemplar
November 2–13 | Reception: Wednesday, November 11, 4–5 p.m.
Presented by: Bryan Nichols and Jen Agans
Collaborator: Jennifer Blackburn Miller
Installation: Sudip Ghosh, ADRI graduate assistant
The research incubator presents an installation from the Penn State working group Addressing Wellness through Community Music, featuring The Justice Singers of Centre County.
The Justice Singers of Centre County is a local group that meets monthly for a community social justice singalong in State College, PA. The group also sings and leads songs at protests, rallies, vigils, community action events, and meetings across Central Pennsylvania.
- Co-Leaders: Jennifer Blackburn Miller and Karen Maynard
- Former Co-Leader: Cate Fricke
Testimony Without Words
Four Iranian Artists on Distance, Silence, and Survival
November 16–December 4, 2026
Artists: Amir Behroozi Rad, Mozhdeh Moazenzadeh, Marzieh Ahmadi, Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh
Curated by Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh
Testimony Without Words brings together four Iranian artists living in the United States. Across three projects in photography, performance, and video, they bear witness to violence, war, and loss in Iran from a distance they did not choose.
In I Invoke the Fifth, Amir Behroozi Rad turns quiet observation of the American landscape into a way of listening, with silence as his method. In My Legs Cannot No Longer Breathe, Mozhdeh Moazenzadeh and Marzieh Ahmadi show the body carrying the trauma of the 12-day war. In Memory’s Edge, Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh places her own body within sites of memory and death, as a way of saying: I am still here.
Together, the works ask what testimony becomes when words are withheld, impossible, or not enough.