An abstract, overhead view of a gallery space with people gathered around illuminated textile columns. The photo is shot through windows, so there is some complex layering of space and content.

: A First Friday event in the Woskob Family Gallery

Woskob Family Gallery

Contemporary, socially engaged arts in downtown State College, PA.

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Contemporary Arts & Culture

The Woskob Family Gallery is a contemporary art space in downtown State College that brings a cohesive and carefully curated program of exhibitions and events to central Pennsylvania. Run by Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture, the gallery serves as a laboratory for exploring how the arts can catalyze creative placemaking.

The gallery’s mission is to forge new relationships between the university and local communities, increase the perception of downtown State College as a cultural destination, and spark new creative enterprises. Through partnerships with the borough, local government, and arts and cultural organizations, we seek greater local investment in arts and culture projects.

The gallery is generously supported by the Borough of State College.

Contact

Woskob Family Gallery
woskob@psu.edu

Zsuzsanna Nagy
Director, Woskob Family Gallery

Connect

Visit the Gallery

146 S Allen Street
State College PA 16801
Hours: Fridays, 12:30–5:00 PM

We are located in the Penn State Downtown Centre Theatre.

Mailing Address

101 Borland Building
University Park PA 16802

The Woskob Family Gallery receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Events & Programs

@Woskob

A pair of hands applying scraps of fabric in mixed patterns over an outlined illustration of a human face.

First Friday Workshop & Music

April 4, 5–8PM
Music by Pepe Barcellos
6 to 6:45PM and 7 to 7:45PM

Pepe will perform Brazilian bossa nova and smooth samba from his hometown, including favorites like The Girl from Ipanema, Wave, and Mas Que Nada. He will also showcase innovative renditions of 80s rock and selections from his two albums of original songs.

Bio
Brazilian guitarist, composer, percussionist, and educator from Rio de Janeiro, Pepe Barcellos, has traveled the world, leading interactive workshops on Brazilian guitar and percussion for young learners. He earned a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning from Georgia State University, where he contributed to research on musical creativity, student voice, and songwriting pedagogy. Since August 2024, Barcellos has been part of the music education faculty at Penn State University.

Workshop: Design Your Own Microbiome (DYOM) with Mellissa Monsoon
6-7:30 PM

Using illustration and collaging techniques, participants will explore the hidden world of the skin microbiome. Working in pairs or alone participants can glean from images of microbes to create dramatic and whimsical self-portraits. The workshop is designed to have fun with color, shapes and form. All ages are welcome.

Bio
Mellissa Monsoon is a British bio artist based in Kent; her work explores the relationships between nature, science and the human body. Past works have involved using casts of her own body and the bacteria that live on it to visualise the invisible world on our skin. She graduated in 2016 from the MA Art and Science course at Central Saint Martins and has since undertaken major commissions for The Eden Project and the BBC.

Current Exhibitions

Cathy Braasch:
Incident & Accident: Daily Drawings

March 7–May 31, 2025

Daily Drawings is a series of durational works on paper in ink and graphite. Braasch constructs each image by adding one layer per weekday over the course of a month. Together, these drawings become a personal, graphic record of time, experience, and perception, rendered with deliberateness and happenstance alike. Conceptually, the drawings operate at three scales. First, the personal experience—a meditative ritual that accepts the variations and incongruities of daily life and is a receptacle for memory. Then, imagined as architectural studies—the accumulation of simple geometries generating complexity. Finally, at the scale of the city—a reflection of the inspiring, incremental development of the built environment and the productive qualities that arise from this growth.

Learn More

Geometric abstract black and white drawing

Hands-on History: The Experience of Braiding a Lost Inca Rope

Hands-on History: A Community Experiment to Re-create a Lost Inca Rope is a participatory effort to re-create the largest textile of the premodern world. Marini synthesizes art-making and historical research to reconstruct a massive rope that, while no longer extant, was key to the understanding of Inca artistic representation. Through this project, the artist invites participants to enter the realm of Inca creativity, accessing knowledge otherwise inaccessible through traditional art historical research methods.

The exhibition features a monumental polychromatic rope winding around the gallery walls. The experiment recovers a mainstay of Inca visual culture to reconceptualize academic understanding of the Inca past and reimagine the practice of art history.

Those who partook in the rope's laborious reconstruction will bring their firsthand experience to the gallery space, sharing their insights with newcomers to the display. Through this collaborative project, visitors gain insight into the ingenuity of Inca aesthetics.

Learn More

Large-Scale, Site-Specific Installations

Call for Artists

Woskob Family Gallery announces an open call for artists to submit proposals for large-scale, site-specific installations to be displayed in our downtown contemporary art gallery. We welcome a diverse range of artistic mediums, including 3D and 2D work, digital projections, and light installations.

After reviewing the information below, if you have any questions, would like to view the space or review its floorplan, or require further information, please don't hesitate to contact the gallery director, Zsuzsanna Nagy, at woskob@psu.edu.

Works must be large-scale and site-specific, taking into consideration the unique dimensions and characteristics of our gallery space. Our gallery features tall, large windows that flood the space with natural light. Additionally, the gallery boasts expansive wall surfaces. A prominent staircase allows viewers to experience the artwork from different vantage points.

(Our main wall is about 23 ft. long, the ceiling height is about 21 ft. at its highest, and the main windows are about 13 ft. tall and 5 ft. wide.)
Installations that hang from the tile ceiling must be lightweight.
Artists are encouraged to consider the street audience as the primary viewers of their work.
Selected artists will receive an honorarium to support the production of their work. Additional funding may be available for materials and shipping costs.
The gallery will provide technical support and equipment (such as a lift and tools) to assist with the installation process. Artists are responsible for ensuring their work can be safely and securely installed within the gallery space.
In addition to the exhibition, selected artists will have the opportunity to participate in an artist talk and lead a workshop for community members, fostering dialogue and engagement with their work.

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria: artistic merit, conceptual strength, technical execution, site-specificity, and relevance to the gallery's mission of sparking dialogue through contemporary art. Proposals that demonstrate engagement with social or cultural themes will be given priority.
Selected artists will be notified via email to further discuss their proposals.

There is no application fee, and the deadline is rolling. Artists may submit their proposals at any time.
Proposals should include a written description (maximum 500 words) outlining the concept,materials, and installation process, accompanied by 3-5 visual aids (sketches, renderings, or photographs of previous work). All materials should be compiled into a single PDF document.
Please email your proposal to zzn24@psu.edu, including "Large-Scale Installation Submission" in the subject line.