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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@Woskob
Current Exhibitions
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Contemporary Arts & Community Connection

The Woskob Family Gallery is Penn State’s downtown contemporary art space, dedicated to socially engaged artistic practice and community connection. Presenting work by local, regional, and visiting artists, the gallery serves both university and community audiences through exhibitions, workshops, and interdisciplinary programs. We are committed to creating opportunities for participation, dialogue, and connection. Our mission is to strengthen relationships between the university and the broader community and to support downtown State College as a cultural destination.

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

Penn State Downtown Theatre Center

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

Friday Collage Hour

Every Friday | 3–4 PM

Join us every Friday from 3 to 4 p.m. in the gallery for an hour of unhurried, unstructured creativity. We'll set out the scissors, paper, glue — and the rest is entirely up to you.

No experience needed. No prompts, no rules. Just a warm space, good company, and the joy of making something with your hands. Come as you are, leave when you like. This is a space to slow down, connect, and create — together.

All materials provided. Everyone welcome.

"Create in Community: Friday Collage Hour" promotional graphic, scheduled for every Friday from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Woskob Family gallery. "All materials are provided, everyone welcome." Poster includes graphic of sissors, icons, of a clock, a location marker, and a glue bottle. The background consists of a colorful abstract mixed media design.

First Friday

Friday, August 7 | 6–7 PM: Eric Ian Farmer and Collage Table

Join us for First Friday as we close out our Juneteenth exhibition with music and community art-making.

From 6 to 7 p.m., State College native Eric Ian Farmer will perform, sharing original songs about relationships and finding your path in life. While he plays, stop by the collage table for "My Juneteenth," where you can create something that reflects what Juneteenth means to you.

Eric Ian Farmer speaking on stage with a microphone.

Current Exhibitions

An art installation consisting of two bundled white and tan fabric sculptures (one in the foreground, one in the background), lying on a beach during a sunny day.

Winking at Old Ladies

May 27–September 8, 2026

The installation Winking at Old Ladies stages a tension between vitality and decline, surface and structure, ornament and entropy. White textile forms are stitched, wired, then plunged into the ocean to rust. In the gallery they sag spotlit on decaying wire structures, flaunting their transformations, asking viewers to confront their assumptions about aging, visibility, and the shifting value placed on female bodies.

Learn More

JUNETEENTH 2026: FREEDOM, JUSTICE, EQUALITY—AN INTERGENERATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

June 19–August 7, 2026

The 2026 Juneteenth Art Exhibition brings together six artists—three established and three emerging—whose work explores the enduring themes of freedom, justice, and equality. Across a range of media, they offer distinctive perspectives rooted in both personal experience and collective history. Participating artists: Kennedy Ferguson, Barry King, Irvin Moore, June Ramsay, Helen Velásquez Martinez, and Aiysha Watson. The show is curated by Dr. Grace Hampton.

Learn More

A painting of a Black woman facing forward.

A Global Textile Project

Call for Participation

Threaded Paths

Threaded Paths is a collaborative textile project inviting everyone, regardless of experience, to map their personal journeys, memories, and movements through fabric and thread. Threaded Paths is a traveling exhibition that grows at every location. At the Woskob Family Gallery, we are inviting our community to expand the project with new contributions.

Each stitched piece will become part of a larger, collective archive tracing footsteps, migration, and personal stories in textile form. This project celebrates community and collective storytelling through textiles, connecting distances, honoring histories, and creating a record of lived experiences, one stitch at a time.

At the top are two rows of five square textile artworks (with a third row in the middle partially covered) forming a grid — each one distinct in style, technique, and mood. Below them, a large fiber‑art world map stretches across the width of the display, tying all the individual pieces into a shared global theme.

Create a small, stitched piece that reflects a journey: personal, ancestral, daily, or imagined. Your piece might represent a migration story, a daily commute, a place you once called home, an abstract reflection on movement and change. Materials and techniques are open-ended. What matters most is the story woven into your stitches—not technical perfection.

Create a stitched piece using fabric and thread, any embroidery, appliqué, quilting, or textile technique you like. Even glue!
Keep it no larger than 10” x 10” to fit within the final installation. Pieces should be unframed and unmounted. Edges can be raw or finished.
Use materials that are meaningful to you. While fabric is the base, you can add paper, metal, found objects, trimmings, beads, buttons, whatever helps tell your story.
No experience needed. Whether you're an experienced textile artist or picking up a needle for the first time, your piece is welcome. If you can thread a needle, you’re ready to participate!

Please include a brief note with your piece containing:

Name, location, and occupation.
Date and title of the piece.
A brief reflection (1–3 sentences) explaining what your stitches represent.

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2026

By Mail:

Penn State, School of Theatre c/o Charlene Gross
477 Allen Street
116 Theatre Building
University Park, PA 16802

In-Person Drop-Off:

Woskob Family Gallery
146 S Allen St, State College, PA
Hours: Fridays, 12:30–5 PM

All submitted pieces will come together in a large-scale textile installation. The project will be documented through photos and writings.

Questions? Contact Val Ramshur: valramshur@gmail.com

For inspiration: Follow @threadedpaths on Instagram

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.