The Arboretum at Penn State

The University Park Campus is gigantic. I go for a jog every day and find something new to stumble upon. It often results in me getting lost but I always find my way back into Downtown eventually. While running, I love to stop at the Botanical Gardens at the Arboretum. There is usually only a few other people there and it’s a great place to enjoy what is around you. Located near the intramural fields, the Arboretum is a beautiful place to relax and engulf yourself in nature. 

It was fairly cold on the Monday morning we attended. With the bipolar weather of State College, Pennsylvania, I was unsure of how warmly to dress. Every morning I get up for class and freeze on my walk over. By my second class, I am sweating just waiting for an excuse to go back to the dorm and change. People all had jackets and coffee out to keep warm. As we waited in the sun for the rest of the class to arrive, everything began to warm up and was pleasant to just sit and enjoy the sun for a change of pace. 

When you walk in to the right, there is a huge white tent. It opens up to the view of the rolling hills. You can see the trees beginning to change colors. It is the perfect spot for a wedding: scenic and romantic. My favorite photo I took was the one of the building and tent from a far. There are flowers encompassing the perimeter of the the garden and the building set in the center is gorgeous. The flowers, scrubs, and plants on the outside bring your attention to the center and allow the building to seem so welcoming.

I like nature but I’m not the first want to go camping or running to sign up for a hike. This is the perfect place to relish in nature while not being too much of a “treehugger” or “hardcore.” I’m from Long Island, and I’m not use to this kind of scenic views. I’m completely surrounded by water, I do not usually get to enjoy the mountains and hills that surround us here in Pennsylvania. It is very different but also one of the reasons why I love State College. It is completely different from where I’m from and it is nice to experience the views of a new place.

I could see myself returning to this place to study on a bench. The library can be overwhelming with so many people looking to find a seat or desk to work at in peace. The Arboretum is quiet, private, and peaceful. It also allows you to remain undisturbed because people just want to savor the nature around them.

Most people are unaware of it. Which is ironic due to fact is it so near the sports complexes. Student’s lack of knowledge of this wonderful place shows how fast we are all moving. Constantly keeping up with the hectic lifestyle here and at school, that we do not even realize what beauty surrounds us right here on our university grounds. The Botanical Gardens is the perfect place to take a breath of fresh air and appreciate the little things that are provided to us. 

The Palmer Art Museum Visit

Friday was my first visit to the Penn State's own art museum, The Palmer Art Museum. It is a very small building but even the exterior is enticing. The large lion paws right in front are overpowering the rest of the architecture of the museum. I enjoyed my visit because there as a large range of what could be seen in this small place. There are two floors. The first floor consists mostly of ceramics, some asian prints, European paintings with large biblical focuses. The second floor consisted of more contemporary art. There was a larger range of mixed media and ranging time periods. There were portraits from the early American artists as well as photographs done by artists as late as the late 20th century and early 21st century. I enjoyed the second floor much more than the first because I enjoy the pop-art era and use of bright colors. There was more opportunity to see more cheerful paintings upstairs.

The painting that struck me most in the museum was actually the last one I sat down to look at. I spent forty minutes wandering the museum hoping to find something that I could find myself writing about. I took pictures of multiple other large and colorful paintings but in the end "Private Lives" by Roy De Forest was my favorite. It is acrylic on canvas and was created in 1981. I think I didn't notice it until as I was making my way out because when you just glance at it all you see are bright colors that are very confusing and almost blinding. As I looked deeper the shapes used in this painting were very interesting. The longer I looked the more figures I was able to make out from the brushstrokes of the artist. The center of the painting is a naked woman, which took me a long time to figure out because she is very abstract. She is sitting on a bed while the outskirts are filled with men who are formed from strange colors and interesting choices of shapes. One man has a square head and is dark red. This painting most definitely tells a story. The most important moral I believe that is coming through in this painting is the fact that there are never any secrets within a community. The use of faces on the inanimate objects shows how there is no privacy and nothing is a secret. The setting is a very private place (a bedroom) but there seems to be so many people and other beings, such as dogs, that have an inside look into this scene. The man who seems to be inside the bedroom is the only one who is smiling. The rest of the men are angry and seem judgmental. 

There doesn't seem to be any political situation in which the painting is centered because it was created in 1981 but there is credibility with the artist's name. Roy De Forest is known for pushing the boundaries for artists. He is known as "an artist's artist." His works are narratives in themselves which using the most interesting mediums and pushing the creative bounds to show his own original style.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Palmer. It was a positive experience. I love to go to museums because I live near New York City and it's a relaxing way to just spend an afternoon. I could see myself going back in order to get away from the craziness that can be my new dorm life. It's a calmer escape from the loud and insane life of freshman living on campus and it gives me a taste of home. 

Blog Explanation

As I began to look at the purpose of this blog, I realized I needed an original that can be paired with the course well. I wanted something that was memorable but simple. "The Artsy Nittany Lion" is my way fusing the world of Penn State with a trendier outlook. "Artsy" is a term that is most commonly known as a slang word for someone who is not necessarily mainstream but off the beat and track. I wanted my blog to reflect the fact that although arts are not the most prominent thing when you think about Penn State, it is still apart of this community. 

The picture in the background is a painting of the mascot of the university. I picked it because of its use of a different medium to display our renown nittany lion. The same few images are used to symbolize our school and this takes one of those classic images and puts an original spin on it. 

As of now, I only have three pages listed on my page. I'm sure they will begin to evolve but this is just a starting point. My "About Me" section is just a short summary of some of the things that describe me. My interests are wide and I wanted to make sure that I put in a little bit of everything from sports to music. The "Photos" section is just a small look at some things that influence me. The picture of the sunset is my favorite spot back home and it is a place I visit often especially at sunset. It is important to me because it is the setting for many of my memories back home. The picture of beaver stadium was my first visit to Penn State back in April. I had never understood understood how vast and almost overwhelming the stadium and campus were until I visited. It was a large part of the reason of why I came here. There is a sense of pride when you see the stadium because you feel as if you are apart of something bigger than yourself. Lastly, I added a links page. The one link I added is a blog done by a few girls that I met on my floor. It is their way of keeping track of their college lives. I liked their blog because it is relatable to all freshmen and how they are experiencing so many of these things for the first time and choosing to remember them through a single photo each day makes it almost a virtual scrapbook of their college experiences.