This exhibition continues the collaboration between ICA and New York-based textile studio Maharam, which invites artists to reimagine the windows of ICA’s façade. For the 2025-26 edition, Philadelphia-based artist Xenobia Bailey created a design that reflects her “Funktional” aesthetic and rooted in her decades-long fiber arts practice.
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, Arthur Ross Gallery, and Penn Live Arts present a unique opportunity to experience an installation of acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney’s epic painting cycle entitled I Dread to Think. This artwork comprises a 60-foot-long series of large canvases portraying wildly colorful and sometimes apocalyptic scenes from the Internet Age. Free and open to the Penn community.
This exhibit features the work of Penn staff and students who created replicas and new works of art in three campus makerspaces: Education Commons, the Bollinger Digital Fabrication Lab, and Venture Lab. Through experiential learning, the contributors to this exhibit cultivated creativity and new technological skills while deepening their appreciation of cultural heritage. Free and open to the public.
Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibit explores the overlooked yet essential role of nurses during the American Revolution, whose vital work helped shape early American healthcare. It challenges the widespread belief that nursing began in the 19th century with Florence Nightingale by providing rare evidence of a world of nursing and caretaking that thrived before, during, and after the American Revolution. Free and open to the Penn community.
The Spring 2026 Weitzman Lecture Series offers perspective on some of the most pressing issues facing built environment professionals, cultural leaders, and policymakers today—from climate migration to threats to heritage sites around the world. Speakers will explore the lessons of pandemic-era experiments for public space, the dynamics of urban renewal in Portland following a municipal plan to combat displacement, and how an interest in salt lakes became a mission to save our water systems, among other topics. Free and open to the public. Registration is required for some events.
Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibit will feature select photographs by Academy Award-winning cinematographer and Penn alumnus Phil Parmet, who documented life in Haiti after the fall of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in 1986. This display captures both the "resignation, disappointment, and sadness" and the "strength and determination" felt by the Haitian people during this pivotal time in their history. Free and open to the public.
“Collecting the New Irascibles: Art in the 1980s” opens a window into the 1980s Lower East Side art scene, where low rents and studio-ready lofts cultivated a dynamic arts ecology. The exhibition, located in the Arthur Ross Gallery, brings together loans from world-renowned collections and highlights several artistic movements of the 1980s that signaled a decisive break from past expectations and a full-force tilt toward the “new.” Free and open to the public.
“A World in the Making: The Shakers” explores the design legacy of the Shakers, a religious group whose values of community, labor, and equality shaped their furniture, architecture, and everyday objects. Through works by contemporary artists influenced by the Shakers, alongside original Shaker-made pieces, the exhibition invites reflection on how Shaker ideals continue to inform conversations around inclusion, gender, and intentional living in the 21st century. Free and open to the public.
Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibit will showcase materials from various groups who have taken strident critiques of a wholly celebratory approach to American history and the mythos of the founding fathers. The exhibit includes posters, buttons, pamphlets, photographs, and other ephemeral materials—many of them produced by people of color, student organizations, and grassroots groups. Free and open to the public.
“Adventive America” will place the forthcoming 250th anniversary of the U.S. into a broader global context by examining plants and their agency in nation-building. This exhibition will illuminate the collectors, collections, and global botanical exchanges between the U.S., Indigenous nations, Britain, Spain, Japan, and China, from the early American republic to the present day. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this exhibition surveys the revolutions that shook the Atlantic world in the 1790s—and the profound changes that resulted—from France to Haiti to Philadelphia. The books, documents, objects, and images on display will challenge visitors with the questions posed during that revolutionary era. Free and open to the public.
On view for the first time in the U.S., this exhibition—blending arts with archeology—features century-old watercolors documenting Egyptian tomb paintings. Created by Egyptian artist Ahmed Yousef during Penn Museum excavations in the early 1920s, these paintings vividly record elaborately decorated funerary chapels from Dra Abu el-Naga, a key burial ground of elite officials and priests during Egypt’s New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 BCE). Included with Museum admission.
The Peking Acrobats push the limits of human ability, wowing audiences with spellbinding trick-cycling, precision tumbling, juggling, somersaulting, and gymnastics. With a three-decade legacy of elite talent, this world-record-setting troupe takes ancient Chinese traditions to new heights, pairing artful athleticism with live music and festive pageantry. Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.
During this Public Trust event, UCLA professor of cinema and media studies Kriss Ravetto-Biagioli and film scholar Nora Alter will discuss the human figure and its representation in the age of AI. They will explore how AI techniques have done more than simply recycle the dead and the living by repurposing old audiovisual materials. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
From climate change to cultural heritage at risk, accelerating biodiversity loss to social inequality, Weitzman School of Design faculty members are engaged with some of the most pressing issues of the day. This exhibition highlights more than 30 research projects from across the Weitzman School that are advancing architecture, landscape architecture, historic preservation, and urban planning with support from public funders and/or industry partners. Free and open to the public.
Recognized by The New Yorker as “the most brilliant hip-hop choreographer in America,” Rennie Harris, the Penn Live Arts 2025-26 artist-in-residence, will present the world premiere of Losing My Religion, an exploration of the world’s constant social, economic, and political turmoil through the lens of street dance and hip hop. This performance is part of American 250 at Penn programming and the Penn Live Arts series “America Unfinished.” Students can receive a discount with Penn ID.
Hosted by the Penn Vet Institute for Infectious & Zoonotic Diseases, this annual symposium will bring together scientists, clinicians, veterinarians, and public health experts to exchange ideas on the emergence, spread, and control of infectious and zoonotic diseases. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Architect and conservation scientist Davide Gulotta will examine the main damage mechanisms associated with salt crystallization—a phenomenon threatening the preservation of heritage buildings and exacerbated by climate change. He will discuss integrated strategies for detecting damage and monitoring its development by combining research with fieldwork applicable at heritage sites, with implications for conservation practice. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
The Penn Institute for Urban Research will host a lunch program showcasing the range of urban research conducted by Penn’s Ph.D. students. Doctoral candidates will present lightning talks on their current research, offering an opportunity to build cross-disciplinary connections across the University. This event is open to Ph.D. students or visiting scholars currently enrolled at Penn. Register to attend.
The 2026 Albert M. Greenfield Memorial Lecture will feature a conversation between Lily Brown, an assistant professor of psychology in psychiatry at Penn, and Jose A. Bauermeister, Albert M. Greenfield Professor of Human Relations. They will discuss this year’s theme, “Connection as Intervention: Digital Peer Mentorship in Suicide Prevention.” Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend in-person or virtually.
Actor, filmmaker, and social advocate Nandita Das will speak with Center for the Advanced Study of India interim director Nikhil Anand and Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication director Aswin Punathambekar at the Spring 2026 CASI Saluja Global Fellow Lecture about the roles of cinema and social work in driving human connection and effective communication across difference. She will explore how films can promote creativity, empathy, and critical thought. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Part of SP2’s series The Politics of Well-Being and co-sponsored by the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, this conversation will examine health as a cornerstone of well-being. Panelists representing the fields of social work and public health will explore how health policy reflects political priorities and ethical commitments, as well as assess the challenges and innovations shaping health equity today. Open to the public. Register to attend.
Celebrating the spring season, the Morris Arboretum & Gardens will stay open late—until 7 p.m. Visitors are invited to wander the garden, chase the daylight, and welcome the new season in community. Free with general admission.
The 2026 CultureFest! for Holi will include traditional storytelling, colorful artmaking, dynamic live music, and captivating dance performances, culminating in a color throw symbolizing harmony and new beginnings. Participants will have opportunities to learn about this festival’s roots in Indian mythology, dance to festive music, and enjoy communal feasts with family and friends. Free with Penn ID. Secure tickets in advance.
Photographer and director Maryam Ashrafi will screen her new film, "Eternal Sentinel," following war correspondents wounded in Iraq and Syria. The film aims to open a conversation about the mental health challenges faced by journalists working in conflict zones, while also highlighting the long-term consequences of war—particularly the persistent threat posed by landmines and IEDs. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
In this series of three lectures, Joan Judge, a professor of history at York University, will explore the relationship between physical books and historical common knowers in early-20th-century China, including how these people managed the challenges of the era—from new technologies and novel diseases to institutional failure and commercial globalization. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Shelley Welton, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy at Penn Carey Law and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, will discuss and assess the recent creation of state-owned clean energy companies in New York State and the U.K., considering their theory, politics, and promise alongside their early implementation challenges and limits. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.
This conference will focus on strategies to preserve access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment amid federal policy changes affecting Medicaid coverage. Policymakers, researchers, and practitioners will explore ways to help advance evidence-based SUD treatment under the new rules ahead, including how work requirements, eligibility changes, and state budget pressures will shape care delivery and patient outcomes. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
In this webinar, Stephanie Mayne, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn, will present results from a pilot study—Philadelphia Regional Center for Children’s Environmental Health—examining the association of extreme temperatures with missed pediatric preventive visits. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
At this year’s Steven S. Goldberg and Jolley Bruce Christman Bi-Annual Lecture in Education Law, Penn professor Justin Driver examines the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate Affirmative Action and considers its implications for higher education. Open to the public, and free for those not seeking CLE credits. Register to attend.
This symposium on climate and emerging diseases, organized by the Penn Center for Research on Emerging Viruses and the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media, will feature speakers from across the University and a poster-networking session open to the Penn community. Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, and Peter J. Hotez, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology & microbiology co-director at the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, will deliver keynote presentations. Register to attend.
Organized by the Penn Institute for Urban Research and the Volcker Alliance, this expert panel will discuss the implications for America’s transportation network in the developing realignment of trillions of dollars in federal fiscal support for states and localities. The conversation will be led by Leslie Richards, the founder and director of the Transportation Initiative at Penn and Weitzman School Professor of Practice of City & Regional Planning. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Sarah Marsom, a heritage resource consultant and advocate for positive change in the cultural resource field, will explore what moving past fear-based decision making can look like for the historic preservation movement. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Ali Dinar, senior lecturer in Penn’s Department of Africana Studies, will speak with Joyce Davis, president of the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, about Africa’s growing geopolitical role and how the U.S. can strengthen engagement with African countries. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Kelly Writers House invites the Penn community to a celebration of “A Compass on the Navigable Sea: 100 Years of World Literature,” a global anthology of stories and essays that reshape worlds, reimagining what international writing can be. Among the readers will be Penn faculty Anna Badkhen, who will facilitate a conversation with the anthology’s editor, Daniel Simon, about the meaning of global literature at a time of crisis. Register to attend.
Each year, the Wolf Humanities Center’s Undergraduate Humanities Forum brings together undergraduate students from across the humanities and beyond to explore a common theme. The Penn community is invited to hear the 2025–26 Undergraduate Research Fellows present their research on “Truth.”
This panel will showcase Asian Pacific Islander (API) alumni who have made their mark across industries—from business and public service to education, media, tech, and more. These changemakers will reflect on their journeys, share lessons learned, and offer insights to current students on navigating identity, overcoming barriers, and leading with purpose in their professional lives. The panel will be followed by a student-alumni mixer.
In 1765, Philadelphia became home to the nation’s first medical school. More than 250 years later, the Perelman School of Medicine continues to blend innovation and tradition, shaping the future of healthcare. This “Firstival,” part of a free weekly public event series offering entertainment, activities, and storytelling by Historic Philly’s Once Upon a Nation historical experts, will feature a sculpture painted over by Jenn Procacci, offering a glimpse into the architecture and style during which the school was founded. This event is part of America 250 at Penn programming.
Visitors to the Morris Arboretum & Gardens will look for tree buds, spring ephemerals, early cherries, and dogwoods—all notable signs of the spring season. Participants will meet at the Welcome Center. Free with general admission.
Penn students, faculty, and staff can stop by this informational table to explore how creative thinking supports thoughtful analysis and problem-solving. This will be an opportunity to learn about Education Commons resources at Penn Libraries, including makerspace, digital tools, and strategies that help with generating ideas, approaching challenges, and making meaningful connections in academic and creative work.
Radio producers Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett will set up a ring of speakers, hand out eye masks, turn off the lights, and surround participants with a curated sound experience. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Penn students can stop by to study alongside peers while learning how Penn Libraries can support their work. Students will learn how to contact a librarian for help, as well as how to access library services and tools relevant to their studies. Lydian Brambila, a medical education librarian, will be available to assist with questions.
Part of America 250 at Penn programming, this panel of undergraduate and graduate student leaders will discuss their experiences with different forms of community-engaged scholarship, including Academically Based Community Services, designed to realize Benjamin Franklin’s founding vision for Penn. Attendees will be invited to participate in small group conversations about how to achieve Franklin’s vision.
In this Making Workshop at the Penn Museum, participants will learn about the history, intentional design, and cultural significance of Korean kites, view examples from the late Joseon Dynasty in the Museum collection, and make their own kites to take home. Dinner and materials will be provided. Free for Penn students; must bring Penn ID.