First Franklin, now an art director.

BobPSU92

Heisman
Aug 22, 2001
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33,098
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PSUFTG

All-Conference
Nov 1, 2021
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The new director of the Eric Barren Grand Cathedral of The Arts (and such) was recruited from Vanderbilt.


Penn State laughs at Vanderbilt.
Probably attracted by those 500,000 visitors per year 🤣
 

PSUFTG

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Nov 1, 2021
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Any idea on what the actual viewers walking in that place has been so far?
There is no admission fee or anything else that would provide that information.
I think you could safely divide the number by 10 - with room to spare.

Most of those who enter the "a bunch of boxes that fell out of the back of a UPS truck" building are probably folks meandering around the arboretum looking to get out of the cold/heat for a few minutes.

Of course, it is a huge boon to the 60 students per year that graduate with Art degrees from the University. :rolleyes:
Without the Barron Cathedral we might have only had 55.

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Bison13

All-Conference
May 26, 2013
2,914
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There is no admission fee or anything else that would provide that information.
I think you could safely divide the number by 10 - with room to spare.

Most of those who enter the "a bunch of boxes that fell out of the back of a UPS truck" building are probably folks meandering around the arboretum looking to get out of the cold/heat for a few minutes.

Of course, it is a huge boon to the 60 students per year that graduate with Art degrees from the University. :rolleyes:
Without the Barron Cathedral we might have only had 55.

View attachment 907893
lol. agree on all parts. Just wondered if there was any information out there. I am sure they will claim that the extra 75K who showed up to the campus the past two weekends came to see the fine art work rather than some kids playing a game in helmets and pads
 

PSUFTG

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Nov 1, 2021
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lol. agree on all parts. Just wondered if there was any information out there. I am sure they will claim that the extra 75K who showed up to the campus the past two weekends came to see the fine art work rather than some kids playing a game in helmets and pads
Yep. We'll never see any real numbers - but if you take an occasional walk up there it is clear that it is essentially an empty box (the arboretum does typically have folks milling about when the weather is amenable).
I would suppose more folks at least wandered in on occasion to the "old" Palmer museum in north-central campus.

But the BOT - some members of it anyway - were damn near openly sobbing about how impactful this ~$100 Million (including design fees) building would be... to the campus, the community, and to the academic mission.

This is the "approval" meeting. The earlier meetings were even weepier:


The speech from Chair Schuyler beginning around the 21:30 mark - is "priceless" and legendary buzz-wording, including "opening apertures" - followed by Fenza's comments which are indelible (note that even Mr Fenza mentioned hopes to achieve 90,000 visitor's - a small fraction of Barron's earlier citation of 400-500,000). Fenza mentioned how the massive impacts would be measured and reported on. So, obviously, we are all now aware of the tremendous successes. Amiright? (The Board/Trustees are never held accountable for their promises. It's the culture.)

The funding issues were addressed in fantastical Whack-a-Mole fashion (including Operating Costs, Re-Purpose of "Old" Palmer, etc), which has become the norm (Beaver Stadium, etc).
The meeting as a whole was a "classic".
 

Bob78

All-Conference
Jul 5, 2001
1,740
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It's a "nice to have", but imo is an unattractive structure (gimme glass!) that just looms over and rather visually obliterates an entire section of the beautiful Arboretum.
But what do I know? Absolutely nuttin'.
 
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BobPSU92

Heisman
Aug 22, 2001
42,499
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It's a "nice to have", but imo is an unattractive structure (gimme glass!) that just looms over and rather visually obliterates an entire section of the beautiful Arboretum.
But what do I know? Absolutely nuttin'.

You OBVIOUSLY. o_O don’t appreciate art or architecture.
 
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BobPSU92

Heisman
Aug 22, 2001
42,499
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Yep. We'll never see any real numbers - but if you take an occasional walk up there it is clear that it is essentially an empty box (the arboretum does typically have folks milling about when the weather is amenable).
I would suppose more folks at least wandered in on occasion to the "old" Palmer museum in north-central campus.

But the BOT - some members of it anyway - were damn near openly sobbing about how impactful this ~$100 Million (including design fees) building would be... to the campus, the community, and to the academic mission.

This is the "approval" meeting. The earlier meetings were even weepier:


The speech from Chair Schuyler beginning around the 21:30 mark - is "priceless" and legendary buzz-wording, including "opening apertures" - followed by Fenza's comments which are indelible (note that even Mr Fenza mentioned hopes to achieve 90,000 visitor's - a small fraction of Barron's earlier citation of 400-500,000). Fenza mentioned how the massive impacts would be measured and reported on. So, obviously, we are all now aware of the tremendous successes. Amiright? (The Board/Trustees are never held accountable for their promises. It's the culture.)

The funding issues were addressed in fantastical Whack-a-Mole fashion (including Operating Costs, Re-Purpose of "Old" Palmer, etc), which has become the norm (Beaver Stadium, etc).
The meeting as a whole was a "classic".


The crowd was underwhelming for the fiu game. OBVIOUSLY. o_O , thousands of fans ambled over to the museum instead.

Football, hot dogs, and beer or art, scones, and lattes? It isn’t a touch choice.
 
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Bob78

All-Conference
Jul 5, 2001
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You OBVIOUSLY. o_O don’t appreciate art or architecture.
And do Art or Arch appreciate me?! I think not. (sigh).
I have a birthday coming up. Will I get even a card from the Barren Mighty Fortress & Mausoleum D'Art?
I am merely a bland blob of quasi-humanity in their world of beauty and grace. Sconeless in a sea of lattes. A plain, 2 day old Lender's bagel in a Parisian Patisserie.
Such is my lot in life.

But I do really like my seats for football and hockey. So I have that going for me.
For now.
 
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Woodpecker

All-American
May 29, 2001
3,836
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this ~$100 Million (including design fees) building
Here's a behind the scenes look at that design process