Explore the Arts at Penn State Altoona

Explore opportunities in dance, music, theatre, visual art, literary arts, and more! Can't find what you're looking for? Contact us!

Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts

Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts

The Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts contains the 400-seat Paul R. and Margery Wolf-Kuhn Theatre, a dance studio, a costume shop, a scene shop, two art studios, faculty offices, a Macintosh computer lab, and three conference rooms. The lobby area of the building also houses the McLanahan and Sheetz Art Galleries and the Titelman Study. The Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts hosts cultural and performing art series and theater productions, as well as special events throughout the year.

Learn more about the Misciagna Family Center
An Ivyside Dance Ensemble dancer performs

Dance

Penn State Altoona is the home to the Ivyside Dance Ensemble, a resident student dance company, and Allied Motion Dance Co., a professional dance company comprised of dancers from the college and the public. In addition to these performance opportunities, Penn State Altoona also offers the Dance Studies minor.

Ivyside Side Vocal Ensemble in performance

Vocal Performance

Ivyside Pride is Penn State Altoona's premier vocal ensemble. The group has performed both nationally and internationally, including at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Strasbourg Cathedral, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. Penn State Altoona also offers a minor in Vocal Studies.

A scene from Penn State Altoona's production of A Year With Frog and Toad

Theatre Arts

Penn State Altoona’s theatre arts program offers coursework in theatre history, performance, directing, design, and more. In addition, performance opportunities are available throughout the academic year.

Trumpets playing in a jazz band

Music Ensembles

Additional opportunities to perform include the following:

  • Pep Band—enroll in MUSIC 079
  • University Jazz Ensemble—enroll in MUSIC 084
Student are in one of the Misciagna galleries

Visual Art Studies

With Penn State Altoona’s Visual Art Studies (VAST) program, you will be equipped with the conceptual, technical, and professional frameworks needed to be a confident and productive artist, as well as the skills necessary for employment in creative fields or admission into graduate study.

Learn about the Visual Art Studies program
Hard Freight Café

English and Creative Writing

Employers in all industries love to hire English majors. Why? Because they appreciate the fact that English majors know how to communicate effectively and think critically. Penn State Altoona English majors master these skills through courses in literature, writing, and rhetoric. By studying American, British, non-Anglo-American, and world literatures, you’ll learn how to synthesize and analyze information; formulate reasoned arguments and judgments; and develop perspectives on human nature, culture, and diversity.

Learn about Penn State Altoona's English Program
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