As the temperature gets hotter, students and community members can find relief by ducking into the Palmer Museum of Art on campus. With three exhibitions and some surprising activities planned, the Palmer Museum of Art has a lot going on this summer.

Yoga

Students looking to take yoga classes this summer may find themselves in an unexpected place: the Palmer Museum of Art.

Yoga classes will be offered on Sundays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Miniature Worlds: Arts from India gallery, one of three special exhibitions at the museum this summer.

Miniature Worlds

The Miniature Worlds exhibition was designed by Alice Hyland, a consulting curator at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Mass., and will run until Aug. 10.

Dana Kletchka, the museum's curator of education, described the sculptures and paintings featured in the Miniature Worlds gallery as "so small we were able to use part of the gallery for a meditation space."

Focusing on Hindu and Jain deities, the paintings display time differently than art in Western culture, Kletchka said.

The Indian art "may show an entire narrative in one scene," Kletchka said.

She added this form differs from the comic strip with scenes divided chronologically typically found in Western art.

Richard Haas:

Print and Preservation

Another special gallery on display this summer is Richard Haas: Print and Preservation.

Haas is renowned for using century-old etching techniques to turn simple brick exteriors into appealing murals, Kletchka said. She added the prints displayed at the museum feature a history of America's urban architecture.

Haas was inspired by the destruction of famous buildings in America's major cities, and his prints include a depiction of the destruction of a federal courthouse in Chicago.

A notable piece of Haas's work includes a mural at the HUB-Robeson Center, which depicts the last 50 years in Penn State history.

The Print and Preservation collection will be featured in the first floor wrap-around gallery until Sept. 14. Palmer Museum Curator Pat McGrady designed the exhibition, Kletchka said.

Joel Meyerowitz:

Bay Sky Porch

The third special exhibition on display this summer is Joel Meyerowitz: Bay Sky Porch.

The collection features a series of photographs Meyerowitz shot from his home on Cape Cod with an 8 x 10 view camera.

Meyerowitz is inspired by the unpredictability of the sea. He often focuses his work on objects such as wooden railings and painted boats, while using the sea as a background to show changes in weather and lighting, according to a Palmer Museum newsletter.

Meyerowitz's photographs, which are featured in the works on paper gallery, were drawn from the museum's permanent collection and will be on display through Sept. 28.