Penn State has been selected as the newest host campus for Imagining America, a national consortium that connects scholars, artists, and designers.

As the host campus, Penn State and Imagining America will work together to build communities and expand the understanding of how art, design, and the humanities impact people’s health and well-being.

Penn State is the fourth institution to serve as the host campus since 1999. UC Davis was the most recent host.

The campus was chosen by Imagining America’s National Advisory Board because of its commitment to “lifting and catalyzing public service and engaged scholarship, art and design toward a vibrant and healthy democratic society.”

The search for the next host campus took two years.

“Penn State’s existing strengths in art, design, public humanities and community-engaged research present exciting opportunities for transformative impact as we build on Imagining America’s legacy while advancing Penn State’s 21st-century land-grant mission,” Fotis Sotiropoulos, the executive vice president and provost at Penn State, said.

Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture, College of the Liberal Arts, and the College of Health and Human Development will lead the partnership with Imagining America.

The consortium was founded in 1999 after a White House Millennium Council meeting on advancing higher education’s public engagement and service commitment.

The transition will officially begin from October 23-25 at Imagining America’s National Gathering in Davis, California.

For more information on the transition, visit https://imaginingamerica.org/transition/