Penn State's Palmer Museum of Art breaks ground on new home The new Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State. View from the Overlook Pavilion in the Arboretum. Architect: Allied Works. Rendering: Courtesy of MIR. UNIVERSITY PARK, PA .- Construction of the new building for the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State has begun. The Museum will directly neighbor the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens in The Arboretum at Penn State, replacing the current facility on campus. The new 71,000-square-foot Museum, projected to open in the fall of 2023, will substantially boost accessibility to the Universitys art collections for students, faculty, staff and the public.