Penn State Health and Highmark Health have entered into a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Reading Public Museum to serve as title sponsors of an annual exhibition from 2020 through 2022.
The agreement is the broadest in scope in the museum’s history, supporting various educational and cultural programming, including RPM’s premiere exhibitions over each of the next three years, as well as scholastic programs at its Neag Planetarium.
“Penn State Health and Highmark recognize the significant benefit and increasing scarcity of programs like those offered by the Reading Public Museum,” said Steve Massini, chief executive officer, Penn State Health. “This commitment is an important investment in the cultural enrichment and educational interests of our community. Penn State Health is proud to support the museum’s varied and vital contributions to the Greater Berks region.”
“When we partnered with Penn State Health, we said the partnership would benefit the community,” said Kathleen McKenzie, vice president, Highmark Health. “Those benefits go beyond providing access to high-quality, affordable care close to home. We also want to invest in making our communities a better place to live, and supporting the Reading Public Museum is a great way to do that.”
As part of the sponsorship, Penn State Health and Highmark will serve as title sponsors for premiere exhibitions in the museum’s main Second Floor Galleries over the next three years. These include Mazes & Brain Games in 2020, Courting Style: Women’s Tennis Fashion in 2021 and Real Bodies in 2022.
“This investment by Penn State Health and Highmark Health demonstrates a tremendous commitment to the museum’s educational programming and to the varied communities we serve.” said John Graydon Smith, Reading Public Museum director and chief executive officer.
Mazes & Brain Games will be presented at RPM from January 18 through May 3, marking the first time this unique, interactive exhibit has been shown in the Northeastern U.S. This 8,000 square-foot maze challenges children and adults alike with countless mind-bending puzzles and thought-provoking challenges as they try to navigate the turns by using their logic and brainpower. Held during the busy spring school field trip season, Mazes & Brain Games will be utilized daily by school groups and heavily trafficked by families during weekends and school breaks.
On January 28, 2021, RPM will host the world debut of the touring exhibition Courting Style: Women’s Tennis Fashion. Featuring dozens of actual, match-worn outfits from some of history’s most famous players, this exhibition from the
International Tennis Hall of Fame will attract audiences interested in the sport, but more so those interested in popular culture, fashion and culture.
With an emphasis on outfits worn by the great iconic players, such as Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Tracy Austin, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams, the exhibition explores developments in tennis fashion design as well as fabrications, trends, major championships, identity, and the players themselves.
Opening around Memorial Day and running through Labor Day weekend of 2022, the Real Bodies exhibition is expected to be the largest attended exhibit in RPM’s history. This powerful exhibition explores life by displaying real, perfectly preserved human bodies and other anatomical specimens.
More than a simple display of human specimens, Real Bodies connects audiences to a deeper sense of what it means to be alive. The exhibition pushes boundaries while seamlessly blending art, science, and emotion as a museum of the self. Exploring these systems within the body, Real Bodies reveals deep synergy between breathing, hunger, the rhythm of the heart, love, motion, thought and medicine that makes each person unique. Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine expect to further enhance the visitor experience by offering insights from clinical experts and health science professionals at varying points throughout the exhibition.
In addition to the exhibition sponsorship, Penn State Health and Highmark will serve as presenting sponsors of the Neag Planetarium show, From Earth to the Universe. This planetarium show explains the myths and theories of the universe from Greek astronomers to today’s scientists. The show will run January through May 2020.
The Reading Public Museum sees nearly 3,000 visitors weekly with attendance topping 125,000 visitors for the first time ever in 2018. School tour visits from every district in Berks County are now an annual tradition, and include field trips schools across central and eastern Pennsylvania.
