Millennials meet mummies by moonlight at Penn Museum

From scavenger hunts amid sphinxes to sipping cocktails alongside ancient artifacts, a trove of after-hours events are putting a new spin on the Penn Museum after dark. Offering socializing, snacking, and intellectual engagement, P.M. @ Penn Museum is designed to lure young adults, many of whom may be visiting for the first time.

Though it’s a fixture on the Penn campus, the venerable temple-like building is a mystery to many who live, work, and study nearby. To bring them inside, P.M. @ Penn events feature enjoyable activities, exposure to experts, and often, a happy hour.

“We want people to get to know us any way they can,” says Kate Quinn, Penn Museum’s director of exhibitions and public programs. The evening programs build on the success of the museum’s Summer Nights concert series, in which live music turns Stoner Courtyard into a cobblestone dance party on Wednesday evenings.

Though wide-ranging, programs always relate to aspects of the world-class archaeology and anthropology for which Penn Museum is known. Usually starting at 6pm, events are open to everyone, but are targeted toward millennials, grad students, and older undergraduates, groups less well represented among visitors and members.

Nickelodeon nostalgia

“We know we are getting people who’ve never been here before: They’ve told us,” Quinn says, noting that more than 85 percent of those attending the programs reported being first-timers, and 90 percent indicated their expectations were exceeded. One recent attendee told a staffer, “It was great fun and the right mix of information and activities.”

This fall kicked off with a scavenger hunt based on Legends of the Hidden Temple, the popular 1990s Nickelodeon television program. “It’s a different way of looking at the Penn Museum…. They were completely engaged,” says Quinn. “This was a lot of fun, it was really different,” a Legends participant said. “It was great to play games and have a good time — I felt like a kid again, but I also felt intellectually stimulated.”

Mummies, coloring, centaurs, and more

Mummies and Martinis offers a cash bar on select Thursdays in the Egypt Gallery, starting September 29. On select Wednesdays beginning October 5, it’s Color between the Wines, a meet-up in which adults take a mini-tour before settling down to illustrate images based on gallery artifacts, with refreshments available for purchase.

In addition to relaxed gatherings, Penn Museum’s programming includes ample opportunity for thoughtful discourse. The 2016-2017 lecture series Great Beasts of Legend examines mythical creatures that include centaurs, hobbits, and on October 5, Anzu, Mesopotamia’s lion-headed eagle. A second series, The Public Classroom @ Penn Museum, is a free, live and live-streamed class on science and race. Over five sessions, which began September 21, race will be examined from the perspectives of history, biomedicine, genetics, geography, culture, and violence. You can find a complete list of Penn Museum events online.

Above: Penn Museum activities inspired by Legends of the Hidden Temple. (Image courtesy of the Penn Museum)