Free 200 Acres app narrates a site-specific tour from Eisenhower Auditorium to The Arboretum

UNIVERSITY PARK (Tuesday, April 16) — The self-guided walking tour 200 Acres enhances users’ knowledge of Penn State with fresh perspectives on the university’s original land, history and purpose. The free site-specific walk is a creative partnership between the Center for the Performing Arts and theater artist Marike Splint.

200 Acres, which refers to the tract of land that Penn State first occupied, is a sequel to Splint’s 32 Acres, a similar project highlighting a plot of green space in Los Angeles. The local app’s self-guided one-mile tour leads the user on an introspective, prompted walk along an accessible route, leaving from the patio of Eisenhower Auditorium and ending at The Arboretum at Penn State. The center has extended use of the walking app, which launched in 2023, through June 2025.

Via a free downloadable smartphone app, 200 Acres becomes a solo experience, as the user wears headphones. Each person will guide their own tour, as the user’s location and movements will conjure the sound and text being heard.

Visit 200 Acres online to download the app and for more information.

The 200 Acres app is available for iPhone and Android smartphones. The website includes app information and download instructions. Accessible versions of the content are available upon request.

Splint is a Dutch French-Tunisian artist and an associate professor in the theater department at the University of California, Los Angeles. She specializes in creating works in public spaces that explore the relationship between people, places and identity.

Acknowledgements

Very special thanks to the following partners and individuals: The Arboretum at Penn State, Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State, Brandi Breslin, Sa’ida Bronner, Madeline Cantu, B. Stephen Carpenter II, Erin Coe, Molly Countermine, Travis Edwards, Christopher Fleeger, Rita Graef, Jenn Hooven, Nadine S. Houck, Cheri Jehu, Anthony Leach, Casey Sclar, Maura Shea, Roger Tharp and Ed Zueck.

200 Acres is part of “The Reflection Project,” funded by the Mellon Foundation.

Thank you to Penn State College of Arts and Architecture and University of California-Los Angeles School of Theatre, Film and Television.

For more information, visit the Center for the Performing Arts online, Facebook and Instagram.