Whitaker Center for Science & the Arts

Welcome to Whitaker Center

Plan Your Visit

The G.O.A.T. has arrived at Whitaker…

See It On The Big Screen

New Exhibit: Above And Beyond!

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2025 Whitaker Summer Camps: Now Available!

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Explore Whitaker Center for Science & the Arts

Located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is Central Pennsylvania’s premier center for education and cultural enrichment. Whitaker Center is a thought leader in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) engagement for all ages and backgrounds. We believe that by investing our resources in educating, entertaining, and engaging visitors, we can spark a movement that makes our community a better place to live, work, and play. Composed of four main venues – UPMC Science Center (formerly Harsco Science Center), PNC Innovation Zone, Sunoco Performance Theater, and Select Medical Digital Cinema Theater, Whitaker Center has something for everyone as a destination of choice.

UPMC Science Center

Fascinating exhibits about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math all combine to make a visit to the UPMC Science Center an extraordinary educational experience cleverly disguised as a whole lot of fun.

Science Exhibitions

Permanent Exhibit

Backstage Studio

Funded by The Alexander Grass Foundation, Backstage Studio features fascinating exhibits that reveal the science and technology behind movies, TV, music, and theatre. Create your own stop-action film, put yourself into the movies in the Foley Studio, and explore the creation of different sound effects in this interactive gallery.

EXPLORE

Mar 7, 2025 – May 25, 2025

Above And Beyond

ABOVE AND BEYOND celebrates the power of innovation to make dreams take flight. This 5,000-square-foot traveling aerospace exhibition features: immersive simulations, interactive design challenges, iconic historical touchstones, visionary concepts for the future, and inspiring stories from game-changing innovators, past and present. Packed with fun interactive challenges, vehicle concept models and prototypes, immersive media presentations, and inspiring stories, this large-scale exhibition invites you to experience what it takes to make the “impossible” possible. Explore ever more advanced aircraft and spacecraft that change our lives and transform our world. And join the epic journey into the sky and beyond!

INFO & TICKETS

Permanent Exhibit

KidsPlace

A destination for the youngest explorers! Designed with a cityscape theme this gallery includes a life-sized Operation Game, X-Ray Table, Pin Ball Falls, and much more.

EXPLORE

Permanent Exhibit

STEM Design Studios

Get hands-on with different STEM topics. These engaging activities will allow parents and kids to explore STEM topics together, learning as a team. Enjoy activities and design challenges with Ozobots™ , Spheros™, 3Doodler™ 3D printing pens, tangrams, K’NEX® and much more!

EXPLORE

Permanent Exhibit

Carnival of Health

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls — step right up and experience the one and only Carnival of Health. More than 2,200 square feet of fun-filled themed entertainment opens your eyes to the wonders of healthy living and the human body.

EXPLORE

All Science Exhibititions

Select Medical Digital Cinema

Select Medical Digital Cinema (formerly IMAX Theater) is a large-format cinema arts theater which primarily focuses on both educational documentaries and Hollywood films and brings it all to life on the largest screen in Central PA!

Showtimes

Apr 11, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025

T. REX

For over a hundred years dinosaurs have inspired and thrilled audiences, commanding blockbuster status in museums and at the box office. But among them towers a king — a tyrant lizard king. Working with top tyrannosaur scientists, a coalition of natural history institutions, and pioneering paleo and visual effects artists, GSF’s original giant screen production on this iconic dinosaur — and its carnivorous Cretaceous cousins — aims to be the most dazzling and accurate T. rex documentary ever made.

INFO & TICKETS

Dec 31, 2025

Dream Big: Engineering Our World

From the world’s tallest building to underwater robots and a solar car race across Australia, Dream Big celebrates the human ingenuity and stories behind engineering marvels big and small, and reveals the heart that drives engineers to create better lives for people around the world.

INFO & TICKETS

Dec 31, 2025

Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D

Join environmental advocates Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Wade Davis as they set out with their daughters, traveling deep into the Grand Canyon and down the river that runs through it.

INFO & TICKETS

Apr 14, 2016 – Dec 31, 2025

Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West

The film chronicles a group of explorers – the Corps of Discovery – led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark into uncharted territory to find a water passageway to the Pacific Ocean and describe for science the wonders of the West.

INFO & TICKETS

Jun 18, 2021 – Dec 31, 2025

Great Bear Rainforest

Journey to a land of grizzlies, coastal wolves, sea otters and the all-white spirit bear — the rarest bear on earth — in the film Great Bear Rainforest 3D, narrated by Ryan Reynolds.

INFO & TICKETS

All Movies

Sunoco Performance Theater

This Broadway designed theater is home to almost 700 seats, with an intimate experience for all guests no matter where they sit, and has showcased local and regional talent as well as welcoming performing artists from national and international backgrounds.

Upcoming Shows

May 23, 2025 – May 25, 2025

Hershey School of Dance & Arts: Celebrate 2025

Hershey School of Dance & Arts proudly presents “Celebrate!” 2025 Join us for our annual recital as we celebrate a year of growth and learning, our wonderful students and community, and dance and the arts! At HSDA, we believe that there is always something to celebrate!

May 30, 2025

Studio 22 Dance Academy’s Spring Recital ’25

Studio 22 Dance Academy strives to make a positive impact to promote and develop young and successful individuals through dance. Studio 22 is deeply dedicated to providing a sense of place in the community. We inspire fellow dancers and community members of all generations, backgrounds, and abilities. Our dancers learn skills and concepts through the process of dance that give them unique experiences and opportunities. Studio 22 has enrollment open starting in the summer for numerous class styles for ages 2 through adult. “Raise the Barre” with us and become a part of our dance family!

INFO & TICKETS

Jul 12, 2025

Marc Broussard: “Time is a Thief”

Marc Broussard’s new studio album, Time is a Thief finds the acclaimed singer/songwriter delivering an infectious ten-song set filled with gritty, rootsy hooks and dance-floor grooves, all wrapped around Broussard’s fervent vocals. Produced by Grammy-winning guitarist/songwriter/producer Eric Krasno and Grammy-nominated producer/guitarist Jeremy Most, Time Is a Thief has a funky, soulful sound and is wonderfully layered with diverse sonic textures that distinguish it from his previous recordings. His first album of new music since 2017’s, Easy to Love, Time is a Thief arrives via his Artist Tone Label. Broussard will play Whitaker Center July 12, 2025.

INFO & TICKETS

Dec 15, 2025

Michael Cavanaugh

Now is your chance to see Michael Cavanaugh’s incredible showmanship live at Sunoco Performance Theater, arriving for the holiday season on December 15, 2025. Heralded as the new voice of the American Rock & Roll Songbook and a charismatic performer and musician made famous for his piano/lead vocals in the Broadway musical Movin’ Out. Handpicked by Billy Joel to star in Movin’ Out, Cavanaugh evokes a style rivaling the Piano Man. He appeared in the show for three years with over 1,200 performances and received multiple accolades. The show culminated in 2003 with both Grammy and Tony award nominations.

INFO & TICKETS

Jun 29, 2025

Girls Night The Musical

See the Off-Broadway sensation that audiences can’t get enough of from coast to coast! Share the fun and laughter in this hilarious, feel-good comedy as five girlfriends re-live their past, celebrate their present, and look to the future on a wild night out! Featuring the most famous female empowerment hits of the last four decades including “Lady Marmalade,” “It’s Raining Men,” “Man I Feel Like A Woman,” “I Will Survive,” and many more.

INFO & TICKETS

All Theater Shows

PNC Innovation Zone

Get connected to the latest technology in the PNC Innovation Zone! In addition to educational programming and purposeful gaming, this zone provides businesses and organizations transformative spaces to create, meet, and connect.

About Innovation Zone

Kids & Schools

Create memories that will last a lifetime! Bring your students to Whitaker Center on a field trip or visit us on the weekend for an educator-led program. Fun and learning for all ages!