Come to The Gallery at Penn College an hour before it opens to the public, where our group will be given a guided tour of the exhibit, focusing on the Paul Lehr exhibit: A Hidden Universe.

Paul Lehr (1930–1998) was an artist whose visionary science fiction paintings helped define the visual language of the genre. Born in White Plains, New York, he studied art history at Wittenberg University before attending the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. From the late 1950s through the 1980s, Lehr produced cover art for hundreds of books, including titles by major authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and H. G. Wells. His work also appeared on the covers of—and within—leading science fiction magazines including Omni and Analog, as well as in publications such as The Saturday Evening Post, Time, and Life. Nearly a decade before it took place, he depicted the first moon landing; that painting is now in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

A Hidden Life at The Gallery brings together Paul Lehr’s science fiction paintings with a body of sculpture that remained largely outside of exhibition and public view during his lifetime. Together, these works offer a broader understanding of his artistic range and a rare opportunity to experience the full breadth of Lehr’s work.

Immediately following our BILL tour, we will move as a group to Le Jeune Chef, the restaurant on campus, for lunch. Individuals are, of course, welcome to return to The Gallery following lunch during its normal public operating hours.