Posted: May 5, 2026
A range of Great Insect Fair Posters preserved and displayed in the Graduate Student Lounge. Photo Credit: Sarah Kania
Great Insect Fair Poster Preservation
By Sarah Kania
The first Great Insect Fair (GIF) was hosted by the Department of Entomology at Penn State over 30 years ago, in 1993. The insect-themed event featured live insects, costumes, crafts, and research from the University. Its size and attendance makes it one of the largest of its kind, bringing in thousands of guests every year.
After a 3-year hiatus during COVID, GIF returned in full force in 2023. The fair represents the Department's faculty, staff, and students' deep commitment to outreach and community engagement. While past fairs have been memorialized through photos, t-shirts, and memories, one of the most unique aspects of the Great Insect Fair are the posters. Each year highlights a new and exciting insect-related theme to attract the public, including art, pop culture, and spotlights on specific insect groups. Most of these posters, however, have not been properly preserved or maintained in any way. With the revitalization of the fifth floor of ASI, the last remaining images of past posters that once adorned the walls had no new home.
In a flurry of panic over their pending destruction, I worked to coordinate the retrieval of the images to properly preserve them. Their current state was large photo-type paper mounted to foam board, which was starting to deteriorate. I sought out the Preservation, Conservation, Digitization (PCD) group through the University Libraries. After explaining the importance of their legacy and their current deteriorating state, PCD was more than happy to help preserve them through high-quality digitization. This process further solidified my appreciation of the numerous resources and facilities on campus.
For the final part of this project, in addition to permanently preserved files, I thought another great way to highlight the history of the Great Insect Fair would be to print, frame, and hang new copies of the posters in the graduate student lounge. As part of the revitalization of the fifth floor, a new lounge space was created in the formerly unused section of 505 ASI. This new space includes a large table, a whiteboard, couches, a microwave, and a coffee maker for students to use. The funds were also used to purchase numerous 11 x 17 frames to display the Great Insect Fair posters.
The project was officially completed in April 2026 and features the 28 Great Insect Posters from 1993 to 2025 with additional space to hang new posters in future years. I am so pleased with how it turned out and could not have done it without the assistance of the Entomology Graduate Student Association, the Department of Entomology, specifically Michael Tribone, and PCD. I hope Department members enjoy these posters for many years to come and continue to highlight the significance and history of the Great Insect Fair.
