Metro
$26 Million For MSU Art
Eli and Edythe Broad to establish a world-class museum.
Eli Broad: "A great university needs a
great museum."
Architect and author Joseph Giovannini, who heads the architect-selection committee, shows the site plan for the museum.
East Lansing
M
ichigan State University will
be the home of a new world-
class art museum focusing on
modern and contemporary art, thanks to
a gift of $26 million from philanthropist
and MSU alumnus Eli Broad and his wife,
Edythe.
The museum will be the new home of
the university's art collection, currently
housed on campus in the Kresge Art
Museum. The Broad gift is the largest
individual cash gift in MSU's history.
"A great university needs a great muse-
um, since the arts stimulate learning and
creativity throughout the entire campus,"
said Eli Broad. "Speaking from personal
experience, the arts have played a trans-
formative role in my life, even though they
were not the center of my studies at MSU.
This museum — and the iconic building
that will bring it to life — will also serve
as an important new resource for the peo-
ple of central Michigan, making great art
accessible to the millions of people who
live and work within the region."
The new building, to be located on
Grand River Avenue at the Collingwood
Entrance to campus, will have two front
doors — one facing campus and the other
facing Grand River — making it the first
building on Grand River to face outward
and creating a visual symbol of the con-
nection between the university and the
community.
The Broad Art Museum will enable the
university to increase the visibility and
accessibility of art both for education and
outreach, showcase more of the university's
permanent collection, acquire and show
larger and more significant works and
exhibitions, and significantly add to the
rich cultural and artistic heritage of MSU.
"Eli Broad's commitment to Michigan
State University is extraordinary," said
MSU President Lou Ann K. Simon, "and
his generosity will have a lasting and
transformational impact. With this second
major gift to the university, he and Edythe
are ensuring our students and faculty have
the tools for learning and knowledge in
the 21st century — a conception of multi-
disciplinary and global learning in which
art and culture must play a part.
"But in the true land-grant spirit, the
benefits of this world-class facility and
its programs will extend far beyond the
borders of campus," Simon said. "This is a
key component of cultural entrepreneur-
ialism that will make Michigan's Capital
Region more vital and attractive. It will
provide a platform for extensive outreach
and engagement to enrich the cultural and
artistic education and appreciation of the
entire community."
The Pending Design
The university is holding a competition
to select the firm that will design the
new museum. Joseph Giovannini, a noted
architect and author, has been tapped to
facilitate the selection process.
Five firms from around the world
have been invited to submit competition
proposals. The firms are: Zaha Hadid
(London), Coop Himmelblau (Vienna and
Los Angeles), Morphosis (Santa Monica,
Calif.), William Pedersen, Kohn Pedersen
Fox Architects (New York), Randall Stout
(Los Angeles).
The proposed building will have a
minimum of 26,000 square feet of gallery
space and will accommodate both perma-
nent and temporary exhibitions.
In addition to supporting design and
construction of the building, the gift
provides the resources to stimulate and
support collection growth, with new
acquisitions focusing on modern and con-
temporary works.
The Broad Art Museum will vitalize the
arts district in the northeast section of
campus. Additional components of this
area include the Residential College in the
Arts and Humanities, which welcomes its
first class this fall, and a proposed new
building for the College of Music.
The Kresge Art Center, a part of the
College of Arts and Letters, which houses
the current art museum, will serve the
new art museum and the Department of
Art and Art History and support visual
arts programming with classroom, studio
and exhibition spaces.
The total project cost for the museum
is $30 million. The Broad gift includes
$18.5 million for construction, and $7.5
million for art acquisitions and endow-
ments for exhibitions and operations.
MSU has raised an additional $6.5 million
toward the construction project, including
a $2 million gift from Edward and Julie
Minskoff.
The museum will be built at the cur-
rent site of the Paolucci Building, which
is empty and planned for demolition this
summer. Groundbreaking for the Eli and
Edythe Broad Art Museum is expected in
the fall of 2008.
June 14•2007
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