From the Director

These are very exciting times for the Kresge Art Museum, for Michigan State University and the mid-Michigan community. This website introduces our plans and dreams for the future of our fine arts museum. The role of university art museums on campuses and in their communities has grown exponentially in recent decades and Kresge Art Museum has expanded the collection, programs and exhibitions to an ambitious level. Our work has been recognized by donors, granting agencies and national museum associations through donations, the award of significant grants, and accreditation by the American Association of Museums. Numerous volunteers from the Greater Lansing area have aided the museum's hard-working staff. Over the years many thousands of mid-Michigan school children have received docent-guided tours of the collection. Everyone - from the staff to our volunteers - has visions of what can further be accomplished, but our dreams are hampered by the current space we inhabit that has been neither expanded nor upgraded substantially since the 1960s.

Working with Hammel, Green & Abrahamson (HGA) and Duce Simmons Associates (DSA), we have an exciting plan to renovate and expand our current facility. We have conceived of this project in two phases: phase one adds space towards the street to the north, creating a dynamic entrance and presence on the street; phase two adds additional space to the south, towards the Red Cedar River. If we are very successful with our fundraising efforts, the project could be completed all at once. The architects were hired in July 2002 and worked through the fall to develop the plans with input from the staff, community, BAM Committee, and MSU administrators. The new museum provides space to display our collection, a teaching room for the education program, and a grand foyer for events, receptions and gatherings. This expansion will make the museum more visible on the campus and more inviting and accommodating to visitors. Exhibition space will double, allowing us to display a greater portion of the permanent collection, especially the strong holdings in modern and contemporary art. An expanded Works on Paper Gallery will offer the opportunity to rotate selections from over 4,000 prints, photographs and drawings in our holdings. A Discovery Gallery will enhance guests' visits with hands-on activities for people of all ages. A large foyer will provide public amenities missing in the current facility; a teaching room will provide space for docent teaching, art workshops and a place to orient visitors. Our goal is to complete the fundraising in the next three years, to begin phase one by 2006, and to complete the total project by 2009, the museum's 50th anniversary.

This website contains information about our history, the plans for the expansion, works from the collection that will be put on view, and ways in which you can help. It also links to the Kresge Art Museum's home page where you will find further information about our current exhibitions, collection, programming as well as some of our past exhibitions. We invite you to browse, to contact us, and we hope that it will excite you to join our efforts, the Campaign for a Better Art Museum.