“The museum has become
the most important public building of our time…
They seem to embody our culture’s ideals in
much the same way that cathedrals once did…
They function as community centers as well as places
of enlightenment.” |
| - Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-winning Architecture
Critic at The New Yorker |
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Located
in East Lansing on the Michigan State University campus, the Kresge
Art Museum (KAM) and its collection and exhibits have contributed
to the vitality of the Greater Lansing community and the mid-Michigan
region since 1959. KAM is the only accredited art museum in the
mid-Michigan area. It is supported by Michigan State University,
national and regional grants, dedicated KAM donors and volunteers,
and the art-loving community. However, as the collection, exhibition
and educational programs have expanded, the museum has outgrown
the facility and the time has come to create a home worthy of the
collection. The planned expansion project is beautifully sited within
the new MSU Corridor of the Arts, flanked by Fairchild Theater,
the proposed new School of Music and the Department of Art &
Art History. The Wharton Center for the Performing Arts is also
nearby.
The KAM
expansion will take maximum advantage of the surrounding landscape,
campus streets and walkways. It will creatively utilize the existing
Kresge Art Center museum building, expand towards the street to
the north and overlook the Red Cedar River on the south. The first
phase of renovation and expansion is expected to start in 2006,
with completion of all new space in 2009, in time to celebrate Kresge
Art Museum's 50th anniversary.
 "A
Banquet in a Telephone Booth!" That's what John
Scott, artist and MSU alumnus, so aptly remarked regarding the fine
Kresge art collection. Currently only 10 percent of the collection
can be displayed at any one time. The other 90 percent remains in
storage and is rarely seen. The completed museum expansion will
expose far more of these hidden treasures to the Michigan State
University family and mid-Michigan community. It will provide additional
space and flexibility for new and exciting exhibits in an architecturally
unique setting. And improved capacity for educational programs will
enhance and enrich K through 12th grade art and humanities education
by providing special programming, teaching, exhibits, and child-friendly
hands-on space. Because Art Matters,
please consider how you can help the Campaign
for a Better Art Museum bring the "banquet"
out of the "phone booth".
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