Feature: Kresge Art Museum. A Striking Vision For The Future
MSU’s Kresge Art Museum plans a spectacular, privately-funded major expansion that will quadruple its space.
Alumni returning to campus will soon have to add another “must” to their list of places to revisit.
The home to such masterpieces as Remorse or Sphinx Embedded in the Sand by Salvador Dali and The Vision of St. Anthony by Spanish Baroque painter Francisco de Zurbaran, Kresge Art Museum will soon itself become theshow as it undergoes a spectacular expansion and quadruple in size—all thanks to private donations.
This ambitious project, which includes some striking, visionary designs, is expected to finish in 2009 to coincide with the museum’s 50th anniversary. It is being driven by the collective vision and efforts of art lovers from the community along with university officials.
As the only art museum in mid-Michigan, Kresge Art Museum has enjoyed a steady growth since it began as a gallery in 1959. With nearly 7,000 works of art—double its number since 1982—the accredited museum yearly attracts more than 25,000 visitors, including approximately 7,000 MSU students and 5,000 K-12 schoolchildren from surrounding communities and offers the mid-Michigan region eight to 10 special exhibitions and an array of related programming.
The steady growth of the museum’s permanent collection, however, has not been matched by any size increases since the North Gallery was added in 1967. As a result, there is no gallery space to showcase many of its art works, particularly the large holdings in Modern and Contemporary Art, prints and drawings, and the nearly 1,000 photographs. Artist and Distinguished Alumnus John Scott said it best when he described the current museum as “a banquet in a telephone booth.”
The vision to expand Kresge Art Museum began ten years ago when the museum’s staff began with a little dream.
“The staff is enormously talented and creative,” says Susan J. Bandes, director of Kresge Art Museum. “We have done incredible exhibitions and interdisciplinary programs that serve the entire community and address issues that larger museums could not attempt. Yet our ambitions and goals are hampered, not by time and expertise, but by the physical limitations of the current facility.”
The need for an expanded art museum was recognized by a group of community members, many of them docents at the museum who know first hand its space limitations when touring groups of schoolchildren. In 1999, they joined together to create the Better Art Museum, Because Art Matters (BAM) Committee, that later became a committee of the museum’s Friends of Kresge Board.
BAM’s goal is to ensure that the vision of an expanded art museum becomes a reality. “As members of the community who study the collection and take advantage of all the wonderful exhibits and programs that the museum offers, we felt that by creating a group we could actively help the museum try to raise money to expand,” says BAM Chairperson David Greenbaum.
In early 2002, the museum’s Friends Board voted to allocate money for a preliminary study for an expanded facility, a sum matched by Wendy Wilkins, dean of MSU’s College of Arts & Letters. “The Friends Board felt that the preliminary study was a key component and if we could help the museum by providing funds it would demonstrate the commitment of the Friends to making this expansion a reality,” notes Mick Baughman, former Friends Board President.
After a national search the Minneapolis-based firm Hammel Green & Abrahamson, in collaboration with Duce Simmons Associates, headquartered in Troy, were selected to produce a preliminary study and architectural concepts for an expanded facility. In January, they completed this early phase with plans for a stunning expansion that includes large galleries to display works of art, collection storage, increased visitor amenities, and areas for education, reception and social functions—effectively more than tripling the size of the existing museum.
The concepts by Project Designer Kara Hill include a dramatic entrance with a large amount of glass, arches that echo the tree line in front of the museum, and an interior promenade that sweeps from the first to the second floor of the museum, providing beautiful views of the campus and the Alumni Chapel.
Through the glass façade of this north wing on Auditorium Road works of art will be visible from the outside and will invite visitors inside. The first floor will include an expansive lobby, a gallery to display objects from the permanent collection, a works on paper gallery, the museum store, a discovery gallery, an education room, collection storage, and a terrace.
The south wing will provide stunning views of the Red Cedar River from lobbies on both levels, celebrating this important component of campus. It will also include additional permanent collection galleries with tall ceilings to accommodate large contemporary works of art, a changing exhibition gallery, two terraces, and a roof sculpture garden. Project designer Kara Hill said she was inspired by the MSU campus, its arboretum, and the Red Cedar River.
The project will be funded entirely by private donors and foundations. It is estimated to cost approximately $11 million. To date over $1/2 million has been raised for the expansion since the community unveiling in April. The expansion will take place in two phases and will include a north and a south wing, replete with naming opportunities. This project is a priority for the College of Arts & Letters and is included in The Campaign for MSU.
“Art museums around the world have been adding wings and building anew as they become more integrated into their communities and the educational system, and also become tourist destinations,” notes Bandes. “Kresge Art Museum already serves as the Capital area’s art museum with a national reputation and is recognized by the museum profession. Our collection and community deserve a handsome facility for entertainment and education of all.”
The museum works in collaboration with units across campus ranging from the Detroit College of Law to the medical schools and departments within the College of Arts & Letters, as well as community organizations including the East Lansing Film Society and the Capital Area District Libraries.
The museum often assembles special exhibitions. In 2002 curator April Kingsley researched and organized Art in the ‘Toon Age, a groundbreaking exhibition exploring the influence of cartoons and comics on artists including Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Carroll Dunham, and Laylah Ali. A traveling version of this exhibition is currently being developed. Wrapped Words: Handmade Books from Cuba’s Ediciones Vigía, guest curated by Jeanne Drewes, Assistant Director for Access and Preservation at the MSU Libraries, and organized by Kresge Art Museum, is currently touring the country and will be on view next at the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque from May 31, 2003 - September 7, 2003.
Director Bandes is curating Pursuits and Pleasures: Baroque Painting from the Detroit Institute of Arts, an exhibition of 36 Old Master European paintings from the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection. It will travel to four Michigan art museums, including Kresge Art Museum in January 2004, and is the largest such loan to tour the state.
With the completion of the new facility, returning alumni will be able to enjoy such world-class exhibitions in a setting that will enhance their enjoyment of fine art.
Julie Thomson is the community outreach coordinator for Kresge Art Museum and a 2000 graduate of MSU with a bachelor’s degree in Communication.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Learn more about this project through Kresge Art Museum’s website www.BAMatMSU.edu
Attend the museum’s annual event Twilight in the Garden, Sunday, Sept. 14, a benefit for the museum’s facilities fund.
For information, contact Kresge Art Museum at (517) 353-9836.
VISITING KRESGE ART MUSEUM
Kresge Art Museum is located on the first floor of the Kresge Art Center, on Auditorium Road between the MSU Auditorium and the Alumni Memorial Chapel. The museum is open year-round except in August and on holidays. Admission is free. For more information, call (517) 355-7631 or visit artmuseum.msu.edu.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS:
- Cultural Reflections: Inuit Art from the Collections of the Dennos Museum Center and Power of Thought: The Prints of Jessie Oonark, May 3 - July 25, 2003.
- Expanding the Legacy: Kresge Art Museum Collects, 2000-2003, Sept. 2- Oct. 26, 2003.
- Surrealism on Paper, Nov. 1 – Dec. 19, 2003.
- Pursuits and Pleasures: Baroque Painting from the Detroit Institute of Arts, Jan. 14- Mar. 21, 2004.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION
- Joseph Cornell, Hotel de La Mer, 1950 or 1951
- Auguste Rodin, Figure Volante, 1890-1891
- Roman- Relief with the Head of a Bull, 2nd century AD
- Paolo di Giovanni Fei, The Crucifixion, 15th century
- Salvador Dali, Remorse orSphinx Embedded In The Sand, 1931