An interview with Michael Rush, founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum

Michael Rush, the founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, was welcomed to MSU with a public reception at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts on January 24, 2011. A select group of donors to the museum also enjoyed a private gathering and a chance to personally welcome the new director.

Eli and Edythe Broad, through their gift of $21.5 million for construction, combined with $6.5 million for acquisitions and operations, provided the impetus for creating the building that bears their names.

“We have a prestigious donor, a world-class architect Zaha Hadid, stunning architecture and have now found the essential missing piece—an innovative art museum director—in hiring Michael Rush,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “Michigan State University welcomes this award-winning curator and widely published author and critic. With his entrepreneurial spirit, Michael will direct the transformation in the months leading to a vibrant opening of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in 2012 and in the exciting years to come.”

Rush, most recently the director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, was recommended by a search committee after an extensive international search.

“I am honored to be joining Michigan State,” Rush said. “This for me is an extraordinary opportunity. Moreover, this new museum is a great moment in philanthropy, education and international contemporary art.”

Donor recognition wall announced

Individuals and organizations who, by December 2011, commit to a gift of at least $25,000 (payable over five years) to the Broad Art Museum will have the opportunity to be listed on a recognition wall in the main lobby.

Designed by Zaha Hadid, the world renowned architect of the building, the wall will seamlessly integrate with the museum. Attractive naming opportunities for various spaces in the building and exterior gardens also remain.

The grand opening and dedication events, slated for 2012, promise to generate excitement. Participation in the donor recognition wall and other naming gifts will guarantee your place at these historic occasions.

For more information on making a gift to the Broad Art Museum, contact Director of Development Bridget Paff at (517) 353-4725; paff@msu.edu. For more information on the project including a web cam of the construction, go to broadmuseum.msu.edu.