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Arts MSU News

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Shannon Schmoll stands in a planetarium holding a tablet, looking up at a projected field.
  • Faculty
Faculty voice: Collaborating through astronomy
The inside of the museum walls is lit with various triangles of light.
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
  • Students
MSU Broad Art Museum exhibition encourages us to embrace the dark
Two people leaning down looking into a glass case at a Museum. The text reads
  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Place
Building the Future of the MSU Museum
A blue-glazed statue of three children kneeling and leaning against each other. The child in the middle holds an open book in her lap.
  • Place
  • Students
Where to find Pewabic pottery across MSU’s campus
Three women stand together on a stage. The woman on the left wears a maroon blazer and trousers with a gold blouse. The woman in the center wears a cream-colored 19th-century period dress. The woman on the right wears a black floral blouse and black trousers. They are positioned in front of a blue projected backdrop.
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Place
MSU Alum Sandra Seaton Reclaims History and Voice in World Premiere of ‘Sally: A Solo Play’
A person in a long dress stands in a dim gallery space, interacting with a digital art installation. A ring light on a stand faces them, while large projections of the person's face cover the walls.
  • Innovation
  • Place
Internationally renowned artists begin winter residencies at MSU
A performer sits cross-legged at center stage with palms raised upward, illuminated by cool blue lighting and circular projections. Two dancers stand behind holding flowing blue fabric.
  • Faculty
  • Students
From Seed to Stage: MSU Department of Theatre Production Draws Inspiration from Historic Beal Experiment
Three woman stand in front of a colorful mural that is painted with various shapes and words. The woman on the left wears a long black dress and is smiling and clapping. The woman in the center wears a long tan coat with gold buttons, she is smiling with her hands clasped in front of her holding a pair of purple scissors. The woman on the right wears a tan dress with blue plants, and a blue cardigan. She is smiling and holding a comically large pair of gold scissors.
  • Students
  • Wellness
Healing and Resilience on Display: New Artwork at MSU Celebrates Healing, Diversity and Student Voices
A woman with dark hair stands in front of a music stand. Her hands are raised in front of her as she gestures in a conducting pattern.
  • Accessibility
  • Students
Josefina Arnett: Building Connection Through Song
MSU Museum Director Devon Akmon sits in front of a microphone smiling.
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
  • Place
Renovated MSU Museum part of a “vital social infrastructure on campus”
Young students raise their hands to answer a question at the MSU Broad Art Museum
  • Faculty
  • Students
Faculty voice: Art is what we need right now
Eight people stand in line in front of the completed outdoor sculpture, which features interconnected pastel and translucent hexagon modules. They are dressed in winter coats, hats, and gloves, standing near shrubs and a building wall.
  • Faculty
  • Students
First of Three Student-Designed Microgalleries Opens to Public, Showcasing Student-Made Public Art
A metallic building with trees surrounding it and sidewalk leading up to the entrance. It is evening and yellow light is pouring out the windows of the front of the building.
  • Faculty
  • Place
Meet Phillip Bahar, new director of MSU’s Broad Art Museum
A person stands outside surrounded by greenery. They are wearing a maroon jacket and reaching out their hand to touch a plant.
  • Place
  • Students
  • Wellness
Finn Smith: “Planting Wishes” at Beal Botanical Garden
A person in a green shirt on the left helps a group of four people plant strawberry plants in terracotta pots.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
MSU and Georgia Tech Receive Mellon Funding for Research Project Combining Afrofuturism, Humanities, and Horticulture
A close-up view of Beaumont Tower glowing red with projected words
  • Faculty
  • Place
  • Students
Beaumont Tower Comes Alive with Animated Projections Created by MSU Students
Three people including one in a bear mascot costume, stand on a blue lift waving in front of a red, orange, and yellow mural in progress on the side of a brick building under a clear blue sky.
  • Place
  • Students
MSU partnership brings vibrant public art to downtown Cadillac
A smiling child wearing a denim vest with a large red star stands between two adults dressed in black. All three point and smile toward the audience on a brightly lit runway.
  • Accessibility
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Innovation Meets Inclusion: MSU Students Design Adaptive Fashions for New York City Runway
A man sits cross-legged on a row of tires on the shore of a beach. On either side of are two row boats painted pink in white. The text on the boats read
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Vadu Rodrigues: Changing the World’s View of Africa
Four women stand in front of a wall of art. Two women on the right look at two paintings stacked one above the other on the wall. The other two women look at another painting on the right, their heads are tilted in towards each other.
  • Faculty
  • Place
  • Students
The art of teaching the arts
  • Accessibility
  • Students
MSU’s SmART Program Expands Community Art Access While Giving Art Education Majors Teaching Experience
Image of Laurent Valère’s Memorial CAP 110 sculpture in Diamant, Martinique.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
Documentary by French Professor Earning Recognition at Several Film Festivals Worldwide
Portrait of MSU Assistant Professor Tim Conrad smiling. He's wearing a button down shirt and in the background are tree branches.
  • Faculty
  • Place
English Professor Receives Midwest Book Award for Short Story Collection
A ceramic sculpture with rough, textured white and gold surfaces is displayed on a pedestal in the gallery. Behind it, framed photographs and a suspended wooden coracle boat hang on the wall.
  • Faculty
‘Nexus’ Exhibit Features Work by Artists Who Help Shape MSU’s Arts Community
A woman wearing a black turtle neck and blue shirt plays a saxophone on a stage.
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
  • Students
Sam Gucwa: Enterprising Jazz For Everyone
Woman in a long black winter coat and black knit hat carrying a fake fur covered purse and a cell phone looking at a wall of painted and drawn portraits at a gallery.
  • Place
  • Students
Art Project Brings U.S. and Canadian Students Together
A full orchestra surrounds a conductors wearing a red sweater. Three women are seated in front of the stage looking ahead to the musicians.
  • Faculty
Ricardo Lorenz’s Humboldt’s Nature to Premiere with LA Philharmonic
Two people stand smiling in a gallery. The person on the left has their arm around the person on the right. To the right is a shelf full of small, creature-like sculptures.
  • Alumni
Work of MSU Alums, a Father-Daughter Duo, on Display at SCENE Metrospace
A person holding up a colorful postcard outside. The postcard shows a scene of a lighthouse amidst waves. The text reads
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Wellness
MSU professor leads postcard research project to connect members of the transgender community
A smiling individual with glasses and a navy jackets holds up a binder labeled
  • Alumni
Theatre Alum Returns to Campus as Part of ‘The Book of Mormon’ North American Tour
Portrait of Sandra Seaton
  • Alumni
Graduate voice: How MSU shaped Sandra Seaton’s path to the stage and national recognition
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Arts on the Inside: Incarcerated Voices Speak Through Creativity
  • Innovation
  • Place
Convergence: Fusing Arts and Sciences at MSU
Photo of an outdoor stage performance with three actors in colorful costumes entertaining a seated audience. The stage is decorated with a brick backdrop, props, and a portrait of Shakespeare. Audience members, seated in lawn chairs, enthusiastically raise their arms in response to the performance.
  • Place
  • Students
Summer Circle Theatre Returns June 5-22 for 2025 Season
DJ Stacey
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
  • Place
Ask the Expert: How Detroit and Its People Are Integral to the Rise of Techno Music
A large circle of people sits in folding chairs around a fire pit on a grassy field at sunset. One person stands and speaks while others listen, with trees and open landscape stretching into the distance.
  • Faculty
  • Students
Theatre Students Bring Immersive Storytelling to Corey Marsh in Support of Ecological Research
A group photo of the faculty of the College of Music. The group stands outside in three rows, smiling at the camera.
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
  • Students
The Reimagination of a Curriculum
A woman wearing a green shirt with blue jeans stands smiling in front of a poster board titled
  • Innovation
  • Students
Theatre and Psychology Majors Combine to Offer Creative Approach to Costume Design
A nighttime photograph shows a path lined with trees pierced by glowing with LED tubes. The trees are bare, and the wet pavement reflects the lights.
  • Innovation
  • Students
  • Sustainability
Graduate Student Pursues First-of-Its-Kind Dual Program While Using Art to Explore Ecological Loss
  • Students
  • Sustainability
Women’s History Month spotlight: Farmland Exhibition’s Three Sisters
  • Students
  • Sustainability
  • Wellness
Rewilding the Garden: A Student’s Dream Takes Root at MSU
  • Alumni
  • Place
  • Sustainability
Creativity Meets Conservation: An MSU Alum’s Mission to Protect Our Great Lakes
A picture of a man with wavy red hair, green eyes, and a blue dotted button-down standing against a white background.
  • Students
MFA Theatre Design Student Wins Inaugural National Sound Design Contest
A woman with long, wavy brown hair smiles at the camera. She is wearing a deep burgundy blouse and posed against a dark gray background.
  • Faculty
  • Place
Faculty Voice: Using Documentary Film to Reclaim Buried Stories
Three people stand close together and smile at the camera in a gallery setting. The person on the left wears a blue, vertically striped shirt; the person in the middle has bright red hair and wears glasses and a colorful patterned shirt; the person on the right wears a light grey sweater and glasses. Artwork is visible on the walls behind them.
  • Place
  • Students
MFA Exhibition Features Work of Three Artists/Scholars
Head and shoulder photo of a Black woman wearing a black turtleneck, a long gold chain necklace, gold nose ring, glasses, and short hair on just the top of her head.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Boston’s Poet Laureate Selected as 2025 Womxn of Color Initiatives Artist-in-Residence
A man wearing glasses and a blue patterned shirt stands smiling in front of a wall of colorful comic books displayed on shelves.
  • Faculty
  • Students
Ryan Claytor’s 20-Year Legacy as a Comics Education Trailblazer
  • Faculty
  • Students
A New Musical Blooms at MSU: Workshopping Joey Contreras’ “In Pieces”
Seven people singing and dancing on stage. They are dressed in 1980's office attire.
  • Faculty
  • Students
From thread to stage: Making costumes for the Department of Theatre
Three people, one woman and two men, stand on a beautiful beach with another man recording them. In the ocean there is a large rock in the center, with a green mountainside pictured to the right.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
Afro-Caribbean Artists Reclaim Hidden Stories of Transatlantic Slave Trade in New Documentary by French Professor
Vadu Rodrigues holding camera.
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Innovation
  • Students
MFA candidate uses art to create ‘Positive Africa’ movement
  • Faculty
  • Place
  • Students
Faculty voice: I’m a maker and a storyteller
A nighttime scene featuring several trees illuminated by diagonal white light fixtures. The lights are suspended between the trees, creating a striking geometric effect against the dark sky and greenery. The ground is grassy, bordered by a concrete walkway.
  • Innovation
  • Students
  • Sustainability
The intersection of art and nature: Combining forestry and artistic vision
A group of performers are lined up in a V-shape on a black theatre stage.
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Sustainability
MSU Faculty, Students Support U.S. Embassy Climate Project with International Ballet Company
Two young women stand on the Red Cedar River Trail engaged with their smartphones. One woman, wearing a light blue denim jacket and a white beanie, looks at her phone with a smile. The other woman, in a brown jacket and black shirt, adjusts her headphones while focusing on her device.
  • Innovation
  • Place
  • Students
Transforming the Everyday: Art Moves MSU
A picture of a magazine cover, with
  • Innovation
  • Place
  • Students
Student-Produced Publication Wins International Award for Excellence
A group of 13 people posing for a photo indoors, smiling and playful. The group is diverse in age and style, with some seated and others standing. The background is a bright orange wall, a window, and framed artwork.
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Students
MSU Students, Faculty and Alums Partner with Flint Repertory Theatre in Reading of New Musical
Person smiling while painting the exterior wall of a building white using a roller brush. They are outdoors on a sunny day, with other people in the background also painting and working.
  • Place
  • Students
Scientist. Artist. Activist. Global Spartan.
A scene from a play featuring a woman in a metallic copper costume, dancing with several performers around her. A spiral staircase and metal framework are in the background and vibrant lights illuminate the stage.
  • Alumni
  • Faculty
  • Students
MSU Theatre Spartans Unite Behind the Scenes of Pre-Broadway Show
Emily Sylman in a yellow shirt engages a group of young students sitting with sketchbooks, attentively observing an unseen artwork in an art gallery.
  • Accessibility
  • Place
  • Students
Emily Slyman: Educator of the Future
  • Accessibility
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Innovation
$3M Mellon-Funded ‘Creativity in the Time of COVID’ Has Local and Global Impact
Morgan in a blue baseball cap darkens marks on Yupo paper.
  • Innovation
  • Place
  • Students
MFA Candidate Creates Immersive Digital Display Featuring the Art of Breaking
Amaya Aten at a conference with three other students presenting a poster
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
  • Students
Amaya Aten: Art is Revolutionary
Mikayla in jean jacket leaning forward looking at yellow flowers
  • Alumni
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Sustainability
MSU Graduate Preserves and Protects Indigenous Culture
Student Kathrin Poon sews a ruffled color onto a green dress
  • Accessibility
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Katherin Poon: Psychology Applied to Clothing
Portrait of Kelly Salchow MacArthur in MSU rowing fieldhouse.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Sustainability
How Do the Olympics Connect People, Athletics, and Art?
DMA student Tyler Mazone, wearing a grey suit jacket, raises his hand to conduct student musicians.
  • Accessibility
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Tyler Mazone: Composing Beyond the Sound
Rodney Whitaker
  • Faculty
  • Place
MSU jazz professor, Detroit jazz icon elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Portrait of Oscar Rodriguez Quiroz
  • Faculty
  • Place
  • Students
Graduate Student Honored for Bringing Hispanic Golden-Age Drama to MSU
An MSU student CoLaborator leans over part of the exhibition to engage in conversation with a visitor
  • Innovation
  • Students
Creating Conversations: Inside MSU Museum’s CoLaborator program
Photo of Liv Furman wearing black in front of colorful quilt she created.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
Exploring Connections Within Teaching, Learning, and Quilt Praxis
Two performers dancing
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
  • Sustainability
Across Oceans: Small Island Big Song’s Residency at Wharton Center
Headshot of Abel Korinsky
  • Innovation
  • Place
International artist visiting MSU for residency at intersection of art, science and technology
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
  • Students
Las Alas Invisibles exhibition recognizes migrant farmworkers
Photo of red dress with sunlight shining through
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
‘REDress Project’ comes to MSU
Photo of two visitors in The CORE looking at sculptural work from Africa
  • Accessibility
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
MSU is transforming the art museum experience
Grace Krajewski dances in front of a projection art installation in the STEM building
  • Innovation
  • Place
  • Students
Student view: Bringing STEM and the arts together
Seven students stand in front of exhibition text.
  • Innovation
  • Students
A third space
Mannequins wear two green and white designs, on display in the Spartan Bookstore
  • Innovation
  • Students
  • Sustainability
MSU students earn fashion week trip with sustainable designs
University student lays on a sofa in an outdoor living room set up and throws football in the air.
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
MSU explores intersection of arts and sports
Graduate Katie Quinlan holds up a poster she designed herself at Ford Field
  • Alumni
  • Place
From a Spartan to a Lion
Kelly Salchow MacArthur rowing with three other teammates.
  • Accessibility
  • Faculty
  • Place
MSU professor and olympian part of Olympian Artists Program
Five MSU students and MSU Museum staffer Caroline White pose in front of the exhibition
  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Students
MSU students partner with the Smithsonian and MSU Museum
Three women hold up a poster they designed to promote their wellness activities.
  • Innovation
  • Students
  • Wellness
Innovative course uses creative arts to combat stress
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
MSU Museum, Smithsonian partner to preserve work by African American artists
  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Place
MSU Broad Art Museum expands access to permanent collection with ‘The CORE’
  • Accessibility
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
Professor returns to her native community for 1855 Professorship
  • Alumni
  • Place
Expanding exhibitions at the MSU Broad Art Museum
  • Alumni
  • Innovation
  • Wellness
Merging the medical and music worlds
  • Innovation
  • Place
  • Students
The MSU Museum is “rethinking its strategy and solidifying its place on campus”
Actor from the Department of Theatre cast performing The STEAM Plays at a local elementary school.
  • Innovation
  • Students
Making a case for STEAM over STEM with new musical
Judith
  • Place
  • Wellness
Can the arts help us feel more connected to a place?
MSU professor Kinitra Brooks asks us to consider who is the monster in horror.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
How Black horror helps us understand cultural anxieties
Kota Ezawa,
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
MSU Broad merges sports, art, and social justice
A student studying at the Beal Botanical Garden
  • Place
  • Students
  • Wellness
Art and Nature in the Beal Botanical Garden
A photo of a teenager performing on stage
  • Accessibility
  • Inclusive Excellence
The opportunity of a lifetime with Wharton Center
Image of colorful abstract artwork on the wall in the College of Music
  • Place
  • Students
At MSU, public art is essential
Images collected from a photovoice project by Wiba Anung. Photos: Shiloh Maples and Kat Jacques
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
Beyond collaboration at the CoLab Studio
Image of exhibition with timeline of information, Zaha Hadid designed chairs, and large abstract photo mural
  • Innovation
  • Place
The inspired mind of Zaha Hadid
Alexis Black directs two women in a black box theatre through an intimate scene
  • Faculty
  • Innovation
  • Students
Supporting staged intimacy
A comic book drawing of a young boy and girl. The girl asks the boy
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Innovation
  • Sustainability
Drawing high schoolers to STEM with plants and creativity
Luke Haight. Courtesy photo.
  • Students
Graduate voice: The power of music and travel
Dr. Jon Frey (right) with MSU student Ally Miscikoski (left), a senior Studio Art major, during the 2023 Ceramic Arts in Greece Study Abroad.
  • Innovation
  • Students
Students create ceramics inspired by study abroad
A photo of Beal Botanical Garden
  • Place
  • Sustainability
  • Wellness
150 Years of connecting people, plants, and place
Students wearing headphones working on laptops to create beats, sounds, poetry, and more.
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Students
Research project reimagines artmaking
Class works in the the 360 Degree Visualization Room, surrounded by images and text related to the women they were studying
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Innovation
  • Students
Students raise awareness of monuments women
Maya Schuhknecht winning Miss Michigan, wearing green dress with sash and crown.
  • Accessibility
  • Students
  • Wellness
MSU graphic design graduate crowned Miss Michigan 2023
Kelly Salchow MacArthur's hands holding a designed poster covering her face, mostly yellow and grey.
  • Accessibility
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
Professor receives award for vote campaign
Quilt
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Place
Quilt gives peek into Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood
Photo of film professor Peter Johnson interviewing Stanford W. Carpenter
  • Faculty
  • Inclusive Excellence
  • Innovation
Afrofuturism explored in new documentary by MSU Professors
CMS-D students performing
  • Accessibility
  • Inclusive Excellence
$1 Million MSUFCU gift brings music dreams to life