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Michigan State University

Key Initiatives

Whole State.
Whole Self.

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Arts and WellbeingArts and Innovation

The arts are essential to the everyday fabric of MSU life, and integral to the educational approach, research activities, and day-to-day experience of the campus community. Key Arts MSU initiatives connect to MSU’s areas of excellence and bring the arts into our physical and cultural landscape.

Arts and Wellbeing

The science is clear—art is good for us. The arts at MSU are deeply invested in the wellbeing of our campus community. Experiences with the arts can help reduce stress, provide creative outlets for our emotions, and inspire feelings of joy and hope. They can help us connect both to the place that we’re in—this campus, our home—and to one another. Arts programming across campus supports wellness, encourage mindfulness, and allow us to take time out of our day to care for our full selves. In collaboration with University Health and Wellbeing, we are working to expand our arts and wellness opportunities into a visible program that helps everyone take advantage of what the arts can bring to our everyday life.

Arts4U

Experience art for students, by students. This recurring series of pop-up performances brings the arts out of their typical venues and into new spaces around campus. In alignment with the arts strategy’s goal to more deeply integrate the arts into MSU life, Arts4U gives students agency in developing the sorts of experiences they want to have.

Two women using a button maker
The entrance to Olin Health Center with flowers in front of it

Arts MSU and University Health and Wellbeing Artist-in-Residence 

To promotes a sense of belonging, wellness, and inclusivity among the MSU community through art, Arts MSU and University Health and Wellbeing have launched an Artist-in-Residence program at Olin Health Center. The Artist-in-Residence works closely with a diverse array of students and staff from the counseling and psychiatric services at Olin Health Center over the course of eight months to produce a community-engaged mural on MSU’s campus

The inaugural call for artists is now closed, but you can review the call for proposals at the link below.

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Arts and Innovation

Woman cultivating different strains of moss on a table

Arts at MSU transform our worldview, sparking empathy, resourcefulness, and an openness to think differently. The sorts of co-discovery and co-creation across fields through the arts enables the identification of new and complex problems—laying the groundwork for creative solutions and amplifying the broader impacts of knowledge generated at MSU towards the common good. The arts here integrate with the university’s strengths and expertise as a leading global research university, resulting in discoveries and experiences at the intersection of disciplines. 

MSUFCU Arts Power Up Programs

The MSUFCU Arts Power Up programs leverage MSU’s strengths in the arts and sciences to create innovations in research and learning. These targeted initiatives align the goals of MSU and the MSUFCU to create change that can be large-scale (a novel approach to a problem) or individual (altered educational and career outcomes). The program includes the MSUFCU Arts Power Up Art Residency and the MSUFCU Arts Power Up to Start-Up internships for high school students and MSU undergraduates.

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People looking at round projection of planet earth

The STEAMpower Project

The STEAMpower Project is MSU’s art, science, and culture collective. This group brings together faculty and graduate student fellows in a year-long arts/science research innovation initiative, along with MSUFCU Arts Power Up artists-in-residence.

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