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May 2008
Museum and Museum-Related News items are listed in descending chronological order.
Museums as agents of social change
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MSU MUSEUM MARKS INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY MAY 16
On Friday, May 16, the MSU Museum marks International Museum Day by joining museums across the nation and around the world to celebrate the role museums play in our lives.
This year's theme, "Museums as Agents of Social Change and Development" invites museums to take action around the globe. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) headquartered in Paris, France, first created the mid-May Museum Day celebration in 1977. Each year ICOM selects a different theme to honor museums, reflecting their diversity of roles and positive impact on our communities.
"While traditionally museums are known for their collections, more and more museums are taking an active key role in exploring social issues with communities to contribute to their development, says Alissandra Cummins, president of ICOM. "The educational and ethical function of the museum is to engage culturally diverse contemporary communities through exhibitions and workshops and their design. International Museum Day shows that it is possible to gather together in a new way to interpret the past in a light of the present to shape a better future," she adds.
Debuting at the MSU Museum for International Museum Day:
-The MSU Museum presents the mid-Michigan debut of a dramatic 90-foot+ Middle East Peace Quilt, an international community art project which brings together many individuals' visions of peace in the Middle East. The project was started by Elizabeth Shefrin, a fabric artist from Vancouver, British Columbia, believing a visual image can often speak where words fail. Over 300 people from all over the world have made squares for the quilt. Participants come from a variety of backgrounds, including Jewish and Palestinian, and include people of all ages, beginners as well as professional artists. The peace quilt, which has toured through the U.S. and beyond over the past 10 years, is being dismantled and sold following the MSU Museum showing. (Learn more at: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/quilt/index.html .) Sponsors of the Middle East Peace Quilt at the MSU Museum are the MSU Peace and Justice Studies Program and Jewish Studies Program.
This special installation will also be featured as part of the College of Arts & Letters' 'Cool U' program in arts and humanities on May 16. (See: http://www.cal.msu.edu/OneDayU.php )
Also ongoing are two special exhibitions addressing human rights and social justice:
- "Quilts and Human Rights," on view through Aug. 24 in the Main Floor Gallery - a powerful exhibition of works made by fiber artists to demonstrate solidarity with movements dedicated to advancing international human rights, to mark important events related to human rights violations, to pay tribute to those individuals who have played roles in human rights activism, to provide vehicles for the expression of feelings and memories about human rights violations, and to engage individuals in actions that will solve human rights issues.
- "The International Print Portfolio: Artists' Expressions of Universal Human Rights," on view through Aug. 10 in the West Gallery. The prints featured in this exhibition were produced by a diverse group of artists from all over the world, from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to Australia and the Americas. These striking, sometimes disturbing works are accompanied by artist biographies and statements by the artists that reveal their individual perspectives on issues of art and human rights.
"University students, faculty, community organizations, youth, and the general public have found the work presented to be inspiring, provocative and empowering," observes MSU Museum Director C. Kurt Dewhurst. "Responses to the exhibits and the dialogue that has emerged demonstrates the rich role museums can play as a safe and welcoming place to explore and constructively respond to international as well as local issues in collective action for positive social change. "
2007-2008 features a special human rights exhibit theme at the MSU Museum, and this year also marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The MSU Museum is Michigan's natural history and culture museum and the state's first Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The MSU Museum collects, preserves, studies and interprets cultural artifacts and natural history specimens, with collections numbering more than 1 million in four buildings on the MSU campus. One of the oldest museums in the midwest, the MSU Museum is committed to education, exhibitions, research and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes and the world beyond.
The MSU Museum features three floors of special collections and changing exhibits and is open seven days a week free of charge (donations are encouraged). Located on West Circle Drive next to Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus, the MSU Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. Hours are Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. -5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Visitor parking is available in front of the building and at metered spaces at the Grand River Ramp, one block away at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Charles Street. For more information, call (517) 355-2370 or see http://museum.msu.edu.
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Explore a world of possibilities in your backyard!
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MSU MUSEUM JOINS ANNUAL 'BE A TOURIST IN YOUR OWN TOWN' DAY
Be A Tourist In Your Own Town is coordinated by the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau and serves to acquaint area residents with hospitality-related businesses and attractions in order to create local "ambassadors" who will spread the word about Greater Lansing. The goal is to familiarize residents with the leisure options that are available in their own backyard so that when a visitor asks, "what's there to do in town," each and every resident can respond with countless suggestions and a sense of community pride.
This year's event is scheduled for Saturday, May 31, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout downtown Lansing and East Lansing. The cost of participation is only a $1 "passport" and includes admission area attractions, free refreshments, eligibility for special prize packages, and much more. CATA buses run special Be A Tourist routes and rides are just 50 cents.
MSU destinations on the tour include:
- Beaumont Tower
- MSU Bug House
- MSU Bikes Service Center
- MSU Community Music School
- MSU Concert Auditorium/Fairchild Theatre/Department of Theatre
- MSU Dairy Store
- MSU Horticulture Gardens
- MSU 4H Children's Gardens
- MSU Museum
- Kresge Art Museum
- W.J. Beal Botanical Gardens
Other highlights among the nearly-60 attractions participating: Boars Head Theatre of Lansing, Cooley Gardens, Elderly Instruments, Fenner Nature Center, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing Board of Water & Light - John Dye Water Processing Plant (and historic murals), Lansing Fire Station #41, Lansing Lugnuts, Lansing Sailing Club, Preuss Pets, and Ranney Skate Park.
Passports are on sale at the Lansing Mall, Meridian Mall, Impression 5 Science Center, AAA Michigan - Grand River Ave. location, the downtown CATA station and at the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau. Passports are also available the day of the event.
The CVB is looking for people to join the GLCVB as volunteers to assist participants with directions and general information. All volunteers will receive a t-shirt, lunch, and an opportunity to act as an ambassador for Greater Lansing! Shifts are from 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. or 12:45 p.m. - 5 p.m. To volunteer on Saturday, May 31, please contact Brandie Putnam at bputnam@lansing.org or 517-377-1430.
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WKAR RADIO FEATURES HYENA PROJECT
This week WKAR radio featured MSU Museum Adjunct Curator and Professor of Zoology Kay Holekamp about her hyena research that was recently featured in the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine. Check out the audio link here http://wkar.org/morningedition/story.php?storyid=1303 .
Kay mentions the MSU Museum and described the hyena skull CT scanning project with colleagues including Curator Barb Lundrigan.
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Check out City Pulse's feature this week: Greater Lansing Readers' Choice 'Best of the Best' poll. The MSU Museum is featured in the "Best Museum" top 3, and the MSU Museum's Great Lakes Folk Festival is in the Best Annual Event/Festival top 3.