Broad Museum Art Lab Encourages Collaboration with Public

The MSU Broad Museum recently opened the Broad MSU Art Lab, which made its debut in May 14. Located at 565 East Grand River Avenue, the Broad’s website says the Lab “welcomes the MSU and greater Lansing community to experiment with us as we break outside the confines of the museum walls.”

Whitney Stoepel-Brewer, the Broad Museum’s Director of Public Relations and Marketing, recently talked to ELi about the project, and how it might impact the community.

“The MSU Broad Art Lab is a collaborative venue that bridges the MSU campus to the greater Lansing area through art. It’s also place where we can display our collection. The idea behind the Art Lab was to create a testing ground for experimentation and a place to start conversations with those in our community.” Stoepel-Brewer said. “The Art Lab will have different programming than the museum itself that will really draw on community collaboration. Both the museum and the Art Lab have galleries dedicated to showing our treasured collection. Our planning schedule for the museum is years out, and the Art Lab is a space that will allow us to be more flexible and responsive.”

The Lab is located directly across the street from the museum, and is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from noon until 4:00 p.m.

The current exhibit is entitled “Mining the Collection,” and features works focusing on diversity and the synergy of many people, selected by eleven MSU students from the Broad’s over 8,000 pieces

“The Art Lab is a testing ground for applied research in the museum field so we worked closely with students and faculty from the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, Museum Studies, and the MSU Art History Student Association to select relevant works and write the accompanying labels.” Stoepel-Brewer said. “Everything that happens in the Art Lab is a collaborative effort.”

The Lab is also working to feature many different forms of art, including music and film.

“We’ll have all sorts of events in the space. We are especially excited that the Art Lab offers different things than the museum. Performance space is limited in the museum, so the Art Lab is a great addition for events,” Stoepel-Brewer said.

With its focus on community engagement, the Lab is encouraging the public to be a part of the process.

“Our upcoming programming is focused on the studio process and education.” Stoepel-Brewer said. “Every Thursday, people can drop in to make something. ‘Ask Me Saturdays’ are all about learning about the exhibitions. And we have a really cool pirate printmaking workshop based on the Berlin-based artist collective Raubdruckerin.”

So far the response to the Lab has been positive, and Stoepel-Brewer is looking forward to watching it evolve.

“We would love to see more ideas from the community.” Stoepel-Brewer said. “The Art Lab should represent the community, so collaboration is important. Since our opening over the weekend of the East Lansing Arts Fest, attendance has been impressive and we hope it continues to grow.”

More information on the MSU Broad Art Lab is available here.