The Michigan State University Museum received an Art Works Award from the National Endowment for the Arts to help support the Michigan Traditional Arts Program.
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 campus.
“The arts reflect the vision, energy and talent of America’s artists and arts organizations,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support organizations such as the MSU Museum in serving their communities by providing excellent and accessible arts experiences.”
The MSU Museum received NEA funding in the Folk and Traditional Arts category. Other grants were awarded in the areas of arts education, dance, design, literature, theater and visual arts.
The NEA funds will also support the development of digital resources that will tap this documentation to increase public awareness of these rich and varied cultural treasures of the state,” said Marsha MacDowell, MSU Museum curator of folk arts and director of the MSU Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Program.
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.
In addition to year-round research, exhibitions, collections and programs, the MSU Museum will share a sampling of traditional arts apprenticeships and the Michigan Heritage Awards, honoring the state's top tradition-bearers at its Great Lakes Folk Festival, Aug. 11-13 in downtown East Lansing.