Michigan State University will celebrate the 100th birthday of Selma Hollander, who’s been central to the fabric of the campus and mid-Michigan arts communities, from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Cowles House.
The private reception is open to media.
In 2002, the late Stanley and Selma Hollander received the MSU Alumni Association’s Philanthropist of the Year Award commemorating their first $1 million in contributions to MSU. Since then, 21 Hollander endowments have been established to support programs, students, faculty and facilities at various colleges and units at MSU, including Music, Arts and Letters, Business, Wharton Center for Performing Arts and MSU Libraries.
In a further show of support for the arts at MSU, the Hollanders gifted $1 million to the Eli and Edythe Broad Museum, naming a gallery, and is making the same leadership gift to the College of Music for a proposed addition and expansion project. The Hollanders are recognized in MSU’s prestigious Clifton R. Wharton Society.
“We tell our graduates to be Spartans for life, and I can just point to Selma and Stanley because they really personify it,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, who has prepared a video for the celebration. “I want to thank them for being a big part of the greatness at MSU and wish Selma the very best on this grandest of occasions.”
An artist herself, Hollander earned her bachelor’s degree in 1962 and her master’s degree in arts practice from the College of Arts and Letters in 1965. Asked to exhibit her artistry at the age of 100, Hollander will display a collection of screen prints at the Lansing Art Gallery from June 29 to July 2. She will also have a special exhibit in September, one of many events being planned to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Wharton Center.
Hollander said some of her proudest moments include receiving the College of Arts and Letters Distinguished Alumni Award and giving the 2012 commencement address to the undergraduate student body.
“If you enjoy the arts and going to performances and exhibits, then the arts are an important part of your life,” Hollander said. “You should find ways to give back, period.”
Co-sponsors of Sunday’s reception include the College of Music, College of Arts and Letters, Eli Broad College of Business, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, MSU Libraries, Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, WKAR and University Advancement.
It will include a performance by the Department of Theatre and an artist-faculty concert by the College of Music.