MSU BROAD ART MUSEUM

Historically, the MSU Broad Art Museum collection has been searchable through established categories derived from Western Art History (i.e. Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Ancient art, and so on). These categories may still hold meaning, but we acknowledge they are also restrictive and tend to privilege Western cultures and values over other perspectives. In an effort to create more accessible, inclusive, and diverse ways to frame our collection, the museum’s team of curators developed new research areas and portals for the exploration of artworks from more varied perspectives and interests.

The proposed sections reflect lines of inquiry, topical concerns, and key research areas of our time—for instance, Race and Identity, Environment and Land Use, Biodiversity and Ecology, to name a few. These subjects were identified in direct response to faculty, community stakeholders, and visitor feedback. Works in the collection continue to be tagged and updated by students at the university in an ongoing, crowdsourced process, which itself captures the spirit and mood of our community’s key interests and concerns.

This reframing of our collection brings to the fore our shared human experience in confronting the key issues of our time, and moves us beyond the constraints of time and space. We hope the new search categories allow a wide and diverse group of online visitors to find something that directly speaks to them, and which reflects their present concerns and aspirations. Most of all we hope to better connect with you in the present, grounded in our diverse histories and backgrounds, with a view towards further engaging the role of art in our lives—long into the future.