Kresge Art Museum records

Record Group

Identifier: UA-16.15.2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The majority of this collection consists of the various exhibits that the Kresge Art Museum hosted from the 1960s to the 2000s. In the exhibit materials are brochures, correspondence, news releases, photographs, inventory of art pieces, and condition reports. The rest of this collection is made up of press clippings and releases, and publications about the Kresge Art Museum. The Friends of the Kresge Art Gallery materials include board meeting minutes, brochures about joinging the Friends, bylaws, newsletters, and membership lists. The Docent Program materials also includes the docent meeting minutes, history of the program, and newsletters.

Included also teacher's packets for docent guided programs, various workshop information, and history of the museum. There are restricted materials, such as insurance costs and inventory of the collection, but those materials are back-up copies of the Kresge and Broad Art Museum holdings. Anybody asking to view those materials must contact the Registrar at the Broad Art Museum.

Dates

Creation: 1963 - 2010

Creator

Kresge Art Museum (Donor, Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Historical Note

The Kresge Art Museum began at Michigan State University in 1930 when the Art Department first began to publicly display various art works. For many years it did not have a permanent home so the small collection moved to various locations on campus. In 1945, three Mexican retablos were donated to the Art Department which established the official art collection at the University. With the backing of the Kresge Foundation in 1959, the new Kresge Art Center was constructed for the Art Department and an area known as the Gallery was established near the front to house the collection. In 1984 the name was changed to the Kresge Art Museum. To help campaign for a new and bigger museum, the Better Art Museum (BAM) committee was formed in 1999. In 2007, MSU announced a $26 million gift from Eli and Edythe Broad to build a new museum. In 2009, the Kresge Art Museum celebrated its 50th Anniversary, but the museum closed in July 2011 to make way for the opening of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.