Press Release

The Friends of Kresge Art Museum to Host Benefit for Art Museum Expansion

July 22, 2005                         

  *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***                  

Contact:  Susan J. Bandes, Director,              517-353-9836 bandes@msu.edu 

Mike Cook, Chair, Twilight in the   Garden, 517-355-8522 cookchar@msu.edu

The Friends of Kresge Art Museum to Host Benefit for Art Museum Expansion

East Lansing, Michigan. — The 6^th annual Twilight in the Garden fundraiser for the Kresge Art Museum is Sunday, September 11, from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the James B. Henry Center for Executive Development.  Tickets start at $100.

Proceeds from this annual event, organized by a committee of over 20 volunteers, will benefit the Kresge Art Museum Facilities Fund for an expanded art museum.  Architectural plans include a north and south wing incorporating a stunning view of the Red Cedar River, the campus, and the Alumni Chapel as a backdrop to the collections. A rooftop sculpture gallery, and spaces for educational and social programs and activities, and two terraces, along with areas designed to accommodate special collections are part of the design.  The space will triple the size of the existing museum.

Kresge Art Museum Director, Susan J. Bandes is excited about the new addition, “This will enhance the capabilities of the museum to meet the needs of the community.  Kresge Art Museum already serves as the Capitol area’s art museum with a national reputation and is recognized within the museum profession.  Our collection and community deserve a handsome facility for entertainment and education of all.”

The only accredited art museum in mid-Michigan, Kresge Art Museum has raised $3 million of the targeted 17 million dollars entirely from private donations.  The collection, which has doubled since 1982, houses 7,000 art works that span over a thousand years of human history from ancient Cycladic figures to examples by famous modern artists such as Salvador Dali, Alexander Calder, Joseph Cornell, and Duane Hanson. The expansion is slated to coincide with the museum’s 50^th anniversary in 2009.

Twilight will start in the late afternoon on the patio overlooking the Forest Akers golf course and continue in the atrium.  The work of featured artists Kim Kaufman, Sharon Griffes Tarr, and Steven “Z” Sayles will be on display. The live jazz of Sunny Wilkinson and Ron Newman will provide entertainment during the gourmet dinner and silent and live auctions.  Local celebrity Chris Holman will be the auctioneer.

The Friends of Kresge Art Museum and honorary chairs Jennifer M. Granholm and David G. Mulhern, Representative Gretchen Whitmer and Gary Shrewsbury, Dr. Kim Wilcox, Provost, MSU, and Diane Del Buono, Melanie Foster, Board of Trustees, MSU, and John Foster, and Dr. Milton E. Muelder will host the event. 

General Motors and the Rehmann Group lead a host of sponsors underwriting the event. 

For more information about Twilight and the expansion visit www.artmuseum.msu.edu, or call 517-353-9834.

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