Park West Foundation Partners with Michigan State University’s Broad Art Museum
They will provide unique learning opportunities, art education, and art experiences to students and schools in need throughout Michigan.
The Park West Foundation will partner with the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University (MSU Broad Art Museum) to provide unique learning opportunities, art education, and art experiences to students and schools in need throughout Michigan.
Due to budget cuts and a deficit of art programs throughout Michigan, art education and art programs have been drastically reduced or even eliminated from school curriculums. Through the Park West Foundation program In the Making: Young Minds at the MSU Broad Art Museum, more than 16,125 art experiences have been provided to underserved youth in the East Lansing community over the last year.
“We are so proud to offer unique learning opportunities to K-12 students, MSU students, and local teachers throughout the mid-Michigan region,” said Meghan Collins, Museum Educator for K-12 and Family Programs at the MSU Broad Art Museum and Assistant Professor of Art Education in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design. Collins, who has been honored as the 2025 Museum Educator of the Year by the Michigan Art Education Association, continued, “Not all schools in our community have a well-funded arts program, and we are so proud to be able to bring our programs into the community.”
Program initiatives and accomplishments include classroom visits, which helped introduce the visual arts to more than 6,300 students; facilitating free family day programs for more than 4,682 participants; engaging with more than 2,300 youths at museum visits; connecting 1,515 youths to artwork through virtual spaces; and creating art with more than 1,200 students in classrooms. In addition, 12 Michigan State University students completed a combined 4,500 hours of experiential learning through direct engagement with 53 community schools and 90 teachers throughout Lansing.
“It is an honor to work alongside the prestigious MSU Broad Art Museum in providing these dynamic art experiences back to the incredible students and schools of Michigan, who have seen their art programs cut due to unfortunate budget deficits,” said Diane Pandolfi, Director at Park West Foundation. “One of the founding principles of Park West Gallery and the Park West Foundation is making art available to everybody through art awareness, education, and the promotion of a wide spectrum of artists.”
Pandolfi continued, “It is a thrill to view the enthusiasm of the elementary-aged students first-hand, as the MSU ‘Scaglione Scholars’ engaged the children in interactive art experiences. The parent chaperones were impressed watching the children moving throughout the museum, eagerly embracing and enjoying a variety of art experiences.”
Intentionally positioned where Michigan State’s campus meets Downtown East Lansing, the MSU Broad Art Museum is home to more than 20,000 square feet of gallery space featuring local, national, and International Artists, a permanent collection of over 10,000 works, and dynamic public programs. For more information on the MSU Broad Art Museum, please visit www.broadmuseum.msu.edu.
For more information on Park West Foundation, please visit parkwestfoundation.org. Keep up with Park West Gallery on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube at @ParkWestGallery.
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