Advisory board named for Broad Art Museum

Organizers of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum will gain some additional expertise in the form of an advisory board whose members include art experts from across the country.

University officials last week announced the names of board members, including Graham W.J. Beal, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts; Michael Govan, director
of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Carl Koivuniemi, deputy chief planning and budget officer of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, among others.

The museum, which will be located on East Circle Drive across from Student Services, is set to break ground on March 16, 2010, and open sometime in 2012.

Linda Stanford, associate provost for academic services, said the board was created earlier this year and is a normal addition to this type of project.

“Most museums have advisory boards and, because this is a transformational opportunity, we wanted a board that included people who were very knowledgeable of museums and of the art world,” she said.

The board will give advice on the museum’s programming and operation, among other things, Stanford said.

“We wanted a board that had a perspective that was far-reaching,” she said.

Board members visited campus in September to discuss the project, said Lisa Mulcrone, senior communications manager with University Relations.

“They visited the site, they toured campus, they were briefed on the project itself and then they had brainstorming sessions on some things,” she said.

Dean of the MSU College of Arts and Letters Karin
Wurst said an advisory board will add to the museum’s prestige.

“The Broad Art Museum is going to be a really high-profile affair and it’s going to be a world-class museum,” she said.

“You would have a national advisory board because it gives it more clout.”

The members were chosen to provide some guidance for the museum, Stanford said.

“They were chosen based on their credentials, their accomplishments as professionals in different professional fields,” she said. “You’re dealing with art programming and you’re dealing with its operation. These are people that we thought could provide good guidance for us.”

Wurst said creating the board was a necessary step toward making the museum more credible.

“Not only is it expected, but it also makes a whole lot of sense,” she said.