EAST LANSING, MI.- LaSalle Bank made a gift to Michigan State University’s Kresge Art Museum that will provide exhibition space dedicated to photography in the planned museum expansion. The 750-square-foot LaSalle Bank Photography Gallery will showcase works of art from the museum’s collection in addition to temporary and traveling exhibits. The space is designed to be flexible, allowing variety in the look of the gallery suited to each exhibit installation and to serve as a study area for photographs from the collection.

LaSalle Bank Midwest CEO Mark A. Hoppe presented MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon with a $250,000 check to name the photography gallery during a reception last month at the LaSalle Bank Midwest headquarters in Troy.

“LaSalle Bank is proud to support the MSU Art Museum project,” Hoppe said. “A world-class university such as MSU deserves a world-class art museum. This gift builds on our long-standing relationship with Michigan State, which spans more than 60 years.”

LaSalle Bank’s decision to fund the photography gallery relates directly to the bank’s own collection, widely regarded as on of the finest photography collections in private hands, according to Susan Bandes, director of the art museum. LaSalle’s collection ranges from work from the beginnings of photography in the mid-19th century to contemporary examples. Many are on display at the corporate headquarters in Chicago as well as Chicago area LaSalle Bank branch offices, and have been lent for exhibitions internationally.

“Michigan State University is grateful for this gift to the art museum campaign that demonstrates, once again, the strong partnership between LaSalle Bank and MSU,” Simon said. “LaSalle Bank’s support of so many programs at MSU – from athletics to academics to the arts – demonstrates not only MSU’s many strengths, but also that our corporate partners recognize the value of a well-rounded arts and sciences education.”

Founded in 1959, the Kresge Art Museum is the only accredited art museum in mid-Michigan. More than half of the museum’s collection consists of works on paper, prints, drawings and photographs, including nearly 1,000 photographs spanning from the 19th century to the present.

Although American photography is most strongly represented, current collection initiatives aim to develop a comprehensive survey of the history of photography, according to Bandes, who added that the developing focus on photography is supported and driven by the increased interest in the medium from the museum’s patrons and students.

“This gift from LaSalle Bank is significant to the art museum in many ways,” said Bandes. “It helps provide momentum to us during this campaign and funds an important component of the project.”

Funding for the new museum is a priority of The Campaign for MSU, the current $1.2 billion fundraising initiative. There are still several naming opportunities, including the museum itself. Many spaces have already been funded, including the Renaissance and Baroque Gallery, a works on paper gallery, learning center, art terrace and discovery gallery. More than $4.5 million has been raised to date.

The architectural design of the expansion will give the Art Museum a dramatic identity and make it more visible, more inviting and more accommodating to visitors, according to Bandes. The exhibition space will double, allowing for a greater portion of the collection’s strong holdings of 7,000 pieces – ranging from ancient to modern art – to be on display and to more adequately host major traveling exhibitions. The plan is to open the new art museum in conjunction with its 50th anniversary in 2009.