EAST LANSING, MI.- Michigan State University announced today an exceptional gift of $26 million from Eli Broad, renowned philanthropist and alumnus, and his wife, Edythe, to create a new art museum. Pending approval by the MSU Board of Trustees at its June 15 meeting, the new museum will be named the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. The museum will house the university’s art collection, currently located in the Kresge Art Museum.

The Broad contribution is the largest cash gift from an individual in the university’s history. MSU has raised an additional $6 million toward the project, including a $2 million gift from alumnus Edward Minskoff and his wife, Julie.

The new building will be the first on the MSU campus to face the central town thoroughfare, the Grand River Corridor, and is envisioned as a gateway between the university and the community. The Broad Art Museum will encourage greater educational and social interaction, enabling the museum to fulfill its dual role as a teaching institution and as a cultural hub serving the central Michigan region. The museum will serve as a teaching resource for students and faculty across all departments and university schools and will foster opportunities for a multidisciplinary curriculum.

From an original field of about 30 firms, the university has invited a shortlist of five celebrated and emerging architects to develop design proposals for the project: Zaha Hadid (London), Coop Himmelblau (Vienna/Los Angeles), Morphosis (Santa Monica), William Pedersen, Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects (New York), and Randall Stout (Los Angeles).

Noted critic and architect Joseph Giovannini has been hired to facilitate the design competition. Giovannini assembled a screening committee to select the final five firms on the shortlist. A jury will be named to choose the winning design.

The charge to the architectural firms is to present a design concept for a building that will stand out among the traditional brick Gothic campus and serve as a symbol of the university’s trajectory into the future. At the same time, the development of the museum site will honor the connection of old to new, incorporating mature specimen trees into a sculpture garden that will connect the new building to the landscape and its surruoundings.

The university has proposed a 42,000-square-foot building with a minimum of 26,000 square feet of galleries to accommodate both permanent and temporary exhibitions. New state-of-the-art facilities will allow for an increase in educational initiatives and programming such as lectures by visiting scholars, curators, artists and faculty; symposia; docent training; and special activities for families and public school groups.

The new museum will also provide the resources needed to stimulate and support collection growth, which will be focused on modern and contemporary works. Highlights of the university’s current holdings include: Greek and Roman antiquities; medieval and Renaissance illuminations; Old Master paintings; 19th century American paintings; 20th century sculpture by artists such as Alexander Calder and Jenny Holzer; and works by such contemporary artists as Chuck Close and Ann Hamilton.

The Broad Art Museum will add to the cultural vitality of the region, enhancing quality of life and economic development. It will also stand as a cornerstone of a revitalized arts district in the northeast section of the campus, where the new Residential College for Arts and Humanities will open in the fall and a new building for the College of Music is proposed.

“A great university needs a great museum, since the arts stimulate learning and creativity throughout the entire campus,” said Broad. “Speaking from personal experience, the arts have played a transformative role in my life, even though they were not the center of my studies at MSU. This museum -- and the iconic building that will bring it to life – will also serve as an important new resource for the people of central Michigan, making great art accessible to the millions of people who live and work within the region.”

“Eli Broad’s commitment to Michigan State University is extraordinary,” said President Lou Ann K. Simon, “and his generosity will have a lasting and transformational impact. With this second major gift to the university, he and Edythe are ensuring our students and faculty have the tools for learning and knowledge in the 21st century—a conception of multidisciplinary and global learning in which art and culture must be a part.

“But in the true land-grant spirit, the benefits of this world-class facility and its programs will extend far beyond the borders of campus,” Simon said. “This is a key component of cultural entrepreneurism that will make Michigan’s Capital Region more vital and attractive and provide a platform for extensive outreach and engagement to enrich the cultural and artistic education and appreciation of the entire community.”