MSU Broad Art Museum

Things we did at the museum this week! New events, exhibitions, and summer memories are on the way ☀️ Plan your visit at the link in our bio.

The 2026 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition closes this weekend, and we’re not ready to say goodbye. 🥹 Spend some time with the work of this year’s artists—Yeroham Ashagre, Hailey Becker, Niloufar Fallahfar, Vadu Rodrigues, and Alex Vlasov—before the exhibition closes on Sunday, May 17. Plan your visit at the link in our bio. Support for this exhibition is provided by the @msugradschool and the John and Susan Berding Family Endowment. 📸: 2026 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition installation views at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, 2026. Photos: Alex Nichols

What happens to us as humans—our shared humanity—living in algorithmic societies? Artist Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm and her studio ARTificial Mind developed “Synthetic Sirens”, an interactive installation built from generative machine-learning models and AI programs. The project explores what it means to live within algorithmic societies that not only influence what we see, but also how we feel about ourselves. As part of the @msufcu Arts Power Up Artist-in-Residency Program, Falkenstrøm collaborated with students in @msucomartsci to create this ever-changing work. This iteration of the program developed out of a partnership between Arts MSU; MSU Department of Advertising and Public Relations, MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences; MSU Broad Art Museum; and the MSU Ethics Institute. “Synthetic Sirens” is now on view through July 12 @msubroad .

Alex Vlasov (@alexey_esenin ), a 2026 MFA candidate in @msu_aahd , has his thesis work on display at the @msubroad through May 17. Vlasov’s work includes a series of painted words arranged with unconventional breaks, as well as drawings that explore color, shape, and spatial relationships. He is also exhibiting sculptures made from construction materials and other found objects. He encourages viewers to look for connections across his work and remain open to the emotions his art may evoke. Vlasov, a native of Russia, came to the U.S. without knowing a single word of English. His passion for art was sparked by works from Philip Guston, Cy Twombly, and Jackson Pollock at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. He earned his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2023 before continuing his studies at MSU. Vlasov plans to return to New York to continue his artistic career while pursuing a tenure-track teaching position. "I've had a lot of fun being here," Vlasov said. "The Broad is a great museum, and the proximity to the museums and galleries in Detroit and Chicago was invaluable.

What’s in a muse? Curated by two recent @michiganstateu grads and MSU Broad Art Museum Student Creatives—Nat Swartz (class of 2025) and Morgan Braswell (class of 2024 + 2026)—the exhibition Who is She?: Andy Warhol and the Muse Reimagined invites you to dive deeper into the dialogue between artists, their muses, and the relationship of worldviews projected in portraiture. Who is She? is on view May 30–July 2, 2026! Learn more at the link in our bio. 📸 1 Andy Warhol, Marilyn, 1967. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Jones, 74.70. © 2026 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. 2 Andy Warhol, Sandra Brant, date unknown. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 2008.8.55. © 2026 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. 3 David Lawrence, Untitled, date unknown. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, gift of the artist in memory of Leo J. Cohen, 2001.25.1 4 Elliott Erwitt, Jackie Kennedy at Funeral, 1963. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, gift of Fred Stein, 82.16.10 5 Andy Warhol, Juliana Siu, 1981. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 2008.8.4. © 2026 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Nabil Kanso’s “The Studio” (or “The Artist in his Studio”) has been acquired by the Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University. The Artist In His Studio (1981), or The Studio, is an outlier in Kanso’s practice, but nonetheless an important one. The work depicts the artist in his fictitious studio as robots engage and converse, with the robot becoming the painter and the humans its subject. Within the portrait being painted by the robot, it appears the robot has inserted itself as the romantic interest of the female model, creating an interesting commentary on the overreach of technology and the ways it consumes humans. This painting is rather prescient in relation to contemporary issues, including debates on “AI art.” Likewise, Kanso’s message on the overbearing prevalence of technology and its impact on humanity appears as a premonition, 40 years early, and in its somewhat humorous and satiric approach, still considers the affective dimensions of the human experience. The multifaceted and complex nature of this piece will make it a valuable teaching and learning resource for students and faculty in Digital Humanities & Storytelling, Communications, Studio Art, and Art History & Visual Culture. The Nabil Kanso Estate extends our sincere gratitude to curator @rachelelisewinter and the entire @msubroad team for championing Kanso’s work and making this acquisition possible, which follows the Museum’s 2025 exhibition Nabil Kanso: Echoes of War. The Studio, or The Artist In His Studio 1981 Oil on canvas 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm) Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, purchase, funded by the Emma Grace Holmes Endowment, 2026.1

You did it! Congrats to the graduating class of 2026! 🎓 To our graduating student employees—THANK YOU. We’re so excited to see where you go next. 💚 Stay in touch, promise? 📸: 1 Natalie Blake

Our happy place. Plan your serotonin boost at the link in our bio 🤗

Your major = this artwork! 🎨 Don’t see your major? Browse our collection, find a piece that speaks to you, and send it our way. We’d love to share your pick! 🔍 Click the link in our bio to explore our collection online.

Without darkness, who are we? 🌒 Jan Tichy: Darkness was recently featured in The New York Times! In developing the exhibition, Tichy collaborated with @michiganstateu researchers from the Hoffmann Lab, Yan Lab, Bug House, Controlled-Environment Lighting Laboratory, and Abrams Planetarium, exploring how darkness and light impacts rhythms of nature, circadian cycles, and the broader environment. 🔍 Want to learn more? Read the NYT article at the link in our bio! Jan Tichy: Darkness is on view through July 26, 2026. Support for this exhibition is provided by the Eli and Edythe Broad Endowed Exhibitions Fund, @msufcu , and @artiscontemporary . 📸: Anthony Valli/Arts MSU

How can we learn from the past to envision brighter futures for all? Opening August 22, We Are This Land: Meditations on the Great American Experiment is a group exhibition taking over nearly all the museum's main galleries. Organized around five themes—Civic Lessons, History Lessons, The Living Room, The Map Room, and The Land and Its Peoples—the exhibition encourages open dialogue while providing critical perspectives on the place this nation occupies within larger timelines of history and the world around us. Mark your calendars for We Are This Land! Learn more at the link in our bio. 📸: 1 Tyree Guyton, Lunch Break, from the Birdcage Series, 1994. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, purchase, funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, 2002.2.1 2 Duane Linklater, dislodgevanishskinground, 2019. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, purchase, funded by the Nellie M. Loomis Endowment in memory of Martha Jane Loomis, 2023.18.1 3 John Halaka, Souls that Teach Us – Angela Davis, from the series Landscapes of Resistance, 2021. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Michigan State University, purchase, funded by the Nellie M. Loomis Endowment in memory of Martha Jane Loomis

“What does darkness offer you? “Jan Tichy: Darkness” is a multi-sensory exhibition @msubroad that explores how light and darkness shape our relationship to the natural world. As part of his work on campus, artist Jan Tichy created an immersive planetarium experience diving deeper into the research that informed the exhibition. Guided by the voices of the researchers involved and the artist himself, this show invites audiences to see their campus surroundings in new and profound ways.  Experience it this Friday, April 17th 6:00pm-8:00pm at “Night at the Museum” in the mobile planetarium @msubroad . Or catch “Learning from Noctalgia: The Art and Science of Darkness” this Saturday, April 18th 12:15pm-12:45 and 2:15pm-2:45pm @abramsplanetarium .