Michael Rush takes the reins as founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University this weekend:
"Personally I think this is the most extraordinary opportunity in contemporary arts in the States right now."
The contemporary art scholar moved from New York to East Lansing to kick start the new museum.
Listen to an excerpt of his conversation with Michigan Radio's Jennifer Guerra:
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-945707.mp3
Rush's first day on the job is Saturday, Jan. 15, though the museum isn't set to open until spring of 2012.
Rush says tackling the museum’s budget is the first thing he’ll do as Broad Art Museum director. He also wants to reach out to students to get them involved in the museum:
"I want students to be interning throughout the museum, I’m hoping will have students become docents in the museum, I’m hoping there will be a student committee for the museum, meaning that student activities will happen there. I want this to be a hub for students, a place for them to bring their laptops and hang out, a place where they feel welcome and feel at home and also feel challenged by some of the things that go on there. So yeah, we’re hoping to be quite a vibrant part of the university community."
Rush has written several books about contemporary art and was previously art director at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art.
Linda Stanford led the MSU search committee that chose Rush:
"He understands and respects artists, and cares about the kind of messages that they want to convey through their art work. He also understands the importance of engaging different communities in different ways."
