EAST LANSING, MI.- As it prepares to open to the public in fall 2012, the
Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University (Broad/MSU) continues to build its international leadership team with three new staff appointments. Beijing-based curator and critic Dr. Wang Chunchen, a recipient of the prestigious Contemporary Chinese Art Award for art criticism, joins the Broad/MSU as Adjunct Curator. The museum has also appointed Marcia Crawley, formerly of the Salvador Dali Museum , as Development Director, and Dan Hirsch, formerly of the Museum of Fine Arts , Boston and Emerson College , as Curator of Performances and Public Programs.
“I am thrilled to be working with such an accomplished group to realize our mission to explore culture and ideas through international contemporary art in the university environment,” said founding director Michael Rush. “Their diverse perspectives are helping to shape an incredibly rich and engaging program, which audiences are already beginning to experience in the Countdown to the Broad events and exhibitions underway across MSU’s campus.”
Beijing-based curator and critic Dr. Wang Chunchen, joining the Broad/MSU as Adjunct Curator, will work with Rush to develop an ambitious program of exhibitions and events exploring contemporary art from China and the Far East . Chunchen is Head of the Department of Curatorial Research of the art museum at China ’s Central Academy of Fine Arts. He has published widely on Chinese contemporary art and artists, and received numerous awards for his art criticism. In 2009, he won the Chinese Contemporary Art Award to support the development of “Art Intervenes in Society—A New Artistic Relationship,” which examines works of art inserted into everyday social situations in order to question political and artistic norms. Chunchen has organized numerous international exhibitions including CAFAM Biennale 2011: Super-Organism ( Beijing , September 2011), Infinity (Galerie Iris Schuhmacher, Berlin , June 2009), and Mixed Maze (Red Mansion Foundation, London , November 2008).
Marcia Crawley has joined the Broad/MSU as Development Director, leading the final stages of the fundraising campaign for the new museum and garnering support for future exhibitions and programs. Crawley previously served as Director of Development for the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg , Florida , where she was instrumental in ensuring that the museum exceeded its $36 million capital campaign goal in time for its opening in January 2011. She also worked as a television news reporter in the Tampa Bay area, and won an Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in broadcasting, as well as a regional Emmy nomination for investigative journalism.
As Curator of Performances and Public Programs, Dan Hirsch will collaborate with a wide range of university departments to develop a diverse lineup of events for the Museum. Hirsch most recently served as Director of Music Programs for ArtsEmerson, the new office of the arts for Emerson College , and brings to the Broad/MSU extensive experience in producing concerts and intermedia performances. He previously oversaw the concert program at the Museum of Fine Arts , Boston , where he helped grow and reshape the series to feature a dynamic range of emerging and established artists across genres and borders. He also served as Director of Music Programs at World Music/CRASHarts, where he presented a similarly eclectic mix of artists at venues including the Institute of Contemporary Arts/Boston , the Berklee Performance Center , and Sanders Theatre at Harvard. Among the artists he is credited with debuting or breaking in Boston are Antony and the Johnsons, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Bon Iver, The Books, Jose Gonzalez, Joanna Newsom, St. Vincent and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings.
