Socially engaged Broad Museum director embraces faculty expertise and “complexity and creativity” of the building

<p>At the <a href="http://broadmuseum.msu.edu">MSU Broad</a>, her first initiative was a community-powered installation entitled Acts of Care, where local individuals submit nominations for honoring those who have taken care of our communities during this pandemic. </p><p>“The museum is a tremendous asset to be linked and nested in such a prominent and respected university as <a href="http://msu.edu">Michigan State University</a>,” Ramirez Montagut tells Spartans Athletic Director Bill Beekman. “What our university museum has that few other independent museums have is that we can actually go and chat with experts in any single field out there and have them contribute with their expertise to the art exhibitions. We can leverage that faculty expertise in many occasions to help us give context to some of the art that we have on view.</p><p>“Art museums are a lot of fun, which is why I work in one. They help us connect with each other. Art inspires us. Art gives us a lot of energy. It also stimulates our senses and our intellect. A lot of faculty members also enjoy this collaboration with the museum. And seeing their work framed inside an art venue instead of a classroom must be fun for them as well. It's really the perfect universal stage where we can bring a lot of partners, not only on the campus, but off campus, to help us tell the stories of each other and ourselves, ultimately. We learn a lot about ourselves through a museum and we learn a lot about the communities that we live in.</p><p>“Sometimes with contemporary art it may seem that we really don't understand what we're looking at unless we are art historians or art experts. So I certainly understand that. And that certainly happens to me sometimes when I walk into gallery spaces that have no signage, no labels, and no explanations. A lot is expected of the visitor in that case. It's like going to a theater piece or a concert where the audience is expected to clap and to participate. A little bit of that happens in contemporary art museums.</p><p>“