The Park West Foundation is pleased to partner with the renowned Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University ( MSU Broad Art Museum) to provide unique learning opportunities, art education, and art experiences to students and schools in need throughout Michigan.
SOUTHFIELD, MI – The Park West Foundation is pleased to partner with the renowned Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University ( MSU Broad Art Museum) to provide unique learning opportunities, art education, and art experiences to students and schools in need throughout Michigan.
Due to budget cuts and a deficit of art programs throughout Michigan, art education and art programs have been drastically reduced or even eliminated from school curriculums. Through the Park West Foundation program In the Making: Young Minds at the MSU Broad Art Museum, more than 16,125 art experiences have been provided to underserved youth in the East Lansing community over the last year.
“We are so proud to offer unique learning opportunities to K-12 students, MSU students, and local teachers throughout the mid-Michigan region,” said Meghan Collins, Museum Educator for K-12 and Family Programs at the MSU Broad Art Museum and Assistant Professor of Art Education in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design. Collins, who has been honored as the 2025 Museum Educator of the Year by the Michigan Art Education Association, continued, “Not all schools in our community have a well-funded arts program, and we are so proud to be able to bring our programs into the community.”
Program initiatives and accomplishments include classroom visits, which helped introduce the visual arts to more than 6,300 students; facilitating free family day programs for more than 4,682 participants; engaging with more than 2,300 youths at museum visits; connecting 1,515 youths to artwork through virtual spaces; and creating art with more than 1,200 students in classrooms. In addition, 12 Michigan State University students completed a combined 4,500 hours of experiential learning through direct engagement with 53 community schools and 90 teachers throughout Lansing.
“It is an honor to work alongside the prestigious MSU Broad Art Museum in providing these dynamic art experiences back to the incredible students and schools of Michigan, who have seen their art programs cut due to unfortunate budget deficits,” said Diane Pandolfi, Director at Park West Foundation. “One of the founding principles of Park West Gallery and the Park West Foundation is making art available to everybody through art awareness, education, and the promotion of a wide spectrum of artists.”
Pandolfi continued, “It is a thrill to view the enthusiasm of the elementary-aged students first-hand, as the MSU ‘Scaglione Scholars’ engaged the children in interactive art experiences. The parent chaperones were impressed watching the children moving throughout the museum, eagerly embracing and enjoying a variety of art experiences.”
Intentionally positioned where Michigan State’s campus meets Downtown East Lansing, the MSU Broad Art Museum is home to more than 20,000 square feet of gallery space featuring local, national, and international artists, a permanent collection of over 10,000 works, and dynamic public programs. For more information on the MSU Broad Art Museum, please visit www.broadmuseum.msu.edu.
ABOUT THE PARK WEST FOUNDATION
Park West Gallery Founder and CEO Albert Scaglione and his wife, Mitsie, formed the Park West Foundation in 2006. Upon its establishment, the foundation’s primary mission was to address the urgent needs of young adults aging out of foster care in Southeastern Michigan. Under the guidance of Program Director Saba Gebrai the PWF has empowered more than 1,000 local youth by offering education, shelter, clothing, household items, hygiene products, and food assistance. Today, under the leadership of Director Diane Pandolfi, the PWF acts as a helping hand, facilitator, and funding source for at-risk youth and adults around the world. The foundation also actively supports national and international charities focused on art awareness, conservation, and the environment, including such organizations as Turnaround Arts, the Fostering Futures Scholarship Fund, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, The King’s Trust International and USA, Best Buddies, Camillus House, St. Jude’s, Parkinson’s, and Junior Achievement, among others. Additional undertakings focus on supporting art museums, and educational institutions, connected in some way to artists and/or the world of art.
Since 2006, Park West Foundation has worked in cooperation with Park West Gallery to address the urgent needs of young adults aging out of the foster care system in Southeastern Michigan. The foundation has since expanded to support national and international programs that positively impact the arts and the environment. For more information, please visit https://parkwestfoundation.org/.
ABOUT THE MSU BROAD ART MUSEUM
The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University (MSU Broad Art Museum) connects people with art through experiences that inspire curiosity and inquiry. Presenting exhibitions and programs that engage diverse communities around issues of local relevance and global significance, the MSU Broad Art Museum advances the university values of quality, inclusion, and connectivity. Opened on November 10, 2012, the museum was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid and named in honor of Eli and Edythe Broad, longtime supporters of the university who provided the lead gift for its creation.
For more information on Park West Foundation, please visit parkwestfoundation.org. Keep up with Park West Gallery on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube at @ParkWestGallery.