Changing hands

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 — The wait is finally over. After months of negotiations, East Lansing City Council voted to approve a five-year operating agreement between the City of East Lansing and the department of Art, Art History and Design at Michigan State University for curatorial control of (SCENE) Metrospace at last night’s meeting.

In a statement delivered at the meeting, Michael Teager, member of the East Lansing Art Commission, said he “reluctantly supports the transference at this present time.” He believes (SCENE) Metrospace will become an entirely different entity. Teager is openly frustrated with the City of East Lansing, feeling that this deal was pushed through without community input or efforts to save the space for city use.

“I hope this passes just to save the space, but I hope this is a lesson for future experience,” Teager said.

Before approval, the parties added “no cost” language, relating to events held at the gallery space, to the operating agreement. This was the final change the city council requested before approval.

View the operating agreement here.