Timothy Busfield joins MSU as artist in residence

WEDNESDAY, May 25 — East Lansing native and Emmy award-winning actor Timothy Busfield will join the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University as an artist in residence, effective June 15, the university announced yesterday.

Busfield

Courtesy photo

“I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with the students,” Busfield said. “I’ve learned much in my career, and I love helping those that are also eager to learn. My goal is to help their transitions into the film and theatre communities when they graduate.”

"Tim brings a wealth of experience in acting, directing and moviemaking, which will add new energy to the Media Arts Collaborative, a new collaboration for creative work between the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and the College of Arts and Letters," said Prabu David, dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. "We are also excited about collaborating with Tim to create compelling content for WKAR."

Busfield is eager to rejoin the mid-Michigan community, specifically MSU.

“My heart jumped when President Simon announced that she was interested in WKAR producing more original content. I felt I was a perfect fit to help execute her vision of seeing WKAR and MSU move into the market of major television and film,” Busfield said. “I grew up in East Lansing. My dad taught speech and theater at MSU, and my mom and stepfather retired after many decades with the MSU Press. I'm all Green and White.”

Susi Elkins, interim director of broadcasting and general manager of WKAR, is looking forward to having Busfield join her team.

"It's so exciting for us that Tim is returning home to East Lansing, eager to give back to the community and to join our team at WKAR,” she said. “His creativity, experience and enthusiasm for engaging audiences is unmatched and we're thrilled to be working with him."

Busfield will also promote experiential learning opportunities for students interested in acting in fiction and nonfiction productions. This work will include the Theater2Film Project, dedicated to transforming student theater productions into film, and Busfield’s Performing Arts Warm Up, a weekend performing arts camp for kids.

“All of our participants will act a little, sing in a group, dance in a group, as well as learn how to create and make their own stories on film,” Busfield said of the Performing Arts Warm Up. “We believe this will help give them the confidence to try out for school plays and clubs and hopefully make theater and film their extracurricular activities during this next school year.”

This year’s Performing Arts Warm Up will be presented by the East Lansing Public Library and MSU and will take place on September 10 and 11 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. in the WKAR studios on MSU’s campus.

Busfield, who has been worked in the theatre and film industry for 37 years, is most recognized for his work on “thirtysomething,” “Field of Dreams” and “The West Wing.” Most recently, Busfield has sold seven pilots to major networks and has directed four others, including “The Fosters,” which airs on the Freeform network.