Lansing’s gallery and museum scene lively, despite losing a big one
The Lansing area took a hit this year when the Lansing Art Gallery closed its doors. However, although this space is gone, Lansing still has a thriving arts scene for those new and old to the area to explore.
The Lansing area took a hit this year when the Lansing Art Gallery closed its doors. However, although this space is gone, Lansing still has a thriving arts scene for those new and old to the area to explore.
With new galleries opening in the past few years and cultural institutions that have stood the test of time, there is much to explore in the capital region.
The Michigan History Museum is an immersive experience two blocks west from the Capitol. Nestled inside the Library of Michigan and the Michigan History Center, it has five floors of exhibits that will take you on a journey from the last Ice Age up to the end of the 20th century.
“Whether you are new to Lansing or new to Michigan, it’s a good place to come,” Tobi Voigt, the history center’s museums director, said. “You can learn about how Lansing became the state capital as well as what our main industries are and who the key people were that have helped influence the state.”
Admission to the Michigan History Museum is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $4 for youth. Admission is free Sundays, as is parking in front. The exhibition “Black Bottom Street View,” in partnership with the Black Bottom Archives, is on display through November, bringing attention to stories of Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood before urban renewal.
Michigan History Museum
702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday,
1-5 p.m. Sunday
(517) 335-2573
The MSU Museum’s main location is closed for an 18-month renovation that started in July 2024. The budgeted $28 million project is set for completion in January.
You can still get your fix of science and art at the pop up
“Physical Spells [The Wor(l)d in the Atom],” an exhibition hosted by the MSU Museum and MSU Federal Credit Union from Thursday (Sept. 4) to Dec. 6 on the 6th floor of the MSUFCU building on Abbot Road in downtown East Lansing. It features the work of Arts Power Up artist in residence Violeta López López, which explores the relationship between atoms and words. It’s “a playful world where language and physics collide,” the MSU Museum’s webpage says, “drawing on the aesthetics of video games.” Other museum events this semester include a silent disco at Beal Botanical Garden, a musical experience featuring DJs at the MSUFCU building exhibit, and community talks.
The MSU Museum webpage has more information on parking.
MSU Museum
409 W. Circle Drive, East Lansing
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
(517) 355-2370
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The Nelson Gallery is a classic midcentury-modern space full of local artists’ contemporary works, from paintings and prints to ceramics and functional artwork. Admission is free.
“We have art that ranges,” said Jen Estill, the gallery’s proprietor, “from a token that you would like to have at your home to something you’d give to somebody as a gift. If you are a real collector, there are things for you.”
The gallery just finished its summer concert series. Now it’s planning for events like Trick or Treat on the Square and a new exhibition for the holiday season in November and December.
“The exhibit is going to be a ceramicist, Mike Hamm,” gallery manager Bobby Earls said. Hamm, a member of the Greater Lansing Potters’ Guild, will bring in functional pieces, Earls noted.
Nelson Gallery
113 S. Washington Square,
Lansing
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday
(517) 708-8904
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Located just a few minutes outside of Old Town, with plenty of free parking and free admission, this is a gallery you won’t want to overlook. Struk Studio was established in 2023 by David Such, the gallery manager and founder of ScrapFest.
Such said that inside, visitors will find “a contemporary mixed bag, leaning toward sculpture.” The gallery has modern and traditional wall art and sculptures that vary in medium.
Struk will open a retrospective exhibition in late September featuring four artists. The gallery occasionally hosts events, including two recent ones in collaboration with Typewriter Fox Studios. The events featured 30 manual typewriters that guests were able to use to write an answer to a prompt, or poetry with Lansing Poet Laureate Ruelaine Stokes.
The gallery is open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m., “but my phone number is on the website,” Such said. “If somebody wants to get in there and see some art, I can make that happen.”
Struk Studio
2916 Turner Road, Lansing
Noon-4 p.m. Friday-Saturday
(517) 204-7327
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In the heart of Old Town, you will find the Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art, or MICA. It provides not only a gallery space with rotating contemporary exhibits, but also programming for some of Lansing’s largest and most notable music festivals and events.
The art exhibits change monthly and vary in media, from paintings to fiber arts. The current exhibition is photography, followed by a textile show in late September. Entry to the gallery is free during regular business hours, with metered street parking and other parking options nearby.
Along with the gallery space, local events are a large part of MICA’s community impact. Having already hosted Burning Desires, a poetry event, plus Funkfest and Jazzfest Michigan, MICA is preparing for Michigan Bluesfest, Sept. 17 to 20 in Old Town.
“We are super excited,” Melissa Marciniak, MICA’s event coordinator and gallery manager, said. “It’s historically our largest event.” Bluesfest brings regional and national blues musicians to play in Old Town. Tickets are already available on MICA’s website. Sept. 18 features a fundraising event for KidzBeat, an organization that works to inspire kids through music. MICA is also hosting a silent auction Oct. 24 to benefit the Herbert-Herman Cancer Center at Lansing’s University of Michigan Health-Sparrow Hospital.
MICA Gallery
1210 Turner St., Lansing
Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
(517) 371-4600
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If you are looking to explore a gallery with an entirely different art form — quilt making — as the focus, then Loewen Studio and Gallery in downtown Williamston might be the destination for you. The business opened in April.
“There are serious artists who are working in the medium of quilt making,” said gallery owner Pamela Loewen, a quilt artist herself. It’s “not for a bed, but to be displayed as a work of art,” she added.
Her exhibit will be replaced Friday (Sept. 5) by one featuring the work of abstract quilt artist Peggy Black of Pennsylvania. There will be an artist talk and book signing at 11 a.m. Saturday.
In addition to displaying quilts in the gallery space, Loewen is working on making high-quality scans of the artwork on display in her gallery to create exhibit catalogs and prints, and to expand the documentation of quilt making as an artistic medium in ways she hasn’t seen people do before.
“You can see every quilting stitch.” Loewen said. “As far as I know, that’s not really been done before on a serious scale.”
Loewen Studio and Gallery
128 W. Grand River Ave.,
Williamston
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Friday
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
(517) 588-6192
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