Two new microgalleries from Michigan State University’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design (AAHD) will be featured at the 2026 East Lansing Art Festival on May 16 and 17, completing a three-part public art project designed and created by MSU students during the 2025-2026 academic year. 

The two new microgalleries are freestanding, mobile galleries designed to move between multiple sites and events. They will join the Honeycomb Gallery, which was unveiled in December 2025 in the alleyway beside (SCENE) Metrospace, in showcasing work created by MSU students for the MSU campus and East Lansing community. During the 2026 East Lansing Art Festival on May 16 and 17, the mobile microgalleries will be located outside (SCENE) Metrospace.

One of the new mobile microgalleries, titled Vivid Visions, was designed by students in the Introduction to Sculpture class co-taught by AAHD Assistant Professors Jamie Weinfurter and Barbara Pearsall. The other, titled Fragmented Reflections, was built by students in the Mixed Media and Installation class taught by AAHD Assistant Professor Rafael Villares. 

“This is a great experience for students to think about their work and what that means to the community.”

Jamie Weinfurter, AAHD Assistant Professor

“This is a great experience for students to think about their work and what that means to the community,” Weinfurter said. “Public art ultimately has to be a conversation with the community. It’s not something where we can just make it and put it there and expect everyone to love it. Everyone needs to have their voice reflected within the sculpture itself.” 

Intro to Sculpture Microgallery 

Pearsall and Weinfurter’s Introduction to Sculpture students broke into small groups after spring break to develop designs, drawings, and physical models for their microgallery. Three weeks of in-class development culminated in formal presentations to a panel that included Jan Tichy, a contemporary artist currently exhibiting at the MSU Broad Art Museum; Wendy Sylvester-Rowan, Arts Programming and Creative Placemaking Specialist for the City of East Lansing; and Laurén Gerig, Director of Galleries and Outreach and Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design. 

After the panel selected a winning design, the class incorporated elements from each group’s original proposal into the final structure. The result is the Vivid Visions microgalley, which was designed to play with light and reflection, featuring colored plexiglass and filtered panels that create shifting reflections depending on the time of day. 
 
Katelyn Jewett, a Graphic Design major and member of both the design team and marketing teams for the class, helped create the gallery’s name, logo, buttons, stickers, posters, and Instagram account. She also contributed her own piece to its first exhibition: a wax-cast apple with a sculpted worm emerging from it. 

“This is such a great opportunity for students to establish a public microgallery and make our mark as artists in the community.” 

Katelyn Jewett, Graphic Design major

“What I will take away from this experience is a stronger understanding of collaboration and hands-on experience with the tools and materials used to help create the microgallery,” Jewett said. “I hope the people in the community will feel a sense of pride and excitement when they come across the microgallery. This is such a great opportunity for students to establish a public microgallery and make our mark as artists in the community.” 

Mixed Media and Installation Microgallery  

The Fragmented Reflections microgallery created by students in Villares’ Mixed Media and Installation class is constructed on a steel frame with casters. Its first appearance was outside the MSU Union, where the unveiling doubled as the final exam for the class. 
 
“It plays with geometric cuts inspired by partition walls or room dividers, gradually disrupting the rectangular form until it becomes more porous and dynamic,” Villares said. “These openings allow viewers to see through the structure, activating both sides simultaneously.” 

As with the other galleries, students pitched design proposals to Sylvester-Rowan, Gerig, and Villares, who selected the final design. From there, students divided into groups, with some focusing on welding, others on sanding and painting, and others on signage. The final piece, capable of holding 14 to 18 small artworks, combines a steel frame with a wooden panel featuring a mirrored surface, cut-out frames, and acrylic boxes for three-dimensional pieces. 

“I’m deeply appreciative of the students who embraced the challenge of developing and realizing this project within a very tight timeline, pushing it beyond a classroom exercise into a public-facing work.”

Rafael Villares, AAHD Assistant Professor

“I’m deeply appreciative of the students who embraced the challenge of developing and realizing this project within a very tight timeline, pushing it beyond a classroom exercise into a public-facing work,” Villares said. 

What’s Next 

The three microgallery projects were supported by a Cultural Arts Grant from the East Lansing Arts Commission, with administrative and logistical support from the City of East Lansing and Gerig’s office in the College of Arts & Letters. 
 
“I’d like to extend my gratitude to the East Lansing Arts Commission for supporting the three microgalleries through their Cultural Arts Grant, as well as to colleagues and partners from the City of East Lansing — Heather Majano and Wendy Sylvester-Rowan — and to Laurén Gerig, Director of Exhibitions and Outreach, for their continued support throughout this initiative,” Villares said. 

Pearsall, Villares, and Weinfurter all plan to build on the public art curriculum in future sections of their courses. Weinfurter said her Introduction to Sculpture class will aim to partner with the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center to source materials for new sculptures destined for a planned sculpture garden behind the MSU Surplus building. 
 
“The goal, fingers crossed, is that we’ll be able to take students to Surplus, get materials, and create sculptures there to exhibit at Surplus and add to the sculpture garden they want to have behind the building,” Weinfurter said. 
 
Visitors can find all three microgalleries during the East Lansing Art Festival on May 16 and 17. Together, the three microgalleries form a trio of student-made public art to be shared across East Lansing. 

By Austin Curtis and Kim Popiolek