Graham Beal ushered the Detroit Institute of Arts through that city’s bankruptcy. Now a visiting Hannah Distinguished Professor at MSU, Beal is helping the university search for a new director of the Broad Art Museum. Current State’s Scott Pohl talks with Beal about what lies ahead for the university’s landmark art museum.
Last March, the founding director of the Broad Art Museum at MSU, Michael Rush, died. The search is on for a new director of the three-year-old museum. Current State’s Scott Pohl talks with a leader of the team that will choose his replacement.
Graham Beal is the former director of the Detroit Institute of Arts. When Detroit was in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings, some observers were calling for the sale of centuries-old works of art from the DIA collection. Beal and his team managed to protect the institute’s assets. He retired earlier this year. Since then, he has accepted a Hannah Distinguished Professorship at MSU, and part of his work is focused on helping find the next director of the Broad Art Museum.