- An exhibit at the MSU Museum features one of the oldest student groups at the University—the Spartan Marching Band.
- Curated by students as part of the Museum Studies Curatorial Practices class, the exhibit walks visitors through a year with the band and the traditions they honor along the way.
- Video shows one of the curators, a current SMB member herself, speaking about the exhibit.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
You hear them on Spartan Football Gamedays. Yelling as they march through the streets or kick stepping out of the tunnel. The Spartan Marching Band is one of the oldest student groups at Michigan State. And now, the ensemble is featured in an exhibit at the MSU Museum.
On the banks of the Red Cedar, the Spartan Marching Band has entertained campus for over 150 years, and the group's history is now on display for the entire community to see.
"This exhibit, I think, does a really great job of showing off the history and exactly what the band does and is about." Morgan Schwarz said.
Morgan Schwarz, a current member of the band, was one of the student curators of the exhibit.
"I know how cool we are," Schwarz said. "But I think it you're not actively in it, it's really hard to get a grasp and really hard to understand exactly what the band does."
From relics of the past...
"We have the second-ever band uniform the band ever marched with," Schwarz said.
To more modern pieces...
"We have section patches from every section except for drum majors and trombones," Schwarz said.
The exhibit walks visitors through a season in the SMB, and the traditions the band follows along the way. Museum officials say the exhibit fits right in with their goal to creat spaces for students to learn how museums work and express their ideas.
"This exhibition was part of the Museum Studies Curatorial Practices Class," MSU Museum Director of Exhibitions Teresa Goforth said. "So they had an instructor and they worked the entire semester to do all of the parts of exhibition planning."
"They do it all," she said. "And that's our goal here at the MSU Museum."
The exhibit will be open through June 29.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
For more news about MSU, go to the MSU Campus neighborhood page on our website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
