Each year, the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University offers a robust slate of lectures by internationally recognized leaders in the fields of art and design through its Selma & Stanley Hollander Artist, Designer, and Scholar Lecture Series, which aims to explore how visual representation in all its complex forms exists as a mode of inquiry.

During their visit, the invited guests present their scholarly and creative research in a public lecture. In addition to the lectures, a variety of activities, such as workshops, class visits, panel discussions, and exhibitions, also are planned to give students opportunities to further engage with the visiting lecturers. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students also have opportunities to participate in individual studio visits and group critiques with guest lecturers.

During the 2024-2025 academic year, the Selma & Stanley Hollander Artist, Designer, and Scholar Lecture Series will bring 14 distinguished guests to campus. All the events that are planned as part of this series are free and open to the public. The following is the list of 2024-2025 Stanley & Selma Hollander Visiting Artists, Designers, and Scholars.

FALL 2024

Esmaa Mohamoud
Sunday, Sept. 15, 2 p.m., MSU Broad Art Museum

A multidisciplinary artist, Esmaa Mohamoud will talk about her groundbreaking exhibition, Complex Dreams, which explores the transformative power of art to express the enduring perseverance, strength, and joy of Black girlhood in the face of adversity. At the artist talk, learn more about the inspiration and process behind Mohamoud’s work that places the experiences of young Black girlhood center stage while forwarding a refreshing and resilient perspective on the power of Black women today. Complex Dreams, which is now on display at the MSU Broad Art Museum through Feb. 16, 2025, is the inaugural Signature Commission Series exhibition.   

Kelly Holton
Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 105

Kelly Holton is the Senior Principal Brand Activation Director at Populous, which is a global architectural design firm that specializes in creating environment and venues that draw communities and people together. During her lecture, Holton will talk about her approach to wayfinding and branded environments, which is driven by an understanding of human behavior and a desire to enhance experiences for fans, students, athletes, staff, and visitors throughout the entire user journey.

Steve Sandstrom
Friday, Oct. 11, 2:30 p.m., Communication Arts and Sciences Building, Room 147

Steve Sandstrom is a designer and founder of Sandstrom Partners, a design and strategy firm located in Portland, Oregon. He has been involved in the creation and revitalization of iconic brands, including Miller High Life and Converse, and recently was elected to the 2024 Creative Hall of Fame of The One Club.

Jess Larson
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Jess Larson is a Minnesota-based artist whose work explores feminist themes via deconstructing messaging related to women’s bodies and cultural expectations. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in various group and solo shows. Larson also is a Professor of Studio Art at the University of Minnesota Morris and Director for the Edward J. and Helen Jane Morrison Gallery on campus.

Samia Halaby
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m., RCAH Theatre

Samia Halaby graduated from Michigan State University in 1960 with an M.A. in Painting. A multi-decade retrospective of her work is the focus of the exhibition Samia Halaby: Eye Witness, which is now on display at the MSU Broad Art Museum through Dec. 15, 2024. The exhibition follows Halaby’s creative journey to experiment with the ways painting conveys her experiences and reflects how she sees the world around her. During her artist talk, she with talk about her painting career, which spans nearly seven decades.

William Caraher
Thursday, Nov. 7, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

William Caraher is an historian and archaeologist of the Roman and later Roman Mediterranean. He is a prolific author, prominent figure in the digital archaeological community, and an Associate Professor of History and Native American Studies at the University of North Dakota where he also is the Director of The Digital Press.

Jessica Keating
Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Jessica Keating is an Associate Professor of Art History at Carleton College. Her research and teaching addresses the history of art in early modern Europe, focusing particularly on the intertwined histories of collecting, technology, cultural contact and exchange, and empire and sovereignty. Her first book, Animating Empire: Automata, the Holy Roman Empire and the Early Modern World, was published by Penn State University Press in 2018. She currently is in the process of writing a book, titled Impossible Nature: The World of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, with Reaktion Books. 

Jaleh Mansoor
Thursday, Nov. 21, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Jaleh Mansoor is an historian of modern and contemporary cultural production, specializing in twentieth-century European art, Marxism, Marxist feminism, and critical theory. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Her research on abstract painting in the context of the miracolo Italiano and the international relations of the Marshall Plan era nested within the global dynamics of the Cold War opens up on to problems concerning the labour-to-capital relationship and its ramifications in culture and aesthetics. Mansoor will serve as the 2024 Art History and Visual Culture Undergraduate Symposium Keynote Speaker. 

SPRING 2025

Amos Kennedy Jr.
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. is an American printer, book artist, and papermaker best known for social and political commentary, particularly in printed posters. One critic noted that Kennedy is “…unafraid of asking uncomfortable questions about race and artistic pretension.” 

Hanneline Røgeberg 
Tuesday, Feb. 18, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Hanneline Røgeberg is a painter whose work mines the possibilities of representation in language, history, and trauma. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions. She also is a Professor at Rutgers University in the Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Hannah Batsel
Thursday, March 13, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Hannah Batsel is a book artist, writer, and illustrator based in Chicago, Illinois. Her award-winning handmade artist book work is represented in library and museum collections around the country. She currently is working on her third mass-market illustrated book. 

Beatriz Lozano
Wednesday, April 2, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Beatriz Lozano is a designer, typographer, and educator who explores how technology can push typography to exist at the intersection of the physical and digital world. She currently teaches interaction design at Parsons and is working as an independent design director.

Jennifer Angus
Thursday, April 19, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Jennifer Angus was described by Art Daily as “one of the top contemporary installation artists in the country.” Her work has been shown internationally as well as at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery and the Museum of Art and Design, among many others. Angus is also this year’s juror for the Department of Art, Art History, and Design’s Undergraduate Exhibition that will be held at (SCENE) Metrospace in the Spring 2025 Semester.

Angeliki Kandori
Monday, April 14, 6 p.m., South Kedzie Hall, Room 107

Angeliki Kandori is a conservator who has worked at numerous archaeological sites in Greece including the Finnish Institute’s excavations at Thesprotia in Epirus, the Greek Ephorate of the Corinthia on the restoration of the western terminus of the famous diolkos, and the rescue excavations at Loutraki on the Corinthian Gulf.