Walnut shells clatter against one another as robotic arms spring to life, casting shifting shadows across the gallery floor. People walk through the piece and record the unexpected spectacle.

The artist behind the work is Hailey Becker, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Alabama and a Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from Michigan State University, and this spring completed a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Studio Art while also pursuing a doctorate degree in Forestry — a first-of-its-kind dual graduate degree at Michigan State University.

Becker is one of five MFA candidates in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design graduating in Spring 2026 whose thesis work is featured in the 2026 MFA Exhibition at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum on view through May 17, 2026.

“I’m a Ph.D. student in STEM,” Becker said. “Art is my spillover for the limitations of science. In the instances where science breaks down, art is able to pick up the slack.”

That intersection between scientific inquiry and artistic experimentation defines Becker’s work.

“I’m a Ph.D. student in STEM. Art is my spillover for the limitations of science. In the instances where science breaks down, art is able to pick up the slack.”

For the MFA Exhibition, Becker created two 14-foot walls of hanging nut chimes made from walnut shells. Robotic arms and a video display trigger movement throughout the installation, creating cascading sounds and shifting shadows in the ambient lighting. Along with cracking a whole lot of walnuts, Becker designed the robotic arms that run remotely and intermittently.

“A dad was taking his kids through [the display] and was taking video, then everything came on and started in motion,” Becker said. “They were all just amazed at the sounds and the movement.”

An article on Becker’s thesis installation in the MFA Exhibition was published in The State News.

Becker also connected science and art in 2024 and 2025 when she collaborated with fellow MFA student Patrick N. Taylor on two separate installations, both titled “Where the Light Gets In,” in which LED lights were mounted to trees slated for removal on MSU’s campus. The lights created beams that appeared to pierce the trunks of the trees, drawing attention to the environmental impact of campus development and construction projects.

One installation, presented during the 2025 MSU Science Festival, illuminated 43 trees located where the future Spartan Gateway District development is planned to be built. Another, created in September 2024 at the future site of the Plant and Environmental Sciences Building at the corner of Farm Lane and Wilson Road. After that installation closed, the trees were removed to make way for the new construction.

Becker later expanded upon the “Where the Light Gets In” installations as a recipient of the MSU Digital Humanities Graduate Arts Fellowship, which supported presentations of the installations in the MSU Libraries Digital Scholarship Lab.

“I am so incredibly privileged to be able to create these exhibitions,” Becker said. “They are among the best parts of my studies — along with bringing in a crashed car into the gallery and everything with the MSU Museum.”

“I am so incredibly privileged to be able to create these exhibitions. They are among the best parts of my studies.”

Beyond her own artistic practice, Becker also has brought together science, art, and community engagement to teach the next generation of artists/scientists.

This past semester, she helped teach the Integrative Arts and Humanities course “Hacking the Built Environment” alongside Barbara Pearsall, Assistant Professor in MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design. In collaboration with the City of East Lansing and MSU’s Department of Forestry, students explored urban forestry challenges facing East Lansing with the goal of supporting the East Lansing Downtown Tree Canopy Revitalization Project, a long-term plan guiding future tree planting, care, and management.

Through research, site visits, and community collaboration, the students created temporary public artworks and engagement experiences designed to help residents, workers, students, and visitors envision a greener, healthier, and more inclusive downtown.

“Urban forestry means balancing ecological needs with the needs of the people who live here — and that takes real public trust and engagement,” Becker said. “Art helps create that trust: people are often more willing to share ideas at an installation than in a traditional survey. Artists can act as mediators, asking unconventional questions that open new pathways to practical solutions for the urban forest.” 

Now that she has completed her MFA, Becker will focus on earning her Ph.D. in Forestry, which she expects to complete in about a year or so.

MFA Program and Exhibition

The 2026 MFA Exhibition is the culmination of a three-year program offered by MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design in which the artist-scholars push the existing limits of art while exploring their creative practice with the support of a faculty committee selected by each MFA candidate.

Under the guidance of their faculty committees, MFA candidates develop a rigorous studio practice and engage in extensive study in a medium or area of concentration. Their work is informed by their curiosity of the world around them and complemented by coursework in the history of art and related fields.

While developing their thesis exhibitions, MFA candidates work with their committees to refine their research and artistic goals, deepening their understanding of what it means to be a contemporary practicing artist. The MFA Exhibition serves as evidence of their achievements and continuing artistic and scholarly promise.

The MFA Exhibition is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in partnership with MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design and curated by Rachel Winter, Ph.D., Assistant Curator, with support from Nat Swartz, Curatorial Research Assistant. Support for this exhibition is provided by the Graduate School at MSU and the John and Susan Berding Family Endowment.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum is open Wednesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is always free.

By Colleen Gehoski Steinman