Lifetime Achievement Award

Drs. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell, College of Arts and Letters.

Kurt Dewhurst, Ph.D., is the director emeritus and curator of Folklife and Cultural Heritage for the MSU Museum. He also serves as director for Art and Cultural Partnership and senior fellow of University Outreach and Engagement. Additionally, he is a professor of English and museum studies.

Marsha MacDowell, Ph.D., currently works as the director of The Quilt Index and Michigan Stained Glass Census and curator of Folk Arts and Quilt Studies for the MSU Museum. She also serves as the director of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program. In addition, she is a professor of art history and design.

They push the boundaries of building museum exhibits and programs, and their careful curatorial and scholarly work has been based on an ethic of collaboration and co-creation with diverse communities.

Dewhurst and MacDowell have explored, celebrated and expanded diversity, equity and inclusion through their work as museum professionals, teachers, mentors, researchers, writers and administrators. They push the boundaries of building museum exhibits and programs, and their careful curatorial and scholarly work has been based on an ethic of collaboration and co-creation with diverse communities. They have aided countless individuals and communities in telling their own stories, projecting and promoting their own cultures and creating safe spaces for extending dialogue and understanding.

Dr. Marsha MacDowell