On Monday, Dec. 1, Michigan State University Museum joins thousands of individuals and educational, health, and cultural organizations around the world to mark World AIDS Day. In observance of the day, the MSU Museum, in association with the Lansing Area AIDS Network, will display a 12' quilt block from the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Founded in 1987, The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt is a poignant memorial, a powerful tool for use in preventing new HIV infections, and the largest ongoing community arts project. Each "block" of The AIDS Memorial Quilt consists of eight individual 3' by 6' panels sewn together. Virtually every one of the more than 40,000 colorful panels that make up the Quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS.

The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt panel will be on view in the MSU Museum's Heritage Gallery on Dec. 1 - 7.

Learn more here: http://museum.msu.edu/Events/WorldAIDSDay/ .

The MSU Museum announces its Thanksgiving holiday schedule: closed Thursday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 30.

Regular museum hours will resume on Monday, Dec. 1.

Holiday shoppers can find unique, interesting and affordable gifts for friends and family this year at the MSU Museum Store.

The MSU Museum Store hosts its annual benefit sale Nov. 19-26, with authentic collectibles and keepsakes for sale from artists around the globe including South Africa, Russia, Egypt, and Kenya. Here's a sampling of the distinctive, handmade offerings: Guatemalan beaded bags, Zulu hand-made artisan baskets, Chilean glass and other wonders of the natural world. The MSU Museum store is also one of the few places to find a selection of Petoskey stones.

At the same time, shoppers can give an affordable, beautiful gift and feel great knowing it is fair trade -- where prices paid to the artisans reflect the work they do, and their products are made in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Proceeds from Museum Store sales are used to sustain visitor service programs. Learn more here: http://museum.msu.edu/GeneralInformation/MuseumStore/holidayshopping.html .

With all that commands our attention, it is more important than ever for your annual support to continue. Your gifts support the vital work of the MSU Museum, enabling us to continue work that connects us on campus and around the world. Through education, research, and outreach, the MSU Museum works to bring about a greater understanding of our world. As natural resources dwindle, the future demands a greater understanding of science and the natural world, and as our global interdependence grows, so too does the critical need to understand the diversity of world cultures.

As Michigan's natural history and culture museum, the MSU Museum is advancing knowledge and transforming lives. One program enables young students in their classrooms to take virtual field trips to the museum, enriching their educational experience. In another arena, faculty engage in collaborations around the globe, working on scientific teams to reveal secrets of our geologic past. Meanwhile, collections and exhibitions provide MSU students and Michigan youth with a revealing look at cultures and traditions from across the world. Our museum provides a forum for debate, a site for cultural interchange and a place where research is shared. Your gifts provide the fundamental support necessary for the museum to continue its work that strengthens our community in so many ways. Please consider a gift to one or more of the museum funds listed on the enclosed pledge form. Your generosity in support of the programs you most value will make a difference. -- C. Kurt Dewhurst, MSU Museum Director

To make a secure gift online, visit http://museum.msu.edu/GeneralInformation/Donations/

Congratulations to CiesaDesign on receiving the Governor's Award for Arts & Culture for 2008! The award is presented each year to a Michigan business or business-related organization that has dedicated extraordinary support to artists, arts and cultural organizations, or arts educators in Michigan.

CiesaDesign has donated design services for the MSU Museum's Great Lakes Folk Festival since its inception and has provided inspired and high-impact graphic arts identity for this event, as well as a number of other festivals and arts organizations in Greater Lansing.

"This award is a great honor for our studio and I would like to thank all of those who, for more than two decades, have stood selflessly by our sides investing time, money and passion towards creating and sustaining a vital arts and cultural community. This award belongs to all of you," said Creative Director Chris VanWyck. "Thank you to all of the arts organizations and their volunteers who do the extraordinary, year after year, with less than extraordinary resources... we are blessed to have a community that is never wanting for arts and culture."

Other honorees in the Exemplary Business category include Macy's and Oakwood Healthcare System.

Established in 1985 by Concerned Citizens for the Arts of Michigan, The Governor's Awards for Arts & Culture is the longest running Michigan event recognizing statewide and international leaders in the arts and is Michigan's largest statewide celebration of arts, culture and creativity. For more information about the Guvvy's, presented by ArtServe Michigan, visit http://www.theguvvys.org.

Perennial folk festival favorite Feufollet is featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Listen to "The Cajun Swamp Fire Of Feufollet" here:

Holiday shoppers can find unique, interesting and affordable gifts for friends and family this year at the MSU Museum Store.

The MSU Museum Store hosts its annual benefit sale beginning Wednesday, Nov. 19, with authentic collectibles and keepsakes for sale from artists around the globe including South Africa, Russia, Egypt, and Kenya. Here's a sampling of the distinctive, handmade offerings: Guatemalan beaded bags, Zulu hand-made artisan baskets, Chilean glass and other wonders of the natural world. The MSU Museum store is also one of the few places to find a selection of Petoskey stones.

At the same time, shoppers can give an affordable, beautiful gift and feel great knowing it is fair trade -- where prices paid to the artisans reflect the work they do, and their products are made in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Proceeds from Museum Store sales are used to sustain visitor service programs. Shoppers this year will receive a complimentary $5 La Senorita restaurant certificate with each purchase over $10.

Special promotions are planned this holiday shopping season, with increasing discounts with each corresponding calendar date, Nov. 19-26:

-Wednesday, Nov. 19 -- the kick-off of the Museum Store Annual Benefit: 19% off any one item. Hours: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
-Thursday, Nov. 20 -- Tattered Treasures Evening Sale: Deep discounts on discontinued or damaged items; 20% off any one item. Special extended hours: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m
-Friday, Nov. 21: Large selection of books, jewelry and toys related to MSU Museum exhibits; 21% off any one item. Hours: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
-Saturday, Nov. 22 -- MSU Museum Holiday Open House: Make paper flowers for the holiday tree; light refreshments and discounts in the Museum Store. Hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
-Sunday, Nov. 23 -- MSU Museum Holiday Open House: Make paper flowers for our holiday tree; light refreshments and discounts in the Museum Store. 1 - 5 p.m.
-Monday, Nov. 24: Large selection of books, jewelry and toys related to MSU Museum exhibits; 24% off any one item. Special extended hours: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
-Tuesday, Nov. 25 -- Large selection of books, jewelry and toys related to MSU Museum exhibits; 25% off any one item. Hours: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
-Wednesday, Nov. 26 -- Final Day of MSU Museum Holiday Benefit Sale: Large selection of books, jewelry and toys related to MSU Museum exhibits; 26% off any one item. Hours: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Also at the Museum Store: educational books, science kits, and do-it-yourself craft projects as well as many locally-made and Michigan-themed crafts. World music CDs also reflect cultures and rhythms of Caribbean and Reggae, Celtic, Latin, Brazilian, African and Middle Eastern.

The MSU Museum Store is located on the first level of the MSU Museum, on West Circle Drive next to the Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus. For more information, call: (517) 355-2373 or see http://museum.msu.edu . Limited visitor parking is available in front of the MSU Museum building or in the Grand River Ave. ramp, at the corner of Grand River Ave. and Charles St., just one block away.

Please note this event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

Mid-Michigan music lovers and museum enthusiasts are invited to join the MSU Museum for a dynamic, multimedia program exploring the richness and diversity of Latino music for Smithsonian Sounds, on Friday, Dec. 5, 7 - 10 p.m. at the MSU Museum.

The MSU Museum, Michigan's first Smithsonian affiliate, welcomes ethnomusicologist Daniel Sheehy, director and curator of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and its initiative, Smithsonian Global Sound. Sheehy co-curates the Smithsonian's eight-year Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture initiative of recordings, Smithsonian Folklife Festival programs, and the virtual exhibition Música del Pueblo. Previous to joining the Smithsonian, he served as Director of Folk & Traditional Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts. A Fulbright-Hays scholar in Veracruz, Mexico, he earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UCLA.

Sheehy is also acting director of the Smithsonian Latino Center, which developed the traveling exhibition, "Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement," now on view through Jan. 4, in the MSU Museum's Main Gallery.

The evening also includes a reception with Latino-inspired food and drink, and live music. Tickets are $50 per person. To reserve a space, call the MSU Museum at (517) 355-2370.

"We are delighted to welcome the Smithsonian to Greater Lansing and present a lively, thoughtful and inspiring evening celebrating cultural expression," says MSU Museum Director C. Kurt Dewhurst.

The MSU Museum is Michigan's natural history and culture museum and the state's first Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The MSU Museum -- accredited by the American Association of Museums -- collects, preserves, studies and interprets cultural artifacts and natural history specimens, with collections numbering more than 1 million in four buildings on the MSU campus. One of the oldest museums in the Midwest, the MSU Museum is committed to education, exhibitions, research and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes and the world beyond.

The MSU Museum is open seven days a week free of charge (donations are encouraged). Located on West Circle Drive next to Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus, the MSU Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. Hours are Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. -5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Visitor parking is available in front of the building and at metered spaces at the Grand River Ramp, one block away at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Charles Street. For more information, call (517) 355-2370 or see http://museum.msu.edu .

This fall, Michigan State University's College of Communication Arts & Sciences and the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism are partnering with the East Lansing Film Festival to present Green on the Big Screen, an environmental film festival and fair to be held Nov. 13-16.

The four-day event on the MSU campus will reach across the university to the local community and beyond to showcase films on important environmental issues that will inform, entertain and inspire. Highlights will include feature films, family-friendly films, documentaries, student productions, special guests, and much more. This open community event will encourage dialogue about the environment, while showcasing our community's green points of pride. Learn more: http://cas.msu.edu/modules.php?name=Pages&op=viewlive&sp_id=1027

Each November, Michigan State University joins institutions across the country in celebrating International Education Week. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, International Education Week was established "to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States."

MSU considers international education and engagement to be cornerstones of its institutional mission. It is our desire that the wide range of MSU International Education Week activities will

• *foster a greater sense of global community on campus;
• *encourage a greater awareness of other peoples, other countries, world affairs, and their influence on our lives, among the University's various constituencies;
• *inform the MSU family and surrounding community of the various ways the university is engaged in international teaching, scholarship, and engagement; and
• *inspire an even stronger commitment among students, faculty, and staff to becoming more globally educated. Learn more: http://www.iew.msu.edu/

Explore your world through the vibrant cultural community that is Michigan State University. Discover the hundreds of performances, exhibitions, and special programs that enrich lives on campus, in the community, and throughout the world.

Arts and culture at MSU play a critical role in nurturing the human spirit while contributing to a richer quality of life. Museums, galleries, and gardens along with libraries, historic sites, and performance spaces provide a catalyst for cultural exchange of diverse ideas and inspirations. At the same time, audiences on campus and around the world take advantage of academic and research outreach initiatives such as public broadcasting, online resources and publications.

All across campus, all year long. It's all right here: http://www.artsandculture.msu.edu.

Thursday, Nov. 6, 9-11 p.m
-- featuring refreshments, poetry reading, "Day of the Dead" installation, and gallery tours.
Take a study break, invite friends, and experience the MSU Museum after hours!
FREE

This program is presented in conjunction with the Smithsonian exhibition, "Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement," which presents an illustrated anthology of inspirational stories that celebrate Latino achievement in the United States. This Smithsonian traveling exhibition includes personal stories, photos, oral histories and dichos, or traditional sayings. It is the first traveling exhibition ever shown in the United States that explores the diversity of the Latino experience through stories and portraits of men and women who have led extraordinary lives. "Our Journeys/Our Stories: Portraits of Latino Achievement" culminates its 5-year national tour at the MSU Museum, Michigan's first Smithsonian Institution affiliate. The exhibition is on view in the MSU Museum's Main Gallery now through Jan. 4, 2009. The exhibition, its national tour and related programs are made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund. The MSU Museum features three floors of special collections and changing exhibits and is open seven days a week free of charge (donations are encouraged). Located on West Circle Drive next to Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus, the MSU Museum is accessible to persons with disabilities. Hours are Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. -5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5 p.m. Visitor parking is available in front of the building and at metered spaces at the Grand River Ramp, one block away at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Charles Street. For more information, call (517) 355-2370 or see http://museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Current/latino_achievement.html .