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The MSU Museum is Michigan’s first Smithsonian Institute affiliate with three floors of natural history exhibits. Family favorites include the dinosaur bones casts in Habitat Hall and the elephant skeletons on the second floor. Exhibits portray cultural history with an emphasis on the Great Lakes region. The MSU Museum is located on West Circle Drive next to the iconic Beaumont Tower and across the street from the library and the adjacent W.J. Beal Botanical Gardens. https://www.lansing.org/things-to-do/attractions/msu-museum/

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, a Zaha Hadid-designed contemporary art museum at MSU, is dedicated to exploring global contemporary culture and ideas through art. The MSU Broad Art Museum connects people with art through experiences that inspire curiosity and inquiry. With a focus on the art of our time—in dialogue with the historical—the museum encourages engagement with timely issues of local relevance and global significance. https://www.lansing.org/listings/eli-and-edythe-broad-art-museum-at-michigan-state-university/2808/

The Michigan History Museum is one of the three State of Michigan entities in the Michigan History Center. The other two are the State Archives and the Michigan Library. The Michigan History Museum has three floors of Michigan history eras depicting scenes from the earliest peoples to the late 20th century. Visitors can walk through a replicas of an Upper Peninsula copper mine, a lumbering exhibit and a one-room schoolhouse. Stroll a 1920’s era street complete with a car showroom, window shop and take a seat in the old-time theatre. Both children and adults can learn so much about Michigan’s past. https://www.lansing.org/things-to-do/attractions/michigan-history-museum/

Michigan State University Spartans work to advance the common good in uncommon ways. The nation’s pioneer land-grant university, MSU began as a bold experiment that democratized higher education and helped bring science and innovation into everyday life. Today, MSU is one of the top research universities in the world—on one of the biggest, greenest campuses in the nation—and is home to a diverse community of dedicated students and scholars, athletes and artists, scientists and leaders. https://www.lansing.org/michigan-state-university/

Step back into the Victorian era with a visit to Michigan's award-winning Capitol Building. Designed by Elijah E. Myers, one of the foremost architects of public buildings during the Gilded Age (1865-1914), construction of the Capitol Building took six years and contains over nine acres of hand-painted surfaces. The building was dedicated to the citizens of Michigan in 1879. Every year the Michigan State Capitol welcomes over 115,000 people including tourists, schoolchildren, and families that tour the building with a guide or independently. Visitors have the opportunity to watch the legislature meet for session, they can admire the nine acres of hand-painted decorative art, and they learn stories from Michigan’s past. Most recently the $40-million, 40000-square-foot underground Heritage Hall visitors center and event space has opened featuring expanded tour orientation rooms, history exhibits, an artifact conservation space, a large meeting space and ample restroom facilities. Visitors can access the new Heritage Hall entrance on the north side of the Capitol Building on Ottawa Avenue. All tours will start in Heritage Hall. Tours of the public areas and the House and Senate galleries are available every half hour during the school year and on the hour during the summer months Mon.-Fri.(9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) Starting January 4, 2025, the State Capitol will be open from 10:00 am- 3:00 pm for guided tours on the first Saturday of each month. Please call to verify tour times 517/373-2353. Public tours and visitor information will be available in the east wing of the Capitol’s ground floor. https://www.lansing.org/listings/state-capitol-building/715/