The Spartan Upcycle x Art Lab Residency invited a sustainability-centered Michigan artist, Megan Heeres, to campus to create an exhibition made from discarded items collected at MSU academic, research, laboratory, and residential buildings; athletic and event venues; farms; and other spaces.

Heeres sourced the bulk of her materials through Spartan Upcycle, the creative reuse retail and education program of the MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center. In between visits to the Surplus Store and material recovery facility, Heeres has been reworking and reimaging the discarded objects within the studio space at Broad Art Lab. Her resulting exhibition, titled Never Not Nature, is open to view now through Dec. 12 at the Art Lab, located across Grand River from the Broad Art Museum.

Heeres work intends to challenge conventional thinking around the value discarded items, and supports SSRC's mission to manage MSU's waste as a resource through an integrated system of reuse, recycling, collaboration and education. Heeres considers how we take care of our spaces and each other, both ecologically and on a personal level through her papermaking and sculptural-based practice. 

This residency and exhibition is the result of the inaugural collaboration between the MSU Broad Art Lab and Spartan Upcycle, the creative reuse branch of the MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center. 

Spartan Upcycle x Art Lab Residency: Megan Heeres is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and curated by Britta Urness, Art Lab Studio Educator. Support for this exhibition is provided by the Michigan State University Surplus Store & Recycling Center and The Graduate Hotel East Lansing.