“A lot of students don’t know about the gallery,” Sloan said. “It’s very supportive of local artists. It’s a venue available for students even after they graduate — they show a lot of artwork created by alumni.”

After the gallery’s recent move at the beginning of January and renovations, it will welcome MSU students and the community at a reception at 7 p.m. on Friday at 119 N. Washington Sq., in Lansing.

Catherine Babcock, executive director for the Lansing Art Gallery, said the gallery now is equipped with two elevators and a classroom in its new building.

Babcock said there will be a freight elevator and an elevator for guests, allowing more artists to come and better accessibility for those coming to see exhibits.

“We want the community to be aware of art being made here in Michigan,” she said. “Awareness and appreciation of the arts is really important, so it’s helpful to be able to have classes on-site.”

Babcock said the classroom will allow both enjoyment and education of the arts, which is what the gallery hopes to achieve through the reception.

The gallery’s first exhibit, which opened Tuesday and will run until March 11, includes sculptures from Mark Chatterley, who is a primitive sculptor, Babcock said.

“(Chatterley) is world renowned,” she said. “He has been recognized nationally and internationally for 20 years.”

Babcock said Chatterley could not come to the gallery’s previous location because without an elevator, he was not able to fit his work, consisting of often large sculptures, to the main room.

Sloan said she plans to stick around during the spring as a volunteer.

“Even after the first week I wasn’t going there regularly, I already missed it,” she said. “I grew much tighter with the gallery and the people there.”

Babcock said having the MSU Department of Art and Art History nearby is great for the gallery.

“It keeps us invested in the youth of our community,” she said. “They might not influence our exhibitions, but we certainly look at them in a different way.”

Interns such as Sloan have been invaluable, she said.

“We have had an intern from MSU almost every semester,” she said. “And we also get a lot of students coming into the gallery.”

Laura Cloud, associate professor of studio art at MSU, said two years ago, one of her graduate students was able to show his work at the gallery.

“It allowed the community to see an emerging artist’s work, and also allowed the student to show their work in a professional setting,” she said. “The gallery also allows undergraduates to see work they would not see otherwise, and to see it firsthand.”

Sloan said she would encourage more students to go downtown and see the shows.

“The new space is really nice, and I am really happy they have the classroom,” Sloan said.

“I’m excited to see what it evolves into even after I’m gone.”