Marsha MacDowell is the director of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program (MTAP) based at MSU Outreach and Engagement; Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design; Curator of Quilt Studies and Folk Arts, Michigan State University Museum; and the Director of the Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org), an international digital repository of images and stories about quilts and quilt artists. As part of MTAP, she provides leadership for the Michigan Quilt Project and the Michigan Stained Glass Census Project.
For many years, her work has been largely focused on: the documentation and analysis of the production, meaning, and use of traditional material culture (especially that in Michigan and of Hmong-Americans, Native Americans, South Africans, and women and more recently Chinese); development of educational resources and public arts policies related to traditional arts; development of curriculum materials related to community-based knowledge; and creation of innovative ways, including digital repositories, to increase access to and use of traditional arts materials. The overwhelmingly majority of her work has, by design and philosophy, been developed and implemented in collaboration with representatives of the communities affiliated with the foci of projects. The work, funded by over 200 grants, has resulted in numerous publications, festival programs, online resources, and exhibitions.
As of 2024 her major projects include a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded “Quilt Index/Black Diaspora Quilt History Project” and, in collaboration with the Ziibiwing Center for Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways, a Porcupine Quill Art Project including research, a physical and virtual exhibition, publications, digital repository, and educational programs. She is working towards making the Michigan Traditional Arts Research collections, the Indigenous Quilt Collections, and the Cuesta Benberry African American Quilt Collections of the MSU Museum more accessible for research and education and on a publication showcasing the Michigan Stained Glass Census Project. She also continues to work with cultural heritage workers in South Africa through an Ubuntu: Museums and Communities Connect partnership.