Major renovations underway at Indiana University Bloomington will make some of the university's world-class collections more accessible to the campus and community. IU President Michael A. McRobbie recently toured the McCalla building and IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to get a look at some of the progress.
The historic McCalla building will house the new Collections, Teaching, Research and Exhibition Center at IU, which will serve the university's 242 collections in the arts, humanities and sciences. State support is funding the $6 million renovation, and a $100,000 grant from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation will equip the galleries with audiovisual equipment and special technology kiosks. The complex is scheduled to reopen later this year and will include spaces for teaching, research and exhibition activities.
Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie toured the McCalla complex to get an update on the $6 million renovations to the space, which will house the new Collections, Teaching, Research and Exhibition Center at IU. Photos by Eric Rudd, Indiana University
Work is also progressing steadily on the IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Opening in Spring 2022, the museum will present IU’s world-class collections from around the globe in newly-designed exhibit galleries and learning labs.
Re-designed collections storage spaces will enable IUMAA to bring together over five million objects from the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology and the Mathers Museum of World Cultures to tell the story of humanity, from the rich heritage of Indiana’s First Peoples to the lives of contemporary Hoosiers, and how those stories are connected to peoples around the world.
The building’s design is being organized around an “inside-out” approach that will make the collections and programs more open and accessible than most museums. Visitors will walk “behind-the-scenes” to view more collections and learn about museum research and study; new programming spaces will connect offsite teachers and students to museum educators and curators; and immersive virtual technology in the galleries will enable visitors to engage with objects and places in new ways.
A highlight of the museum will be an exhibit on Angel Mounds State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark located on the banks of the Ohio River in southwest Indiana. IUMAA curates the collections of this important pre-contact Native American site that dates between 1000 and 1450. An immersive exhibit will enable visitors to explore the Mississippian site once occupied by more than 1,000 people.
IUMAA will be a world-class museum whose collections and research resources, dynamic exhibits, engaging programming and outreach efforts will serve IU’s education and research missions and make it a leading destination for scholars, students, and the public.
