Eye on the Future capital - endowment campaign at Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art

Eiteljorg Museum

Indianapolis, IN

(317) 636-9378

Eye on the Future

The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art announced November 11, 1998 that it has exceeded its $5 million Lilly Endowment Challenge Grant goal for its Eye on the Future capital/endowment campaign. The museum has raised a total of $17.6 million since December 1996.

The grant challenged the museum to raise $10 million by Oct. 31, 1998 to qualify for $5 million from the Lilly Endowment. By the deadline, the museum had exceeded that goal.

Pushing the campaign over the top were a gift by Indianapolis philanthropist Allen W. Clowes, a joint gift by Eli Lilly Co. and Guidant Corp., and the first gift ever given by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

Exterior drawing (dated Aug. 1997): This is an exterior (top) and interior view of the Eli Lilly and Company/Guidant Corporation Entry Tower that will rise from the underground parking garage and lead to the museum's front doors. The tower will include an elevator and a staircase and may include artwork.

In announcmg this achievement, Eiteljorg President/CEO John Vanausdall thanked campaign co-chairs Ron Dollens and Stan Hurt and the many volunteers involved in the campaign. "The Eye on the Future campaign has been enormously successful. We are deeply grateful to the Lilly Endowment for its generous display of support for this institution," Vanausdall said. "We also wish to thank the wonderful cadre of volunteers who have helped us attain such a broad base of donor support during the past two years."

Entertainment/Education Courtyard: The upper half of this courtyard is the DeHaan Family Terrace, named by Indianapolis philanthropist Christel DeHaan. The terrace extends north of the museum all the way to the canal. The lower half is the Nina Mason Pulliam Education Center and Garden, named by the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

More than 300 donors have made pledges and gifts to the campaign. Besides those already noted, other leadership gifts have been made by Christel DeHaan, Harrison and Dr. Sonja Eiteljorg, and Joan and Mel Perelman.

Landscape Plan: This is an aerial view of the Eiteljorg Museum grounds. The circle at the bottom represents the new-and-improved pond in which the deer sculpture will be reinstalled. The solid circle at the top left represents the new entry tower, the Eli Lilly and Company/Guidant Corporation Entry Tower, which will rise from the underground parking garage and lead to the museum's front door.

The campaign is raising funds for a multi-million-dollar expansion project. Phase I, which is underway now and covers a 200-car underground parking garage, an entry tower leading from the garage into the museum, and a reinstalled front lawn and deer pond, will be completed in the spring of 1999.

Sculpture/Dining Court: This is the Allen Whitehill Clowes Sculpture Court, which will occupy the space that is currently a 3,000-square-foot outdoor terrace on the museum's first floor. When this space is enclosed with a glass roof, the court will become a sculpture gallery by day and a beautiful space for events by night.

Phase II, which will expand the museum itself by 40,000 square feet, is scheduled to begin in the fall of 1999, with completion by the summer of 2001. Fund-raising is expected to continue through 2000.

Please click on thumbnail images bordered by a red line to see enlargements. Images courtesy of Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art

This page was originally published 11/18/98 in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information. rev. 11/28/11

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