INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- Today, Tom King, president and CEO of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, introduced the public phase of INVision, a comprehensive capital campaign to cover renovations of core exhibition galleries in the museum as well as historic site projects around the state. The announcement came during a stakeholder preview of the renovations that included a talk from Laura Lott, President and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums, Washington, DC.

The museum has raised $15.7 million to date and is looking to raise an additional $2.5 million to complete the campaign projects and establish an endowment for the museum system. The five-phase plan will be complete in 2019, in time for the museum to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

“Now that the INVision campaign efforts are public, we’re focusing on engaging the organizations and individuals who would like to support the museum and sites,” said Tom King, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites president and CEO. “Creating an institution that not only houses Indiana’s past, but also leads it into the future will take the support of fellow Hoosiers who share our vision and value our mission.”

“Indiana’s philanthropic community has shown its support of this campaign through its generosity. We’ve been so pleased to see the state and federal government respond with additional funding,” said Aja May, senior vice president for external relations. “We think the foundation they’ve laid will be built upon by Hoosiers across the state as they support projects at all 12 locations.”

King says the museum is dedicated to making sure every child walking through the museum galleries, through the rooms of the Levi Coffin house or the streets of Vincennes leave with a stronger sense of their cultural heritage.

King unveiled the first phase of work at the museum, the redesigned Natural Regions gallery on Level 1 as well as the expanded and renovated Contested Territory and 19th State galleries on Level 2. The five-phase plan includes the re-imagination and renovation of each of the museum’s core galleries, as well as implementation of critical infrastructure and technological changes to improve the visitor experience, and improvement to the collections maintenance and research capabilities.

Each of the 11 historic sites around the state will receive repairs and improvements as part of the INVision campaign. Significant projects include the repair and renovation of the state capitol building and square at Corydon Capitol State Historic Site, the restoration of Selma’s gardens at T.C. Steele State Historic Site and the building of a new interpretive center at Levi Coffin State Historic Site, to be unveiled in December 2016.

“Indiana’s bicentennial year has been the perfect time to rededicate ourselves to serving and celebrating the Hoosier State,” King added. “We cannot tell our stories the same way we have in the past. The donations we receive through the capital campaign will allow us to effectively connect our visitors with their heritage, inspire Indiana’s youth and expand the public’s knowledge of Indiana’s scientific and cultural contributions.”