Worth the Drive: See one of the largest university art museums at IU

Did you know there is a world-class museum in the middle of Indiana?

While the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art might sit on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, the museum aims to reach a wider community beyond student audiences.

Named after a couple who made generous donations to a museum renovation project in 2016, the Eskenazi Museum of Art showcases a wide display of artwork and allows for rich learning experiences.

What is the Eskenazi Museum of Art?

One of the largest university art museums, Eskenazi has around 47,000 works in its collection. Asian art curator Natasha Kimmett said the museum has art from almost every art-making culture in the world, from ancient to contemporary pieces. She described Eskenazi as a “sister building” to the glass pyramid entry to the Louvre in Paris, both of which designed by the architect I.M. Pei.

“You walk into the building and there’s this stunning glass atrium space and you just have students and faculty and people in the atrium studying and working on class projects and just having coffee chats,” she said.”

Eskenazi Museum of Art is a “modern teaching museum,” that can be used for researching, teaching and exploring, Kimmett said. Through the 2016 renovation, the museum has developed a center for education, which includes an art-making studio as well as museum-based learning spaces.

“The museum actually has the first art therapist in a university art museum in the U.S., so we do a lot of arts-based wellness programming,” Kimmett said. “It’s been a great resource for our university-connected audience, but also broader audiences of all age groups.”

The museum also has a center for curatorial studies, a center for conservation and a center for prints, drawing and photographs. In addition to Kimmett, Eskenazi has curators for European and American art, ancient art, contemporary art and works on paper.

Featured exhibitions at the museum are free and open to the public. Eskenazi does four special exhibitions a year, which will typically align with the university’s academic calendar, Kimmett said. One of the Eskenazi’s current exhibitions transforms the museum into an immersive experience hand-knit and crocheted sculptures, inspired by Indonesia’s coral reef system.

“His work is really addressing these big issues of climate change, and our epidemic of social isolation and lonliness,” Kimmett said.

In addition to the gallery, Eskenazi also has a museum café and gift shop, open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Eskenazi Museum of Art is located at 1133 E. 7th St., on the Indiana University Bloomington campus, about a two-hour drive from downtown Louisville.

The Eskenazi Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The museum is closed on Mondays.