Kentucky Museum launches Museum for All Campaign

On Could 18, the Kentucky Museum launched a new marketing campaign to kick off the Museum for All Fund, an endowed initiative to make sure perpetual free admission on the Museum. Since 2019, the Kentucky Museum has been free to all guests, because of a pilot program funded by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Basis.

“Through the previous three years, we’ve got seen the unimaginable impression of free admission,” said Brent Bjorkman, the Museum’s Director. “Within the first yr, 2019, our in-person visitation grew by 45%. Regardless of the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, we welcomed over 20,000 digital and appointment-based guests. This previous yr, 2021, we reopened to the general public and welcomed over 30,000 on-line and in individual guests.”

Constructing on the success of the pilot program, the Museum for All Fund will present equitable entry to arts and tradition for the South-Central Kentucky neighborhood, the place one in three households expertise poverty. “Whereas admission charges could seem modest to some, even $20 may be the distinction between dinner and hunger for struggling households,” said Tiffany Isselhardt, the Museum’s Growth Supervisor. “By eliminating that barrier, we make sure that each Kentuckian can expertise the myriad advantages of museums.”

The marketing campaign hopes to attain $10,000 by June 17 to ascertain the endowment, adopted by collaborative and main presents to develop it to $450,000 or extra.

As soon as established, the Museum for All Fund will present income historically gathered via paid admission. That income helps initiatives reminiscent of diversifying collections, providing paid internships and graduate assistantships to WKU college students, guaranteeing equitable honorariums for visitor curators and audio system, supporting faculty- and student-produced exhibitions, and guaranteeing a dwelling wage for the Museum workforce.

Items are tax deductible and may be made on-line now right here.

Items may be made via one-time, multi-year or deliberate property giving. For questions or extra data, please contact Tiffany Isselhardt at 270-745-3369.

About Kentucky Museum

The Kentucky Museum is an integral a part of WKU’s campus and the South-Central Kentucky neighborhood. The Museum actively helps the tutorial and cultural objectives of WKU whereas offering high quality academic experiences and alternatives to have interaction with Kentucky’s heritage and our relevance in a world society. 

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