Photo courtesy AP Photo
Mr. Rosewater Café
Ed Battista of Bluebeard collaborated with the KVML to plan this eatery (his second named for a Vonnegut novel), filling a void in the neighborhood. The cafe will be open to the public from 7 a.m. through museum hours. According to Battista, it will offer Amelia’s bread and pastries in addition to a lunch menu similar to Bluebeard’s.
Freedom of Expression Exhibition
Celebrating Vonnegut’s lifelong crusade to protect the First Amendment, this exhibit will include the 100 books most frequently banned in libraries and schools across the nation (feel free to read one while having lunch at the cafe), as well as touch-screens guiding visitors through the history of free speech and artwork related to the subject.
Writing Studio
One of the highlights of the old museum moves across the street. Featuring that Vonnegut typewriter replica that you can use to craft your own messages, his Purple Heart, and some of his doodles, the re-creation of his writing studio will feature recordings of his voice reading his work.
Vonnegut and Jazz Exhibition
Vonnegut loved music, especially jazz. The KVML plans to install an outdoor tunnel through which visitors can walk, listen to greats like Wes Montgomery, and learn about the history of the genre on Indiana Avenue.
Vonnegut Murals
On the exterior walls of the new museum, artist Pamela Bliss (responsible for the 38-foot-high Vonnegut mural on Mass Ave) has two more Vonnegut paintings in the works. One will be a 15-foot-high version of the museum’s logo with the author’s self-portrait. The other, which will come later, will be a 25-foot-high depiction of our state’s literary giant.
