The idea was born nearly a decade ago.
Initial talk about a makeover for the visitor center began in 2017 when a site blueprint defined lofty ambitions for the revamp, as well as laid out plans for new trails, the Promised Land as Proving Ground exhibit, and the White River Education and Ecology Center.
Even back then, it was overdue for a refresh.
The building that housed the museum’s visitor center was originally constructed in the 1980s and hadn’t been updated since the 1990s. “We’ve seen quite a bit of change over the past 40 years, but this was the first multimillion dollar renovation in several decades,” says Jennifer Sommers, Conner Prairie’s vice president and chief advancement officer.
Fundraising got underway in 2018.
At first, the Prairie Pathways Campaign aimed to generate $17 million, but that number quickly escalated during the pandemic inflation era. To date, more than 160 philanthropic donors have contributed $42 million in total. The next big fundraising campaign effort will go toward supporting the upcoming Food, Farm, and Energy Experience and other projects still to come.
In this case, bigger is definitely better.
The museum’s facade has been redone, and the airy front lobby with its adjacent gift shop looks markedly different, but the most dramatic changes took place farther within. Reconfiguring the main building’s interior nearly tripled the amount of dedicated exhibit space, paving the way for six new signature experiences. With the new addition of the bright Ricker Prairie Overlook boasting views of the barn, animal pens, and bucolic grounds beyond, the overall footprint of the two-story facility grew from 68,000 to more than 86,000 square feet.
Accessibility was a top priority.
A wealth of thoughtful new accommodations includes nicely outfitted sensory rooms and exhibit signage, touch-free restroom doors, an adult-sized changing table, adjustable gallery lighting, and closed captioning on all video elements. “We’re also bringing back our monthly Sensory Friendly Hours this summer,” Sommers adds.
The center addresses uncomfortable truths with transparency.
The Torn: A Family Portrait section unflinchingly discusses the complicated Conner history, touching on William and his brother John’s marriages to Lenape women, European Westward expansion, and the removal of the area’s Native peoples to Missouri (and later Kansas and Oklahoma) as dictated by the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary’s—which Conner facilitated and resulted in the departure of his wife and six children.
There’s been no discussion of changing Conner Prairie’s name.
While the family has never been involved in governance, curatorial and exhibits teams have worked to build and strengthen relationships with modern-day Indigenous communities. “Right now, we’re in the middle of a five-year project [supported by a Lilly Endowment] to develop a permanent Lenape connection and kinship project on the outdoor grounds,” Sommers mentions.
The White River runs through it.
The waterway that bisects the 1,046-acre Conner Prairie campus factors prominently into the MEC’s exhibits, placing the museum among a wave of activations across Hamilton and Marion counties. “The White River very much connects to our identity,” Sommers says. “It’s one of the main reasons the Conners and the Lenape lived here.”
Audio and visual river “currents” usher guests through the Power of Place gallery, a multimedia experience that traces 22,000 years of the land’s history from the Ice Age to the present. The surrealist Wellspring playscape created in partnership with artist Wes Bruce and The Curious Life also pays homage to the waterway, evoking an earthy river landscape punctuated with cave-like crannies to explore, a foam cube pit for jumping, lots of quirky found objects, and wisps of poetry. More than a few grown-ups have been spotted diving into the cube pit, which is allowed, even encouraged.
Guests can find out what goes on behind the scenes.
In a first-floor corner behind the reception desk, the Caring for Collections area offers an intriguing glimpse into the effort needed to conserve and maintain the museum’s vast holdings of some 27,000 historical objects and artifacts.
Conner Prairie is one of only two Smithsonian affiliates in Indiana.
Along with the Indiana Historical Society, Conner Prairie has access to resources, connections, visibility, and traveling exhibits that other museums don’t. For example, Spark!Lab, developed by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation in Washington, D.C., is one of just 10 such hands-on spaces across the country. In this area, fun STEM activities like building vehicles and creating musical soundscapes stoke young imaginations.
Visitors can satisfy their appetite for both learning and sammies.
Running now through September 13, Food: Science, Culture, and Cuisine presented by Corteva Agriscience occupies the new Traveling Exhibit Gallery flex space designed to host a rotating series of regional and national touring exhibitions. Access is included with general museum admission. In the likely event you get hungry, the new on-site Harvest Cafe offers coffee, pastries, soup, salads, and grab-and-go sandwiches.
Conner Prairie is now an even more important economic driver.
Between the jobs it provides, the tourism dollars it brings in, and the quality-of-life measures it supports, Indiana’s landmark living history museum generates a whopping annual economic impact of more than $44 million statewide; $25 million in Hamilton County. “We’ve got a lot of strong champions in the community,” Sommers notes.
“Museums have the power to create a scaffolding of experiences through repeated visits. And with offerings like our tethered balloon rides, Prairietown, Animal Encounters, Treetop Outpost, and now the MEC, I feel like we deliver unique opportunities that people just can’t find anywhere else.”
