Haan Museum selected to represent Indiana in the nation’s 250th celebration
BY CINDY GERLACH
As the United States gets ready to celebrate its 250th birthday – its semiquincentennial –Indiana – and Greater Lafayette — will have a special part to play, as the Haan Museum of Indiana Art has been named a participant at the national level, representing the state in the Kennedy Center National Scrollathon.
And that energy will continue locally as the Haan Museum plans to implement a Museum Without Walls to further tell Indiana’s story and the part the state has played –and continues to play – in the arts.
It’s a very exciting opportunity, says Haan Museum Executive Director and Chief Curator Kerrie Bellisario.
For the National Scrollathon, one museum was chosen from each state, and the Haan Museum was chosen to represent Indiana.
“They were specifically looking for which museum was going to best tell the story of that state’s art and culture,” Bellisario says.
“And the Haan Museum is the only museum in Indiana that is only dedicated to Indiana art and culture.”
This public art installation will be on the grounds of the Kennedy Center, opening on the Fourth of July. The American public can attend for free and experience what art and culture look like across the entire country through a very engaging art exhibit.
Indiana’s participation will include voices from Lafayette, with videos; it will be an interactive experience. The exhibit will run through Memorial Day 2027.
As the museum considered its involvement at the national level, the staff wondered what it could do to share those stories locally, how to bring that experience back to the community, making it accessible to everyone. So for America 250, the Haan has pitched a Museum Without Walls. It will be in five downtown storefronts that are currently vacant or underutilized, transforming them into mini-museums. These spaces will focus on telling the story of art and culture in Indiana.
The spaces will feature a combination of stories from the area, including Lafayette’s incredible connection to the 1904 World’s Fair in the very way that the Haan Museum found its way here.
“The idea is that you can go to Washington, D.C., and experience this public art project,” Bellisario says. “But if you don’t have the chance to go to Washington, D.C., we are going to have our Museum Without Walls project right here, in downtown Lafayette. So, people will be able to experience the best of what Indiana art and culture is through incredible stories.”
Five exhibit paths
The plan is to feature five exhibit paths. One will focus on the 1904 World’s Fair, including the collection of unique souvenirs, furnishings and arts from the World’s Fair. The museum has a large collection that is not on permanent display. Thus, this will allow people to see items they can’t ordinarily see.
Another path will feature interviews with Indiana makers. The museum is partnering with an Indiana University-Bloomington professor who will curate oral history interviews with Indiana artists. The focus will be on contemporary ceramic artists who continue to create work using the old traditions. This includes using clay from the river, a process that is not like anywhere else, Bellisario says. Each exhibit will include QR codes that will connect people to audio or video, so people can hear stories about how artists learn these traditions. A professor in Arizona is working on augmented reality – if participants are looking at an image of the living room of the Haan, for example, they might suddenly see the music box start playing. Magical and imaginative experiences will come to life through technology, as the museum partners with Purdue and IU.
There will be a focus on young people as well, with field trips and opportunities to learn these traditions.
“It’s all about really helping our community discover the power and impact of our stories,” Bellisario says.
From Potter mansion to museum
The Haan Museum of Indiana Art is history itself. The building was the State of Connecticut pavilion at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. The Potters, from Lafayette, purchased the building when it was auctioned at the conclusion of the fair. It took 22 train cars to move it to Lafayette, and then nearly an entire year of construction to rebuild it on a lot on State Street, where it sits today. The mansion has three floors plus a basement, with a total of 16,000 square feet. Only 15 buildings from the 1904 World’s Fair survive today.
Bob and Ellie Haan purchased the mansion in 1984. It became a home for their collection of Indiana art, which continued to grow while they lived there. In 2015, they created the nonprofit Haan Museum of Indiana Art, donating the building and grounds to the museum, along with much of the artwork. Understanding the Haans’ vision and working to implement that vision is an important part of the museum, Bellisario says. The Haans envisioned a nature trail with a sculpture garden and working with school groups. The staff works to helps these dreams come to fruition.
“The Haans, in their mission for collecting art, have a collection of pieces that are really, truly extraordinary,” Bellisario says. “It’s the best of the historical, but they also had this lens toward the contemporary. There will be pieces that they say, ‘Well, we didn’t like it, but we knew it was important.’
“Let’s lean into the glory that it is. Make this a shining gem.”
‘Pure democracy’
Bellisario loves that these exhibits, through the Museum Without Walls, will help expand the museum’s mission. Imagine, she says, walking down Main Street and suddenly you find yourself standing in the middle of the Haan living room.
“America 250 – it’s pure democracy in a sense, making art accessible,” she says. “Right into your daily lives. We take away the cost of an admission fee. We do our magic.”
She is particularly excited about the access for children and young people. An encounter with art in this way could change their lives.
“How do we pass stories on, inspire one another?” she says. “Art brings people together. It inspires us, to find the best in each other, to find the best in ourselves.
“We see those moments all the time when kids come in this building. And that’s our life’s work. We are truly devoted to helping people find those connections.”
The opening of these exhibits will roll out starting in July. Programming will be coordinated, bringing people together to celebrate these stories.
“When history gets really exciting is when we make our local connection to the larger stories,” Bellisario says. “And that is what we’re able to do here. You’re hearing and seeing stories that unite and connect us.
“In Indiana, the traditions of our makers are so rich. It’s through them and their stories that we learn about how interconnected we are to the greater story. And that continues to this day.”
Golden age of art
The years 1880 to 1920 were a golden age of art and culture, Bellisario says. And Indiana was a huge contributor.
“We were as vibrant as New York City,” she says. “People don’t realize that. Indianapolis was a huge cultural hub at that time. Through this program we’re finding more and more ways to bring that spirit to life in Lafayette.
“The Great Societies were based on art and ideas. Interconnectedness. A celebration of ideas.”
The Haan Musuem has all these stories –these and more, Bellisario says. This project will touch everyone, engaging all who come in contact. And with the strategic locations downtown, she hopes these stories reach the entire community.
“The Museum Without Walls – it’s bringing people together through the arts,” she says.
“And allowing everyone a pathway in to discover the incredible role that artists played in Indiana, in shaping Indiana as a state.
“And when we look at the fabric of American art history, to really understand that we played a really central part of that and I think, there really is great art here. You can go to New York and see fabulous things, but there are fabulous things here.”
