New campus name and 'dramatic change' are coming to the Indianapolis Museum of Art

During springtime, the Indianapolis Museum of Art welcomed you to friendlier weather with thousands of color-drenched blooms on its outdoor campus. A beer garden and, later on, 18 holes of mini-golf designed by artists kept you coming back.

Starting in mid-November, a night-time garden walk will be a new excursion. The museum's gardens will be illuminated by millions of lights that dance along to the music of the Nutcracker Suite. You'll have your choice of drinks and firepits to roast s'mores.

These are the type of cultural experiences Indy residents are drawn to. It's just that when it comes to perception, market research shows people don't necessarily connect them to the IMA.

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The museum knows that. It wants to emphasize its nature park, strengthen itself financially for the long-term and increase its patron base. That's why it's announcing a major shift that's meant to change people's minds. For the first time in its history, the entire campus at 38th Street and Michigan Road will have a name: Newfields. 

Newfields is the name that will unite all of the different parts that, to this point, have been pinned underneath "Indianapolis Museum of Art." The IMA, The Garden, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park and Lilly House will all keep their individual names, and the phrase "at Newfields" will be added to the end of each — the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, for example. The change also capitalizes on Central Indiana's love of outdoor activity.

"If we want to dramatically increase the number of people who are engaging in our mission, we need to do some dramatic change in the invitation we're giving people," said Gary Stoppelman, deputy director for marketing and external affairs.

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And so the institution's leadership wants to put out the welcome mat with the new moniker. "Newfields" was the name of the younger generation's home near Lilly House on the Oldfields estate. In 1966, Ruth Lilly and Josiah K. Lilly, of the pharmaceutical king family, donated the estate to the Art Association of Indianapolis, which had previously been at 16th and Pennsylvania streets.

With the tagline "A Place for Nature & the Arts," they believe the name is more inviting and flexible, like the new boxy "N" logo that can change its appearance based on the experience advertised.

Experience is the operative word. IMA leadership wants to make clear that people's connections with art, nature and one another are central. The new brand and website, discovernewfields.org, will launch in early October.

A need for more patrons and revenue

The museum struggled with more than $100 million in debt after its last expansion in 2005 and 2006, and it has been working to grow its member base. According to its 2015-16 annual report, it has been reducing its debt in recent years. With a $20 million pay down Aug. 1, its debt now stands at about $81 million, said Stephanie Perry, the museum's assistant director of communications.

It has continued to draw less off its endowment — which is about $345 million — as it works to become more financially stable.

"If you went back five years ... people who were very close to the institution, being on the board, high-level staff people, major donors, civic leaders, they would've been talking about the rate of spending money off your endowment," said Charles Venable, the museum's CEO.

"In 2008, I think, as the economy collapses, our endowment spending goes up to over 8 percent when you're earning, like, a negative number. Those are the kinds of things where clearly anybody who could do math or balance their own checkbook would say you can't do that forever."

What began as a conversation about how to sustain itself for the long haul turned into one about how to make the museum and its grounds better suited to the city. So with market research funded by a Lilly Endowment grant, the IMA partnered with the Chicago-based Halverson Group, a strategic research agency, to learn about the community.

What it found out was staggering. About 93 percent of the museum's visitors were either members or regular patrons. But they only made up 16 percent of the Central Indiana population. 17,132 households are IMA members, and the average attendance is 330,000 per year, Perry said.

Out of the 50 million leisure activities each year that happen in the Central Indiana market — not including dining out — about 50 percent are outdoor recreational activities, movies in theaters and public outdoor spaces. Just less than 1 percent are IMA activities.

The outdoor assets and popular movie series "are things that we offer here but people don't think of us as," Stoppelman said.

What's more, market researchers from Indianapolis-based Young & Laramore went to people's homes to find out why they didn't visit the museum. The responses included those who always mean to come but haven't made it out and those under the impression that things never changed there. 

"Boy, was it painful for us," Stoppelman said.

The IMA isn't the only museum to endure the uncomfortable process of reassessing what it means to the public. Becoming more welcoming is a difficult process that requires filtering through what works and what doesn't, said Wendy Pollock, who co-wrote "The Convivial Museum," which examines how museums can become welcoming and community-oriented.

A successful museum today requires maintaining a sense of trust and common purpose, she said. The directive is simple but not easy.

"You think about ... this sort of erosion of public trust, social capital, whatever you want to call it, in our society right now, and any institution that can help rekindle that sense of trust and common purpose is really, really of tremendous value," Pollock said.

That the IMA is spending so much effort to refocus resonated with the president of the Brooklyn Museum in New York. David Berliner visited the Indianapolis campus as it was re-strategizing to gain some direction as his museum finds its way forward in a competitive market. He was struck by how much they studied what people who aren't coming to the museum want.

"The IMA really has brilliantly put the audience at the center of their strategy," Berliner said.

A love affair with nature

Thanks to its 152-acre campus, the IMA has a long history with natural attractions. It began with the Penrod Arts Fair — now an annual staple with artists, live music and food — in 1967. And as the museum added to its art collection, it restored the grounds and built The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park: 100 Acres.

Look at the IMA's experimental exhibitions over the past few years, and you'll see how much nature plays into them. That's not a coincidence. 

Take spring blooms, for instance, which united the outdoor gardens with inside exhibitions including John James Audubon's bird drawings and Paula McCartney's photographs of birds.

"This spring, we had our first campus-wide experiment — Audubon, Spring Blooms, the two exhibitions — and this experiment gave us a lot of hope," Stoppelman said.

The IMA found that 54 percent of visitors to the "spring experiment" were between 18 and 44, with 24 percent between 25 and 34. The museum saw increases of visitors who are African American, Hispanic and Asian as well.

Just as the institution's marketing research revealed how much Indianapolis residents crave the outdoors, so, too, do visitors — regardless of the season, said Chris Gahl, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Indy. The observation isn't without precedent.

The Huntington — comprising a library, art collection and botanical gardens in San Marino, Calif. — underwent a similar sort of soul searching. When former president Steven Koblik took over the position in 2001, he inherited a campus that was just beginning to open up more to the public.

Founded in 1919, The Huntington was originally an enormous research library with a collection of rare books and mauscripts only open to scholars. The public came especially to visit its beautiful park, but it wasn't well known and patronage needed to grow, said Koblik. He visited the IMA and consulted with board members about how to reduce debt and strengthen revenue.

Expanding the gardens — including building a the Chinese garden — became a major way to invite a broader audience, Koblik said. The Huntington has 15,000 plant varieties that fall under 12 themed gardens, like the Japanese Garden, the California Garden and the Desert Garden.

"People want ownership of gardens," Koblik said. "If you go into an art museum, you know it's a great work of art, but you don't think about who owns it — it's self-apparent. It's the museum's. When you're in a garden, it's yours."

What experiences are on the way?

Winterlights at Newfields, with its millions of lights illuminating the campus from mid-November through early January, is one example of the experiences that will define Newfields. 

Venable and Stoppelman want to make clear that they aren't jettisoning indoor exhibits and the traditions patrons love, like the Lilly House's Christmas decorations.

"What's different about orchids, spring blooms, Christmas lights is we get to build on the success every year and evolve it and change it," Stoppelman said.

Among upcoming experiences are "City as Canvas: New York City Graffiti from the 70s and 80s," which explores the art form's transition from the streets to museums. A performance by hip-hop artist Doug E. Fresh is programmed to go along with the exhibition's opening Oct. 5.

Another is the "Portraits of Our City," where black and white photos of Indianapolis residents will be on display as well as audio of their answers to a simple question: Where would you like to wake up tomorrow?

The point is similar to what Berliner says is a necessary ingredient for attracting broad audiences.

"What we're finding more and more is that people just want to see themselves and each other in a new way," Berliner said. "So it's creating empathy, and it's creating civic-mindedness and connectivity among our audiences."

What does this mean for the future?

The implications of Newfields and its rebranding will resonate for a long time. Early indications point to positive reverberations inside and outside Indianapolis.

Newfields' plans don't stop with the name change and new strategy. Venable said a 30-year vision is in place to improve the grounds and to add more parking.

Visit Indy's Gahl called the Indianapolis Museum of Art a critical piece in marketing the city to visitors that ranks in the company of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Museum, and White River State Park. New programming helps Visit Indy market the city, he said.

Sixty percent of the 28 million visitors to Indianapolis each year come because a friend or relative invited them, said Gahl, who was on the marketing committee for the museum's rebranding process. 

"They're coming based on invitations from local residents ... to come experience their city, their home, and so these new offerings at the IMA will help give residents another platform, another experience to show off the city to their visiting friends and family," he said.

Marketing will certainly play a part in spreading the Newfields brand and mission. But Koblik, who's a veteran of this type of growth, said the oldest form of advertising is the most effective. 

"If the idea is right and what they're doing is right, then what will happen is that people will start talking to each other. It's a kind of word of mouth," he said.

Call IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339. Follow her on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram.