by Russell Boniface

The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis, by Browning, Day, Mullins, Dierdorf Architects, will debut its new Perelman Wing on June 11 as part of the museum’s $40.7 million “Eye on the Future” campaign to enlarge the museum’s collection. The 45,000-square-foot Perelman Wing will feature three new galleries, classrooms, a library, a technology lab, one sculpture court, gardens, and plenty of open space. The addition will also double the Eiteljorg’s public space, allowing the museum to display more of its collection, hold special events, and provide guests with hands-on learning. The addition is named for Mel and Joan Perelman, who donated $5 million to the Eiteljorg Museum and have supported the Eiteljorg Museum both financially and with artwork from their collection.

“Our mission is to inspire an appreciation and understanding of the art, history, and cultures of the American West and the indigenous peoples of North America,” says John Vanausdall, president and CEO of the Eiteljorg Museum. “The new Perelman Wing will allow us to pursue our mission as never before.”

Native American and Western art find a home
The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art opened in 1989 in Indianapolis’ White River State Park along the Indianapolis Central Canal. The 73,000-square-foot museum is set within a large round base designed to represent a kiva, the sacred circular space that was part of Indian pueblo communities. It is the only museum in the Midwest to combine Native American and Western art and artifacts. Says Vanausdall, “The museum captures the very history and spirit of the region—the confluence of Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures that is the Southwest.”

The Native American collection presents the work of native artists from all regions of North America, particularly the Plains and Southwest, with a sampling of pieces from almost every tribal group. The American Western collection spans the early 19th century to the present and includes art depicting life west of the Mississippi. During his lifetime, Indianapolis-born Harrison Eiteljorg, the museum’s late founder, businessman, and philanthropist, traveled often to Taos, N.M., developing a kinship with the native Pueblo Indians and acquiring items of their hand-crafted art. Eventually, he added to his collection the holdings of the now-defunct Museum of Indian Heritage.

Construction on the Perelman Wing began in December 2003. Architect Jonathan Hess, AIA, designed both the original Eiteljorg Museum, inspired by the architecture forms of Indian pueblo communities, and its new Perelman Wing. Hess is an executive vice president at the Indianapolis-based firm Browning, Day, Mullins, Dierdorf Architects. Hess’s work includes the Indianapolis Museum of Art and additions to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. “The expansions to the museum represented a challenge for us to look anew and afresh at what we had originally designed some 17 years ago,” Hess says. “The original context of our construction had changed with the further development of White River State Park as well as the implementation of the historic canal, which defines the site to the north.”

In addition to the three new galleries, the new wing will house the Allen Whitehill Clowes Sculpture Court, a circular space illuminated by skylights for Native American drum groups, operas, lectures, and the display of monumental sculptures, including Allan Houser’s Morning Prayer (a bronze sculpture of an Apache serenely murmuring the daily prayer). “The placement and expression of the expansion responds to the state capitol through placing the new Alan Whitehill Clowes Sculpture Court on axis with the state house,” Hess explains.

The 6,000-square-foot Nina-Mason Pulliam Education Center will be a resource center and library to allow students and visitors to explore the art, history, and cultures of the American West and native peoples of North America in a hands-on setting. The center will also house two visual and performing-arts studios, technology studio, and outdoor learning center.

Designing a wing of fancy
Before designing the museum, Eiteljorg and Hess traveled to Arizona and New Mexico to study the land, architecture, and people of the Southwest. Hess was inspired by the Indian pueblos of northern New Mexico, especially the apartment-like dwellings constructed of adobe mud bricks. The structures are the same today as they have been for several hundred years and served as inspiration for much of the design of the museum, as well as for the materials.

In keeping with the design of the museum itself, the Perelman Wing maintains the Southwestern motif. The exterior—three acres of gardens and plazas along the downtown Central Canal—is composed of nearly 12,000 pieces of hand-cut, honey-colored Minnesota dolomite, which is already prominent on the face of the museum. The dolomite is coupled with plum-colored sandstone to create the feel of a Southwestern Pueblo. Native plantings and indigenous trees, such as river birch, red oak, and sugar maple, soften the stone and hardscape.

A discovery garden along a curvilinear path is part of the open space. A separate festival space for events has permanent in-ground anchors for tenting. “The architecture of the addition uses the original design palette but attempts to add a more intimate, pedestrian scale,” Hess says. “The site development creates spaces along the canal to welcome visitors while also providing spaces for art and social functions.” Also featured in this space will be a circular garden called “Symbols of the Universe,” designed with Native input. It showcases symbols universal to all indigenous tribes. And the Christen Dean Family Terrace will overlook the museum’s garden along the Indianapolis Central Canal.

The interior design of warm earth tones, stone, and rich mahogany trim continues the Southwestern theme. The galleries are floored with stained oak. The Gathering Place, a subdued version of the museum’s majestic Grand Hall, features a winding cedar staircase that offers a 360-degree view of the famed Indianapolis Totem Pole, which is 34 feet high and weighs in at 1.9-tons. The heavy timber assembly of the Gathering Place meets exterior wavy zinc canopies, complementing the totem pole.

Ribbon cutting
The grand opening of the Perelman Wing will be held June 11–12. Musical performances will celebrate the event and include bluegrass, folk, western, tejano, and salsa music. Storytelling cowboys will also be on hand. Visitors will be able to watch demonstrations of Native American and Western culture and artwork and take walk-through tours. There will even be a tipi raising.

Vanausdall is very grateful to the Perelmans for their support. “Every arts organization needs a Mel and Joan Perelman. Their enthusiasm helps us create excitement about exhibitions and events that people in the Midwest have asked us to present,” he says, adding that the museum is “immensely grateful to all those who made contributions—large and small—to the ‘Eye on the Future’ campaign. The newly expanded museum is a jewel box that has become a visual icon of the Indianapolis landscape.”

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