INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457

EITELJORG MUSEUM OFFERS FREE ADMISSION TO IUPUI CAMPUS

INDIANAPOLIS - The doors of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art are now open free of charge to all IUPUI staff, faculty, and students with ID.

Regular museum admission is $6.

The free admission is the outgrowth of a 1999 partnership between the Eiteljorg Museum, located south of the campus at 500 W. Washington St., and IUPUI to make the museum more accessible to students.

"We want the university's students and faculty to see us as a campus museum," said John Vanausdall, president and CEO of the Eiteljorg. "Both organizations are encouraged by the response we've gotten since the partnership began two years ago. Offering free admission is just the next step in making the museum truly accessible to everyone at IUPUI."

Through exhibitions, hands-on workshops with artists and personal interaction with Native American artists and other members of this country's earliest cultures, the Eiteljorg Museum immerses visitors in the indigenous cultures of the American West and Native America. It is the only museum in the Midwest that features such a cultural combination in its programming.

"Seeing What the Heart Knows: the Art of Howard Terpning" runs through May 20 at the Eiteljorg.

Terpning, the Cowboy Artists of America's most pre-eminent artist, received the Eiteljorg Museum Award for Excellence last month. The award recognizes a lifetime of achievement by the artist who is respected among Native Americans for his accuracy.

"The public has a stereotypical image of Native Americans that they've derived from Hollywood movies and from artists who didn't care whether they painted an Iroquois from the East in the dress of a Native American from the Plains," said curator Ray Gonyea. "In contrast, you can look at any Howard Terpning painting and see that even down to the smallest details, he accurately reflects the people and the time represented."

In addition to his extensive paintings of Native Americans, Terpning documented Vietnam War scenes as a civilian combat artist, painted movie posters including "The Guns of Navarone" and a reissue of "Gone with the Wind," and also created advertising art and illustrated stories and articles in Ladies Home Journal, Reader's Digest and Time.

The Eiteljorg exhibit features original paintings - most of which are from private collections - handpicked by Terpning for inclusion in the one-man show.

Museum hours are: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday throughout the year. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, the museum is also open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.

The free admission does not apply to Indian Market or other special events.

For addition information, call the museum at (317) 636-9378.

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