---

News Release

Last modified: Monday, October 22, 2007

IU Art Museum celebrates 25 years with a lecture by Bruce Cole

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 22, 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In honor of the 25th anniversary of the IU Art Museum's building and the unveiling of Light Totem, Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will return to Indiana University to present a special lecture.

The 25th Anniversary Lecture will take place on Friday (Oct. 26), from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the IU Hope School of Fine Arts Auditorium, Room 015. The lecture will be followed by the "Lighting Ceremony for Light Totem" on the museum's front lawn. The IU Art Museum was designed by I. M. Pei & Partners.

Cole is the eighth chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He arrived at the Endowment in December 2001 from Indiana University Bloomington, where he was distinguished professor of art history and professor of comparative literature.

As NEH chairman, Cole has launched "We the People," an initiative to encourage the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture. The initiative includes summer seminars at national historic landmarks to enhance teachers' knowledge of American history, and a program to distribute classic children's books to libraries and schools across the country.

We the People has also begun a partnership with the Library of Congress to catalogue and digitize the story of our past as told in America's historic newspapers. When the National Digital Newspaper Program is complete, Americans will be able to search 30 million pages via the Internet.

Under Cole's leadership, the Endowment is also spearheading the application of digital technology to the humanities through its "Digital Humanities Initiative," begun in 2006. During his tenure as chairman, the NEH's budget has increased for research, preservation, education and public programs on American history and culture and for the study of cultures in other lands and in earlier civilizations.

Appointed by President George W. Bush, Cole was chosen for a second term in 2005, a reappointment unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate.

About the Indiana University Art Museum
With collections ranging from ancient gold jewelry and African masks to paintings by Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso, the Indiana University Art Museum is located on Seventh Street in the heart of the Bloomington campus. The Indiana University Art Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., and features the redesigned Angles Café & Gift Shop. The Art Museum is closed on Mondays and major holidays. All exhibits are free and open to the public.

---

---