George and Frances Ball Foundation earmarks $400K for Muncie Children’s Museum renovation

FROM NEWS REPORTS
·2 min read

MUNCIE, Ind. — The George and Frances Ball Foundation has awarded $400,000 to the Muncie Children’s Museum's More to Explore Campaign, a push to raise $3 million for a major renovation, new or revamped exhibits and some general refreshing of the downtown museum's space.

The MCM capital campaign raised a total of $2.2 million in pledges and donations before announcing the public portion of the campaign in early March. The George and Frances Ball Foundation in 2020 awarded more than $2.9 million to 28 organizations focused on children, young adults, and educational attainment, the children’s museum among them, according to a release.

For subscribers: Here's what the Muncie Children's Museum has planned for its major ravamp

“We couldn’t be more grateful to the George and Frances Ball Foundation for its generosity and laser focus on providing resources to our community’s youngest generation,” MCM Director of Development Ashlee Anderson said in the release.

The museum's first capital campaign in more than 25 years — dating back to the one that allowed it to move to its current space at the Horizon Convention Center — will change and expand current exhibits include the model trains, Discovery Park nature area, the water table and the "ant wall," add a new hands-on construction zone, provide some general facility upgrades and add to the museum's endowment for future support.

The model trains exhibit at the Muncie Children's Museum will be moved from the main floor and rebuilt with a new layout on the mezzanine.
The model trains exhibit at the Muncie Children's Museum will be moved from the main floor and rebuilt with a new layout on the mezzanine.

To donate to the Muncie Children's Museum's "More to Explore" capital campaign, go to moretoexplore.net.

“The Muncie Children’s Museum, as with children’s museums throughout the country, understands that through play and fun, they can teach, stimulate, and prepare children for their future,” Anderson said in the release. The museum supports Kindergarten Readiness and Third Grade Reading, which are the first two academic markers in the foundation's Cradle to Career Muncie initiative.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: George and Frances Ball Foundation gives $400K to children’s museum