BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (CelebrityAccess) — Musician, artist, and activist John Mellencamp will donate an archive of personal materials to Indiana University.
The donation, which was announced by IU President Pamela Whitten, includes items related to Mellencamp’s career, social activism and philanthropy, and it holds original creative works, photographs, instruments and other significant memorabilia.
The archive will serve as the focus for IU’s efforts to build a curriculum around careers in arts and entertainment disciplines.
“John’s impact on music and American culture is immense,” Whitten said. “On behalf of Hoosiers everywhere, I am exceptionally proud of John’s lifelong association with IU and deeply grateful to him for selecting the university as the permanent home for his archives.”
“His collection will be an incredible resource for arts scholars and a clear source of inspiration to our students. We are thrilled to honor him and celebrate his many contributions to music, art and IU,” she added.
Whitten also announced that the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University to work with Mellencamp to stage an exhibition in the 2023-24 academic year. The exhibition will showcase Mellencamp’s visual artistic expression, including some of his paintings.
“The IU Eskenazi Museum of Art is pleased to present this exhibition of artwork by John Mellencamp,” said David A. Brenneman, the Wilma E. Kelley Director of the Eskenazi Museum of Art. “We look forward to celebrating his work as a visual artist, and we are thrilled to host an exhibition of work by a Hoosier native who has contributed so much to our community. This exhibition provides an excellent opportunity for our teaching museum to connect IU students and our community with contemporary art.”
