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Newfields unveiled a revamped fountain, expanded schedule, and new board leadership as part of a slate of recent and coming changes campus officials shared at the 142nd Annual Meeting on May 7.
Starting Memorial Day, the art and nature campus will welcome patrons on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a day on which it was previously closed. The campus will now open every day at 10 a.m., one hour earlier than previously.
The changes will give patrons more time to see the Glick Fountain, newly remodeled to remain historical accurate. The fountain also now features a safe pathway around it and artful new spray capabilities.
Darrianne Christian announced the end of her four-year term as chair of Newfields' Board of Trustees on Wednesday night and the board elected new officers and members.
Here are the highlights from Newfields' Wednesday night meeting:
New hires and staff announcements
In his first annual meeting at Newfields, CEO and President Le Monte Booker, who joined Newfields in October, announced several key hires. Those include:
Michael Berkery as chief operations officer, who is currently the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center's chief operating officer;
Sherri Williams as director of learning innovation, who has been the educator in charge of public programs and engagement for New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art;
Amanda Dietz Brooks as director of exhibitions, who has been head of exhibitions and publications at the Dallas Museum of Art.
The institution is also looking to hire a director of historic properties and three curators to oversee the museum's European, American and Asian art collections.
Booker also said Newfields has been interviewing candidates to fill the role of chief people and culture officer. Ernest Gause, who was terminated in January, previously held the role of chief people, diversity and technology officer. He told IndyStar that he subsequently submitted an accusation of discrimination against the art and nature campus with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging he endured retaliation for highlighting institutional malfeasances as well as race- and age-based discrimination.
In January, Newfields released a statement saying Gause's departure was in no way related to discrimination on the basis of race, gender or age. When asked about the chief people officer position and whether he had additional comment on Gause's departure after the meeting, Booker did not address the termination but focused on what Newfields is seeking in its next chief people officer.
"We have got an amazing, amazing staff here, and they will embrace that new leader," Booker told media after the meeting. "That new leadership is going to go a long way in helping us to achieve the many goals that we have. This is an incredibly, incredibly important position within the organization that is going to help us with our talent management strategy, going to help us continue to refine our culture of excellence and performance."
New outdoor amenities around Newfields' campus
In the next few years, a new garden and pedestrian walkway will join the Glick Fountain, which was part of the 30-year master plan Newfields put together with David Rubin and the Land Collective landscape architectural firm, said Jonathan Wright, director of the garden and Fairbanks Park. Together, the amenities offer patrons additional destinations throughout the campus and improve overall accessibility by building and connecting more walkways.
Glick Fountain: The $3.1 million renovation brought several new capabilities to the fountain that has sat across from Lilly House at the end of the grassy Lilly Allée since the 1920s. The new jets create five effects, including fog, basket weaves, pop-jets and arches. Some mimic the fountain's original patterns, while others are new. The fountain's sprays are synced to a musical score recorded by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Flower and Vegetable Garden: This 1.5-acre garden will replace the Elder Greenhouse's paved parking lot and its bounty will go toward community organizations combating food insecurity. The $4.6 million first phase will have garden beds inspired by the original estate's landscape and will open in 2026. Newfields will build a pavilion adjacent to the garden in a second phase.
Woodland Walk: The pedestrian pathway, which will measure more than 1,000 feet, will extend across the canal, running parallel to 38th Street, from the surface parking lot to Fairbanks Park. The $8 million project is planned to open in 2027.
New art coming to the museum
Belinda Tate, director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, shared several new exhibits on the way, many of which will be celebrated June 27 at an "Artful Party." Those include:
"Resplendent Dreams: Reawakening the Rococo" (opens June 6), in which contemporary queer artists examine gender and aesthetics;
"Black Dandelion" by Kori Newkirk, tentatively opening June 27 in the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion;
"Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas," a pioneer abstract painter (opens June 27).
The new Lume exhibit "Connection: Land, Water, Sky — Art & Music from Indigenous Australians" will open May 10. Featurettes by Herron students will follow in late June.
Outdoors, two new sculptures by Héctor Esrawe and with illustrations by Violeta Hernández will come to Fairbanks Park late this summer.
New board chair and more elections
Christian passed the baton to vice chair Anne Sellers, whose tenure begins this year. On Wednesday night, Christian recounted the highlights of her tenure — including navigating the pandemic; diversifying the board, leadership roles and art collection; and increasing employee salaries — as she broadly referenced the challenges the institution has faced.
"My appointments to board chair occurred as a result of what I call being volun-told by the small but but mighty board chair at the time, a woman who I truly admire, (former Board of Trustees chair) Katie Betley," Christian said.
"It's no secret that I came into this role when everything about being chair at the time was difficult. We were in the midst of a global pandemic, a necessary national cultural reckoning and crisis all at once. The past four years have brought transformation, challenge and, most importantly, growth for both Newfields as an institution and for me personally," Christian said. "Together we've made difficult decisions, leaned into hard conversations and committed ourselves to the kind of change and action that doesn't just check boxes but shifts mindsets."
Over the past four years, Newfields has seen several high-profile challenges, including the resignation of CEO Charles Venable after a controversial job post, the abrupt and still unexplained departure of former CEO Colette Pierce Burnette, the subsequent exit of several board members, and Gause's accusation of discrimination after his termination.
Other new additions to the Board of Trustees include Faraz Abbasi, Robert Knowling, Rebecca Kubacki, Mary Madden, Natasha Mann, Susanne McAlister, Joe Molina, Doug Singleton, David Spoelstra and Michelle Taylor.
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