indiana state museum

Great museum about the history on Indiana. Gound floor natural history section has some Indiana specific info but overall is basic and general. Lots of cool tidbits and facts on the second floor about the history and local area. The museum follows a semi walkthrough design where it guides you to see everything in the gallery, but not quite. Lots of nooks and crannies with cool things that might be missed to look for all the crannies. Food actually pretty decent at the cafe. Go for a walk along the canal too. Shares the parkade with the Eiteljorg museum so might as well go to both at the same time if you can. The hours are different so look before you go.

This was a great Museum t o visit for history of Indiana. Also perfect in size, was able to see all of museum without rushing.

spent most of a day there and were impressed with the quality of the exhibits. There are three different parts to the museum we enjoyed the prohibition exhibit a lot.

Our family visited the museum on the last Saturday in January in the afternoon and there were no crowds at all. The admission prices and Imax film cost us around $63 dollars. At first I thought that it may be overpriced but soon found out it is a very nice museum with lots to see and learn and we really should have allowed more time. We also watched the IMAX film Jerusalem and truly enjoyed it. The snacks at the IMAX were very reasonable . We did not have enough time to see the entire museum as we arrived mid afternoon and the film took a portion of out time. We enjoyed seeing the exhibit on famous people from Indiana , the culture and prehistoric stuff. If you are in the area it is a great educational attraction to visit .

A little late sharing this, as I visited the museum Jan. 2015. This is a wonderful facility in the downtown area. Parking was easy. I was lucky enough to find a spot not far from the underground entrance. No waiting as I paid my entrance fee. My purpose was to see the restored copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Admentment. I know that these documents are rarely on view due to their age and fragile state. I was a bit disappointed, as the display was a isolated, and the exhibit didn't deal much with the true significance of the documents. There were two eloctronic stations, one each for each document, to discuss details of each item, but one was out of order. The museum has a exhibit on Level 1 for the " IN African American Experience", which I saw as incomplete. There was large empty floor space which appeared as if some display was removed, or not yet set up, yet nothing indicates any status. Think this area would have been the perfect place to display the"Emancipation and 13th Admentment ". The day of my visit, the museum was not busy at all. I wanted to grab something to eat, but the cafe didn't have much of a selection when I arrived after 2pm. Decided to get a late lunch elsewhere. The admission price included entry to a special exhibit on prohibition, which was very interesting. A highlight was the ability to take a photo with cutouts of era gangsters , and email to the address you indicate. Decided to skip this .This is a nice place to visit, with a lot of history to absorb. Allow a few hours to explore, and check out the view of the river walk,and the downtown skyline from the upper floor.

The Indiana State Museum has so many unique exhibits. Prehistoric culture, ROCKS (one of our favorite things) Local history and pop culture.There is also a large IMAX theater inside that plays a variety of movies. Located right on the canal downtown, it is really fun to wander through the museum and then out by the Indiana clock (it plays "back home again in Indiana on the hour)

OK - Perspective. We live just outside Washington DC, so realize that we're spoiled by the Smithsonian Museum's. We thought the Indiana State Museum was a nicely laid out, informative journey from geologic formation through modern times (in the eye's of "Indiana" - which makes sense). They have a current exhibit on prohibition which was very well done. We did learn a lot, and enjoyed exploring the many exhibits. They tied to politics in nicely. Also helped that we went on a snowy Weds and had the place to ourselves. Overall, nice state museum. Well worth your time and the modest admission price. We did not see the IMAX movie, so can't comment on that. You can easily walk to the Museum from any of the downtown hotels.Downer - they put "knitted items" on a number of exhibits. I thought it detracted...if they're tying it in with something, it didn't convey. Looking at a 1700's native American with a bright knitted scarf is distracting.

The section dedicated to The Prohibition Era was fascinating! I learned a lot of things I had not known about the Era generally, and about local landmarks that are still in business which hosted "speakeasies". Parking is REALLY convenient and fairly cheap. The exhibit halls are all off a central core atrium, so the walking didn't kill me. Admission was a little expensive, I thought, but it was well worth the price.

We visited the Indiana State Museum just last week before heading home from a Pacers game the night previous. It was myself, my husband, and our two oldest boys (ages 11 and 16). I LOVE to read, so the reading wasn't that big of a deal to me - though it can be tiring after a couple of hours, especially when there is so much of it everywhere - but, it was difficult for my 11yo to keep up with the rest of us, as he's not quite as quick and he felt as though he was missing out on things, or asked me to read aloud a lot of stuff for him. I don't think any of us would have the stamina to "see" all of the artifacts in one visit, as you could easily spend hours upon hours reading about everything.Parts of the first floor were under construction, so I don't know what areas we may have missed, but the creation/formation of the Earth was just so/so and anything that was supposed to be interactive didn't seem to be working properly (perhaps the reason for renovations?). The different rocks were kind of cool. There is a decent section on Indiana's Native American history, most of which we were already quite familiar with as one of the big State Historic Sites is just down the road from us.The second floor was far more interesting to us. It's all about the cultural history of Indiana. My older son commented that it did feel as though we skipped ahead a bit from the first floor, as it seemed to jump from Native American times right into the 1920's and beyond. The second floor holds the bulk of the artifacts, so it is very visually stimulating and overwhelming, at times, with very little "dead" space. The information provided about the artifacts gives you insight on the lives of earlier Hoosiers, and is quite interesting. There is also a room about famous Hoosiers that was kind of neat. All of these displays are gallery-style - behind clear glass.On the third floor, there was a gallery with works from a Hoosier artist that we didn't particularly care for, and a special exhibit that cost an additional $3 fee to visit on Prohibition. We did pay to see the exhibit, and truly enjoyed it. There were several interactive displays/exhibits, and lots of information, but better broken up with light, fun things, too, like learning the steps to a few Prohibition-era dances. There was also lively music and some videos that made the information easier to digest.From a strictly "lots of interesting stuff to see" standpoint, this museum gets a great rating; unfortunately, the displays aren't nearly as "fun" as many other modern museums and on the second floor, in particular, there's way too much crammed into too little of a space and it gets overwhelming. For such a modern, beautiful building, it was interesting to find that the exhibits don't seem to reflect other modern history museum set-ups we've visited.I think older children (middle-school aged and older, or mature kids who really love history) are best suited for this museum, although my kids both got bored at different parts; younger children are going to zip right through it, and may find some parts interesting, but adults will not have the chance to really experience everything because of this. There is also very little interactive experiences and not really any immersive displays at this museum, making it overall "boring" in nature. If you are aware of this and don't mind this type of museum, you will really enjoy the history and information.

The museum is very large, very clean,and very interesting. They have all sorts of skeletons of animals, large and small, of animals that once roamed the area. The dioramas are exciting and done really well. They have an area with exhibits that change so there is something different whenever you go. The IMax theater is in the building showing great movies. We have taken our grandchildren who love it and we have taken senior citizens who love it!

Amazing exhibits about history in general as well as Indiana specific. Loved the Imax theatre. Lots to do and see for all ages. Wonderful, didn't get to see it all.

The Indiana State Museum is a great museum that has a little history & lots of fun. On Dec 31st it is transformed into a fun party for the kiddos. Face painting, clowns on stilts, crafts, train ride, party hats & noise makers, etc. It culminates with a balloon drop at 8pm. Parents still have time to get to their adult party events before the clock strikes midnight. We go every year.

We have a membership, so we visit often. We love the nature lab on the bottom floor. You can open drawers, look through microscopes, record bird calls, and so much more. We also enjoy Celebration Crossing and the giant foam blocks in the play area.

You can spend about 2 hours here seeing everything. The first section felt more like a science/archeological museum which is not what we were interested in. The second and third floor were more specific to Indiana with famous folks, news, history, inventions, etc. tied directly to the state. Some of the exhibits were interactive which made things more entertaining as well. Good visit overall.

Not only does this museum have interesting exhibits, but also has a good cafe restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking the canal, a sit down restaurant that transports you back to the Ayres Tea Room, and a very good IMAX movies theater.