Every couple of months, the community’s cultural institutions meet. The topic each time is collaboration - with discussions on what the institutions can do to better collaborate. Former Wesselman Nature Society Executive Director John Scott Foster brought up the idea of a “member wander.”
The concept is a simple one. If you are a member of any of Evansville’s seven area cultural institutions, you can, for one weekend only, visit any of the others as many times as you’d like, for free.
In addition to the free admission for members during the event, which runs from Sept. 22 - 24, many are offering special discounts to those interested in becoming members of their respective institutions:
» Children's Museum of Evansville – 10 percent off new family memberships
» Evansville African American Museum – 10 percent off new memberships
» Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science - 10 percent off new memberships
» Angel Mounds State Historic Site – 10 percent off new memberships
» Wesselman Nature Society - 10 percent off new family memberships
» Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden - $5 off any new membership
» Reitz Home Museum
All of the museums are participating in the reciprocal program during their regular business hours during the three days with the exception of the Evansville Museum on Saturday.
“The goal is to celebrate the cultural institutions in Evansville and to stimulate visitation to the city,” said Ashley McReynolds, cMoe’s director of marketing and outreach. “What we often hear is that there is nothing to do in Evansville when in reality there is so much to do in Evansville. Hopefully, through this collaboration we can show people some of the amazing things there are to do in the city.”
The Member Wander will also help strengthen the connection between the seven entities together, she said, something that will continue to grow in the future.
“This isn’t just one weekend, but true, collaborative efforts between us all,” McReynolds said.
In addition to helping the entities possibly gain new members, the participating organizations say it’s a benefit for their current members, giving them a chance to explore new things and see what everyone else has to offer.
Some of the agencies have a large membership base -- Mesker has about 6,000 members and cMoe has 1,100 -while others, like the Reitz Home, have just 300 members.
“This is a way to gain exposure to other people invested in other organizations giving them a chance to become invested in others,” she said.
Matt Rowe, director of the Reitz Home Museum, said he’s excited about the Wander. They plan to have additional staff on hand to show visitors all the museum has to offer.
“I hope it raises the profile of all of the organizations and highlights the value they have to the city of Evansville and makes the institutions more accessible to a larger number of people. We certainly want to expose a larger number of people
to our collection and the Reitz Home. Our mission is to take care of the home and share it with others.
“Collectively, we’ve seen the city budget phase out all grants to these organizations, except the Zoo, but we have an interest in showing the value that collaboratively these organizations contribute to the cultural landscape in the city. This seemed like an easy way to highlight that.”
Wesselman’s public relations and communications manager Elaine Edwards said they’re excited to introduce Wesselman’s to those who either have never been or haven’t been in a few years to the tremendous progress they’ve made.
“The whole idea for this is to represent out cultural organizations as one to the city,” she said. “We don’t want to be competition with each other, but rather we work together and support each other.”
The nature preserve has “been here for thousands of years,” Edwards said. “But we change every day. In the last two years, we’ve changed so much and more changes are to come.” Wesselman’s will have several animal encounters throughout the three-day experience.
Kelley Weis, marketing director for Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden, said they are “delighted to partner with organizations around the community so that our members can explore the diversity of offerings that we have right here in our backyard.”
“Our mission is to forge connections between people and the natural world and celebrating the rich tapestry of life,” she said. “This effort allows members to experience all that our community has to offer in the areas of science, the environment, history and culture.”
McReynolds said current members of one of the participating entities just need to show their valid membership card to participate. If they’ve misplaced that card, they can contact the entity to get a replacement or temporary card as each facility won’t be able to look up your membership.
“We are really lucky to have so many of these great places in Evansville,” McReynolds said.