Star Wars Boosts State Museum Attendance

The Indiana State Museum is reporting record summer attendance. The attraction says a Star Wars exhibit helped welcome more than 64,000 visitors this summer. September 24, 2013

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana State Museum tripled its average summer attendance record, celebrating the highest attendance summer in the history of the museum.

President and CEO Tom King announced today that the Indiana State Museum is celebrating the highest summer attendance in the history of the museum. From Memorial Day weekend (May 25) to Labor Day weekend (Sept. 2, 2013), 64,250 people visited the museum to see Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, presented by Bose Corporation.

“Part of our mission is bringing the world to Indiana. We are more than ecstatic to have brought Hoosiers and their visitors together with an amazing science and technology show that used the appeal of Star Wars to teach people about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).”

King stated several exhibit-related public programs helped connect the public with the exhibit this summer, including Science Nights, a popular science and technology lecture series presented by Terre Haute, Ind.-based Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Educator Appreciation Night, Science & Sci-Fi Summer Camp and Family Star Wars Costumer Party.

“One of the more popular features to the exhibit was a four-and-a-half-minute trip to the edge of the universe in a full-size replica of the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon,” King added. The exhibit's next and final destination is San Jose, Calif.

This coming exhibition season, the Indiana State Museum looks forward to drawing a large audience during the running of Ice Age Giants: The Mystery of Mammoths and Mastodons , which opens on Nov. 16. The exhibition explores Ice Age animals and their environments, what happens at a real dig site and the research that helps us to understand prehistoric mammals. The exhibit also features real mounted skeletons and casts of Ice Age animals, as well as fossil tusks and skulls.

For more information on upcoming programs and exhibitions, please call the Indiana State Museum at 317.232.1637, or visit online at indianamuseum.orgSource: Indiana State Museum