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New Education Center

(L to R) Louisa Wylie Boisen holding Morton C. Bradley, Jr., Rebecca Dennis Wylie, Marie Boisen Bradley, and Louise Bradley on the front steps of Wylie House.

Morton C. Bradley, Jr., great-grandson of Theophilus and Rebecca Wylie, had a great fondness for IU and the Wylie House even though he lived his entire life in Arlington, Massachusetts. His mother, Marie Boisen Bradley, grew up in Wylie House and his grandmother, Louisa Wylie Boisen, had lived here with her parents for most of her adult life.

Morton Bradley, Sr. & Marie Boisen Bradley in front of Wylie House

When he died in September 2004, Mr. Bradley left his entire estate to IU, naming the Museum as one of three IU beneficiaries. Through this generous bequest Wylie House acquired many family heirlooms including furniture, textiles, glassware and china, photographs, and family letters, as well as enough money to build a much needed new Education Center for the Museum. Neidigh Construction and Kirkwood Design Studio, two local firms, were awarded the bid in Spring 2009. The plan is to move a 19th c. Monroe County barn to our site, reassemble it and refit it to house our offices as well as meeting and education space. It will be situated directly behind the current Annex. Besides creating the feel of the 19th century homestead that the Wylie families maintained, this new space will allow us to greatly increase our programming. We especially look forward to having elementary school groups spend time here, but also we expect to host more receptions, lectures, concerts, and workshops for adults and IU students. We will maintain our offices in the current Annex until construction is completed. Once we've moved into the new building, the old Annex will be torn down and the site will be landscaped to resemble the old homestead.

The entire construction project is expected to take approximately six months to complete once ground is broken. During that time, we will post photographs to FLICKR so that you can watch our progress. www.flickr.com/photos/wylie_house

To learn more about Mr. Bradley's work as a sculptor and art conservator, go to http://www.iub.edu/~iuam/online_modules/bradley/index.html

Preservation Endowment

We are undertaking the first ever major fundraising campaign for the Museum in an effort to establish a preservation endowment. Since IU funding for restoration and repair of campus buildings continues to be cut or at least is not increased, we recognize the need to provide for a reliable source of funding to maintain both the house and our new education center into the future. We have already developed a list of projects that such funding might provide for. Included are a wooden fence around the garden, UV filtering for the windows, a new roof for the house, and an areaway cover for the exterior steps that lead to the basement of the house. If you would like information on how to help with this effort, please contact the IU Libraries Development officer at http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1389 .