Donate

Kentucky Museum members support our mission - helping bring to life the many exhibitions and programs we present each year. In thanks, members receive these exclusive benefits:

• Bi-Annual Magazine (January and July).
• Monthly Insider Emails, with behind-the-scenes stories about museum life.
• Invitations to all museum events, plus special exhibition previews or members-only programs (when available).
• Recognition in our Annual Report.
• Acknowledgement via the WKU Philanthropy Recognition Program, which highlights annual, consecutive, cumulative, and planned giving.

 

General Membership is $50 per year ($4.17 per month). 

For those who are underemployed, low-income, or a student at WKU or SKYCTC, membership is $15 per year ($1.25 per month).

 

Become a Member

 

Additional gifts are welcome to our Annual Fund, which supports free admission, our Student Docent program, and our greatest needs. Make a secure gift online by clicking the button below:

Donate to the Annual Fund

For more information, or with questions, call Tiffany Isselhardt at 270-745-3369.

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Prefer to pay by check? Please send your gift to:

Kentucky Museum
Attn: Tiffany Isselhardt
1906 College Heights Blvd. #11092
Bowling Green, KY 42101

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Endowments & Naming Opportunities

We are growing rapidly, with new opportunities for campus and community engagement, exhibitions and collections care needs, and critical staffing needs. We rely entirely on private support to meet these challenges.

Our Wish List details major and collaborative giving opportunities that empower us to continue serving our campus and community long into the future. 

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Medley, Assistant Director of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, at 270-745-4494, or Brent Bjorkman, Museum Director, 270-745-6261.

 

Naming of the Kentucky Room

Name one of the most beloved spaces in Bowling Green, while helping us refresh and restore the space and its adjoining stairwells. The Kentucky Room is part of our original 1939 building and holds many community memories while serving as venue for the annual Celebration of the Arts show.

$250,000 naming opportunity.

 

Docent Fund

Provide annual support for WKU students to be employed as docents, building 21st century skills and exploring potential careers. 

$500,000 endowment goal.

 

Endowed Director

Name our Museum Director position and provide recurring annual support for the Museum's Director, currently held by Brent Bjorkman.

$1,000,000 endowment goal.

 

Additional Opportunities

Our vision for the future includes self-sufficiency while becoming a center for campus and community engagement with the past, present, and future of South Central Kentucky. As we build that vision to reality, additional major gift opportunities include:

• Museum for All Fund, an endowment to ensure free admission in perpetuity. Begun through a crowdfunding campaign and built each year through gifts to our Annual Fund, we are seeking major gifts to grow the fund to $1,000,000. Opportunities include:
  • Museum Lobby, $15,000
  • Folklife Gallery, $25,000
  • Western Room (presentation/lecture space), $50,000
  • Close Study Classroom, $75,000
  • Quilt Gallery, $150,000
  • Grand Gallery, $250,000
  • Spotlight Exhibit Gallery, $250,000

 

• Renovation Funds, to support restoration and upgrading of facilities to meet accessibility standards and exhibition best practices:
  • Museum Lab, a dedicated space for collections' processing, research, and conservation in partnership with our campus and community, $75,000
  • Sculpture Courtyard Garden, $150,000
  • Teaching Gallery, $200,000
  • Decorative Arts Gallery, $300,000

 

• Growth of the Collections Endowment, to support care, conservation, and acquisition of art and artifacts from Kentucky's history and contemporary culture, $500,000

 

Additional naming and endowment opportunities - for our collections, spaces, and positions - exist. Want to chat about possibilities? Please call Elizabeth Medley, Assistant Director of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, at 270-745-4494, or Brent Bjorkman, Museum Director, at 270-745-6261. Thank you!

2024-25

Updated on November 6, 2024

 

Frequently Asked Questions