Indiana University is home to a wide variety of museums and collections, and the list keeps growing. The newest exhibit space belongs to the historic McCalla school. Located on the corner of 9th Street and Indiana Avenue, the building was originally an elementary school in the early 1900s before being bought by the school.

A six million dollar renovation transformed the McCalla School into a space for the recently created University Collections. In 2018, President Mc Robbie created the University Collections as a way to make every collection on all Indiana University campuses accessible and preserved correctly.

University Collections helps build up collections at IU- a luxury not every collection is granted like ones through the Eskenazi Museum of Art.

“University Collections does not manage the different collections, they’re just more there to provide support,” says Alisha Beard.

One section under the University Collections is Campus Art, which was where University Collections Engagement Coordinator Alisha Beard was before she made the switch. She was recruited by Executive Director Heather Holloway to help with program development and social media content.

A case in the 'Growing Indiana University: The Legacy of Herman B Wells.' The cane seen in the case was used by Wells and provided by the University Archives

Kaleidoscopes on display at the 'Unity in Variety: The Works of Morton C. Bradley, Jr.' exhibit. Morton C. Bradley Jr has connections to the Wylie family and donated his entire collection due to the connection.

Models on display at the 'Unity in Variety: The Works of Morton C. Bradley, Jr.' exhibit. This was the most recent exhibit to open and now all seven gallery spaces are occupied.

The exterior of the University Collections at McCalla. The school was named after Margaret McCalla, a famous teacher in Bloomington community in the late 1800s.

The foot from the recreation of a Megalonyx Jeffersonii, or Megajeff. IU was the home to the most complete skeleton before it was thrown in the trash- now the University Collections has a 3D printed copy to honor its history.

The offices for employees at the McCalla building. Employees can request certain paintings from the University Archive to be hung up in offices, like these ones displayed.

Print on display for the exhibit 'IU Printmaking: 60 Years of Innovation and Art.' The exhibit features work hand picked by screen printing students.

A Collection of Shells on display at the University Collections at McCalla. Along with the shells, the exhibit features screens featuring different media like a digital rendering of the IU geology lab.

“I want to make people care about the things. So we have a lot of things, how do we make people care about them.” Beard says. Alisha is part of the team that is helping to make collections more advanced with interactive screens in exhibits as well as VR and AR capabilities. There has also been an app developed for Apple devices that includes audio tours and digitized pieces of art.

Through social media, she has been able to make spotlight features for objects and the staff themselves. She has launched an Object of the Week series and a Staff Spotlight to see what employees personally collect.

Kelly Wherley is the facilities manager and helps oversee storage for collections on campus. He came to work for University Collections in the summer of 2021.

“I love the team that I work with. I am so so lucky to work with a group of people who are really motivated and always willing to step in to do what needs done,” Beard says. She’s excited about the future of the space and hopes that when more people become aware of the space they’ll use it to further understand their knowledge and engagement with the over 200 collections IU has in its possession.