Conner Prairie is well-known nationally to museum insiders. But new CEO and President Norman Burns II wants to make the historical park in Hamilton County a destination for more travelers, in part by getting the community to take ownership of the attraction.
Conner Prairie President and CEO Ellen Rosenthal has led tremendous growth at the interactive history park in Fishers since 2003. She plans to retire at the end of the year.
Conner Prairie Interactive History Park has been awarded a $2.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, to find ways to encourage history museums to incorporate the often unpopular and intimidating fields of science, technology, engineering and math into their offerings.
Conner Prairie President and CEO Ellen Rosenthal has brought to the Fishers museum her passion for creating great visitor experiences.
The stock market’s recovery has lifted endowments that provide major support to local arts groups, but managers are keeping the conservative attitude they were forced to adopt two years ago.
Ellen Rosenthal, CEO of the 19th-century history park, shares her biggest career blunder, how to raise funds in a recession,
and how Conner Prairie is like a certain sci-fi film.
In the 2-1/2 years following a 2003 overhaul of Conner Prairie management orchestrated by Earlham College, the Hamilton County attraction was mired in uncertainty over its future and an increasingly bleak financial outlook. Now the skies are brightening.
