The Louise Pollard Award for Educational Projects offers $2,500 to students and other individuals to create new materials that will help the public explore and interact with the museum's 11,000 works of art.

The funds come from an endowment established this year with a $50,000 gift from Louise M. Pollard of Muncie. The award will enhance the art museum's educational mission and enrich the recipients' educational or career goals.

"Educational programs are the centerpiece of museums," said Alain Joyaux, director of the Ball State Museum of Art. "This award will foster new programs that help our audiences forge meaningful connections with the permanent collection."

Funded projects are expected to produce permanent materials such as a slide packet, CD-ROM, brochure or video that can be used long-term. The award encourages projects that promote interdisciplinary interpretations of works in the collection.

Founded in 1935, the Ball State Museum of Art is one of Indiana's oldest art museums and is accredited by the American Association of Museums. The museum receives nearly 30,000 visitors annually.

A broad permanent collection valued at more than $40 million includes a variety of American, European, Asian, African, Oceanic and pre-Columbian art, from paintings and prints to sculpture, ancient glass and other decorative arts.

A key element of the Ball State museum's mission involves educational programs to help students, faculty and staff members and the local community use and understand the collection, museums in general and the arts.

In recent years the museum has developed slide, video and CD-ROM classroom programs that teach elementary and high school students about geography, history, literature and language through landscape paintings, Native American artifacts, African art and pre-Colombian works.

Other educational materials include online children's activities using art from the collection, and a brochure exploring American painting in the context of American history.

The museum also offers a variety of talks, tours, artist demonstrations and an online education database.

Proposals for the Louise Pollard Award are due Nov. 30. The museum's staff will review the applications and announce awards by Dec. 31. Projects must be completed in the next year.

Applicants can include Ball State undergraduate seniors or students entering graduate school. Preference will be given to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a "capstone" project for a degree.

Proposals can be adapted from a thesis, undergraduate fellowship, independent study or other research project.

Professionals making a transition from one career to another also are invited to apply, along with contract and adjunct faculty members. Full-time university faculty members and school teachers are not eligible.

For more information, contact the Ball State Museum of Art at (765) 285-5242.

By Ted Buck, Communications Manager