Indiana Entertainment Foundation is an Indiana 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and Indiana Music History Project is our main brand. We are here to preserve, archive, research, promote and display important artifacts and narratives featuring Hoosiers’ work in music, film, broadcasting and related fields.  Our mission is also to honor those individuals and businesses who were involved.

We launched in 2014 as Indiana Music and Entertainment Museum (IMEM) and became IEF in 2018.  Since then we have developed Indiana Musicpedia and Indiana Music Radio, and are now located at 1305 Broad Ripple Avenue, where we have archives, offices and a public gallery.

Areas of focus 

Stories.  Every bit of our entertainment past has its own story.  We are documenting factual information and also collecting memories and recollections.  This combines narratives, personal impressions, video, film and images to best tell the story of those who have contributed to Indiana entertainment.

Memorabilia.  We are working to preserve the ephemera of our past, including posters, flyers, newspaper ads, photos, letters, lyrics, and notes.  Preservation of existing physical items is a priority but digital preservation is just as important.

Equipment, Instruments and Signage.  Similarly, preservation of physical items is paramount, but photographs and documentation of such items helps place these items into historical context when the physical items are not available.

Library.  Until recently, music, films and videos were typically released in physical form–records, compact discs, VHS, DVD’s, cassette tapes, etc.. We’ve begun the process of trying to collect what’s been released in Indiana or by Indiana entertainers from the beginning to the present day, similar to what the Smithsonian Institution does nationally, so there will be a central archive of these important items.  Visit Musical Family Tree for an extensive digital library of Indiana music.

Public Events.  We host events for the purpose of raising awareness about Indiana entertainment history and engaging the public in discussion and dialog on this topic.

Education.  We’ll be developing curriculum intended to be used by schools to augment Indiana history with vital learning about Indiana entertainment history.  Our Indiana Music Radio station is another step towards helping the public learn about Indiana’s music history.