Frazier Museum Announces Changes, New Exhibit

The Frazier History Museum in Louisville is revamping its mission in hopes of increasing attendance and becoming more financially stable.The new vision includes a new logo and website and a new focus on traveling exhibits.  Attendance is up so far this year; museum officials attribute that partly to recent exhibits, including a toy display and a retrospective of the Louisville Water Company.Museum spokesperson Krista McHone says the institution has also shortened its name from the Frazier International History Museum.  This is the second name change for the institution, which was founded seven years ago as The Frazier Historical Arms Museum.“Very purposefully, we have selected a much more concise, simple name: The Frazier History Museum," McHone says, "because we feel that’s the best descriptor of who we are: a history museum.”The museum’s board is formulating a plan to increase revenue and eliminate the need for founder Owlsey Brown Frazier to continue his out-of-pocket contributions that keep the facility afloat.Just after announcing the second name change and a new vision for the coming years, The Frazier History Museum announced the arrival of “Da Vinci- The Genius.”McHone says it’s the most comprehensive display of Leonardo Da Vinci’s work to tour the world. It will run May 14 through September 18 at the Frazier Museum.“This is really the largest, most significant temporary exhibition we will have done to date," she says "And it’s very much in line with our goal of becoming the region’s history museum and I think represents the caliber of exhibition that we want to bring to Louisville or produce ourselves."The new vision includes a new logo and website and a new focus on traveling exhibits.  The museum has seen improved attendance thus far this year.  The museum attributes this increase partly to the toy exhibit “The Good, the Bad and the Cuddly” and an exhibit on the Louisville Water Company.