The Making of an Icon

The Smithsonian Institution was creating an iconic new museum: the National Museum of African American History and Culture. But how do you raise $250 million for a museum that hasn’t even been built yet? Lipman Hearne understood that communications for this American destination had to be more than coffee-table quality: they had to be museum quality. They had to appeal to a wide range of supporters—from the $25 donor to Oprah—and they had to fit the Smithsonian brand, yet allow the museum to establish its own identity. The museum opened September 26, 2016.