View digital portfolio for Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History created by Lipman Hearne, marketing and communications agency for higher education and nonprofits.

The Smithsonian Institution is 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 Making of an Icon

Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture

Results

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is now a reality, with over 30,000 artifacts and supported by thousands of donors from all over the world. The museum broke ground on February 22, 2012, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It opened to the public on Sept. 26, 2016.