INDIANAPOLIS — An exhibit at the Indiana State Museum will move to a virtual version to help educate students on the drug crisis in Indiana.
FIX: Heartbreak and Hope Inside our Opioid Crisis opened at the museum last year and offers an interactive way for people to learn more about the crisis.
A $331,000 state opioid response grant from Indiana Family and Social Services Administration's Division of Mental Health and Addiction will be used to create videos for students and fund staff positions to keep the exhibit open through Aug. 1. The exhibit was originally scheduled to run through February 2021.
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“We will work with the video team that helped bring FIX to life in the gallery and will use this talent to move elements of FIX online,” said Brian Mancuso, chief officer of engagement for the museum and Indiana Historic Sites, in a press release. “While this will be a somewhat different experience than seeing the full FIX exhibit in-person, school groups will have the ability to see an exhibit overview video. Once they see the introductory video, they can select one of five modules, each with an activity and three videos that will feature personal stories, experts in the field, and topics that bring the opioid epidemic to life and build empathy.”
More than 15,000 people visited the exhibit in the first six weeks it was open before the pandemic, and about 15,000 people visited the exhibit's webpage, according to the release.
Naloxone administrations have increased by more than 65% during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana.
The modules will be available to educators in the spring. Educators with questions in the meantime can email Nicole Rife, director of education engagement, at nrife@indianamuseum.org.
