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NEW BREMEN - While there are many open questions about the details of Crown's new art and cultural center in New Bremen, one thing seems certain: As proposed, the facility will open up a new world of art to Ohio and much of the U.S.
It's also likely to have an unprecedented impact on the study and appreciation of the unique niche of the global art world to which it will be devoted: Australian Aboriginal art.
Aboriginal art is part of the culture of Australian Aboriginal people, also known as First Nations people, who have lived on the Australian continent for over 50,000 years. They represent the longest continuous culture to be found anywhere on earth.
While prehistoric examples of Aboriginal art are found in caves and rock shelters, contemporary First Nations artists burst onto the global scene in the 1970s and their art has since become an important movement in the art world. Today, Aboriginal art reflects an immense diversity of peoples and cultures, often exploring a complex system of connections between people and place and rooted in traditional belief systems.
By 2010, several pieces of modern Australian Aboriginal art had sold for more than $1 million.
Construction of Crown's Modern Aboriginal Art Museum along East Monroe Street in New Bremen continues. It is set to open in late 2026.
In late March, New Bremen-based Crown Equipment revealed in an unassuming news release that the new construction on East Monroe Street that local residents had been watching take shape for months would be an institution called the Modern Aboriginal Art Museum, set to open in late 2026.
According to the release, the museum "will feature one of the largest collections of contemporary Aboriginal art in North America."
"As the primary exhibit in the museum, the Aboriginal art collection will feature more than 100 contemporary paintings and sculptures, each telling a unique story and offering visitors the chance to experience contemporary expressions of one of the world's oldest artistic traditions," it explained.
The 23,700-square-foot, single story facility will house both permanent and rotating exhibition space as well as a gift shop, the release states.
This is a description of an extraordinary cultural treasure for western Ohio - it would be a crown jewel in Cincinnati or Dayton, much less New Bremen. There is currently only one existing museum in the U.S. dedicated to contemporary Aboriginal art. Those who create, study and love this particular branch of modern art would likely begin to identify its largest collection in North America as a sort of cultural mecca.
But details are scant. A spokesperson at Crown refused on multiple occasions to answer questions from The Daily Standard seeking further information about the project, the art collection, or the story behind Crown's interest in Australian Aboriginal art, and said only that the company would provide more details once the facility is closer to opening. The company also declined to provide an explanation of why it is choosing not to share more information at this time.
While no information is available about the artists or peoples who will be represented, the development of the collection, or the curators, collectors, institutions or Australian communities involved, Crown's news release did state that the museum project was rooted in the material handling company's more than 60 years of doing business in Australia.
"The project also reflects the Company's ongoing commitment to supporting cultural education and community enrichment in the region," the release added.
Crown's well-known efforts in those areas have had a huge impact, including its role in the Bicycle Museum of America in New Bremen, which was started by Crown CEO and chairman James Dicke II.
David Maurer, president of the New Bremen Historic Association, said there is an excitement in the community about the museum, but also admitted little is known about it outside of the brief statement issued by Crown. The historic association has posted several pictures of the construction progress on its Facebook page.
"We really don't have a lot of information yet," Maurer told The Daily Standard. "We're welcoming it because it is probably going to bring more people into town - possibly busloads of people at times. The building looks really nice."
He said one detail that has been shared is that the parking lot of the facility will be accessible for buses. "One idea is that maybe together with the bicycle museum, as a package where both are marketed together, this will be a real draw for visitors," he added.
Hot blown and coldworked glass basket by Jenni Kemarre Martiniello, 2017.
Photo courtesy of Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
Until now, Aboriginal art has made only occasional and temporary appearances in Ohio, as touring collections made brief stops or gallery exhibitions were put together for a limited time.
To define the significance and scope of the Crown project in New Bremen, it is necessary to refer to the standard of the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. It is the only museum in the U.S. dedicated to Indigenous Australian art - in fact, it is the only museum outside of Australia dedicated to the exhibition and study of Indigenous Australian art.
A spokesperson at Kluge-Ruhe noted that other U.S. institutions include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork in their collections and have hosted exhibitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
The museum just had a major traveling exhibition of artwork from Papunya Tula Artists, "Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu (Past & Present Together)," at the Grey Art Museum at New York University through April 11, after opening at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art. It travels to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma in October 2026.
The spokesperson also noted that "The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art" is the largest exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ever presented internationally. That landmark exhibition is the product of a partnership between the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The Denver Art Museum will be its second venue.
In Ohio, the Ohio State University's Urban Arts Space in Columbus has been lauded for its dynamic contemporary art exhibitions and educational programs, which have occasionally included Australian Aboriginal art. It hosted an exhibit called "Pattern Thinking" in 2018, featuring work by such artists as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, one of the founders of the Western Desert Art Movement; Nancy Crow; Maija Miettinen; and Minnie Pwerle. The exhibition was curated by Columbus scholar and artist Anne Keener.
These are the kinds of events and places where Ohioans, like all Americans, could be introduced to Aboriginal art up to now.
One of Australia's most acclaimed Indigenous artists, Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri was a founder of the Western Desert art movement. Shown is his Mitukatjirri, 1971-72.
Photo courtesy of Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
The Daily Standard asked Nici Cumpston, the director of the Kruge-Ruhe collection, what Crown's proposed museum in New Bremen would mean to the landscape of Australian Aboriginal art appreciation in Ohio and the Midwest. Cumpston is a descendant of the Barkandji people of New South Wales who moved from Adelaide, Australia, to take over at Kruge-Ruhe in 2025.
Beyond its meaning for Ohio, Cumpston was interested in the national and global opportunities that could be enhanced by the Modern Aboriginal Art Museum in New Bremen. She said Kruge-Ruhe is eager to do anything it can to engage with, foster connection with and support the Crown museum, seeing it as an extraordinary opportunity to expand the audiences for contemporary Australian Aboriginal art in the U.S.
She called the news, which she first learned about from the newspaper, a "thrilling" development for the artists and communities in Australia who are involved.
"It's absolutely fantastic," she said. "The communities and the artists in Australia who are part of the movement today must be thrilled by this news."
"We are so focused on the engagement with and education about and understanding of these artists and their cultures," she said. "The fact that (Crown) would be bringing new audiences to that mission represents quite an opportunity."
"Wantili," by Bugai Whyoulter, 2014, depicts elements of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Photo courtesy of Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
Prior to her appointment at Kruge-Ruhe, Cumpston served as the inaugural curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia from 2008 to 2025. She was also the artistic director of the internationally renowned Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art from 2014 to 2025. She has worked with hundreds of artists and curated 16 major exhibitions since 2008.
She said she had no further details about the New Bremen collection, and could not speculate about its contents.
Cumpston did note, however, that she expects representatives of the Crown museum to visit Kluge-Ruhe in the near future to gather input and ideas as their own project proceeds.
"We're thrilled with the possibilities (of the New Bremen project), and we're keen to work with people like this across the country," she said. "Any connection we (the two museums) have is likely to enrich each of our own collections."
The Crown museum, she emphasized, is an opportunity that "is really important and really special, and we're happy to support it anyway we can. It's really not about any individual museum, but ultimately it's about the art and the artists, and exposing them to new audiences and new cultures. We're all in it together, essentially."
