The Indianapolis Museum of Art isn't the Indianapolis Museum of Art anymore.

Well, it is. But it's also more than that — and, by design, it's getting harder to find the IMA name. That's because the museum is making changes that are meant to welcome a larger and more diverse audience to its 38th Street campus.

Somehow, either because of poor communication by the museum or a misunderstanding among Indianapolis-area residents, these moves have been perceived as turning the IMA into an exclusive club for wealthy members. Before I get to that, though, let me explain the changes.

As of this week, if you try to access the IMA's longtime website, imamuseum.org, you'll be redirected to a new URL: discovernewfields.org. Once you get there, you'll see a curious note: "Looking for the Indianapolis Museum of Art? You're in the right place. Welcome to Newfields. A place for nature and the arts."

The IMA has rebranded itself as Newfields, a name that covers the entire 100-plus-acre campus, including the museum, its gardens and the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park and Lilly House.

The name is part of a long-term evolution under Director and CEO Charles Venable, who joined the museum in 2012. Under his leadership, the IMA — err, Newfields — has instituted an $18 admission fee, improved its gardens and added experiential programming such as mini-golf and an upcoming Winterlights display.

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People generally have had two reactions to these moves. One has been a show of support. Paid membership has grown from about 5,000 when the museum was free to more than 17,000.

The other reaction has been total and utter outrage — a virtually nonstop backlash over the admission fee, which started in early 2015, and everything the IMA has announced since then.

Many people didn't like it when admission went from free (although there was a parking fee that has since been eliminated) to $18. They didn't like that admission was required to walk the previously free museum grounds. They didn't like that new features such as mini-golf, in their view, took attention away from the art collection. And they don't like that the IMA name — which will persist under the Newfields banner — has been supplanted.

Every time the IMA appears in media and on social media these days, the reaction is quick and harsh. Here's a sample comment from the social media site Reddit:

"I too liked the IMA when it was quiet and free. I'm not going to pay to play mini golf at the IMA or attend the cat video festival."

And another:

"It feels like instead of estimating the value of entry to the museum and setting the ticket price to match, they decided on a ticket price and are now trying to figure out what they can add to make the value match the arbitrary ticket price."

One post on Reddit accused the IMA of "becoming a fortress and excluding the community."

The irony of this perception is that it is the exact opposite of Venable's intent. He wants to reach beyond the institution's loyal base of art enthusiasts.

"The people who love art in Indianapolis ... we have that community already closely aligned with us," Venable told me in an interview. "It's the broader community that is a little more ambivalent, so Newfields is an attempt to welcome those people and say, 'This will be fun, you'll enjoy that.'

"Obviously, we could have, if we wanted to, change the name of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and had it go away. We didn't. We know it is, by many people, a beloved place and beloved name and wanted to make sure it was symbolically there."

To understand what Venable is up to, it's helpful to consider the IMA's recent history prior to his arrival. The museum in 2005 completed a $74 million expansion project that left it deeply in debt. Then came the Great Recession, starting in 2008, which caused the IMA to draw down its endowment at an unsustainable pace.

"When I arrived, we had $125 million in debt," Venable said. "We've been paying interest on it since the early 2000s. Over the last 2½-year period, we've paid off $40 million in debt. That is a huge achievement."

That debt reduction can't be attributed to the despised $18 admission fee, which supports programming. But the admission fee also can't be blamed for keeping people away from the museum who otherwise would like to go.

For one, the IMA still offers free admission on the first Thursday of each month from 4 to 9 p.m. Low-income residents also can enter the museum for $2 any time. In addition, research has shown that free admission doesn't actually help museums capture more diverse audiences.

A 2002 article in the journal Cultural Trends examined British museums that offered free entry and found "the increase (in visitation) is greatest among those groups who have traditionally always gone to museums and galleries, while the increase among groups who might be described as socially excluded is much lower.”

The IMA briefly charged $7 admission, but dropped that fee in 2007. Eliminating the fee was a mistake, said Joanna Woronkowicz, a professor in Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

"The assumption is if you don't charge admission, everyone can come, but what the research has shown is when you get rid of an admission fee, it's the same people coming, but now they're not paying anything," Woronkowicz said. "We think not charging admission actually gives access to an underserved population, but overall, it just gives more access to those who can afford to come."

The evolution from IMA to Newfields comes at a time when art museums across the country are developing new programs and offerings to broaden their appeal, Woronkowicz said. Newfields is simply staying competitive.

"I think part of the backlash the IMA is receiving is due to bad marketing," Woronkowicz said.

Venable contends that social media has exaggerated the criticism. By Newfields' count, which Venable says has become more accurate since the admission fee went into effect, visitors are getting younger and more diverse, with a nearly 100 percent increase in African-American visitors, a 500 percent increase in Hispanic visitors and a 45 percent increase in Asian-American visitors.

According to Newfields' numbers, the Spring Bloom program, which features more than 250,000 blooms, led to a 72 percent increase in spring visits. Newfields also sold about 1,600 tickets for the upcoming outdoor Winterlights display on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days tickets were available.

"Audiences, no matter what background, no matter what financial situation, are just not feeling welcome at things called art museums," Venable said. "We found in the Indianapolis market a lot of people are not comfortable around something that has the word museum attached to it. Newfields obviously does not have the word museum."

If you feel strongly about the IMA name, though, you'll still be able to find it — inside the main building, where the art collection is unchanged and there is no mini-golf course in sight.

Call IndyStar business columnist James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.