More than 10,000 square feet of behind-the-scenes space at Minnetrista is devoted to the preservation of the artifacts and archival material that document the history of East Central Indiana. Click on the links at the top of the page to learn more about the sculptures, artifacts, and oral histories that are a part of the Minnetrista Heritage Collection.

Minnetrista has more than 15,000 objects in its museum collection, including artifacts and archival materials such as photographs, diaries, clothing, quilts, furniture, locally manufactured products, and much more.

What are these artifacts? They are your mother's wedding dress, a Sellers cabinet made in Elwood, glass spice jars made by Sneath in Hartford City, or a vase made at Muncie Pottery. They are the diaries kept by your grandmother when she worked in a factory while your grandfather was fighting in World War II. Artifacts tell who we are. They tell the story of how and why we settled in East Central Indiana and of our lives since then. Museum collections are tangible connections to the past.

Many stories are kept at Minnetrista including, especially, the story of the Ball family and their business. Prominent in the collection are themes of family and community life, entertainment and leisure, industry and work and East Central Indiana arts.