As noted in its Mission Statement, "the Mathers Museum is Indiana University’s museum of world cultures. Through its collections, exhibits, and programs, the museum is dedicated to preserving and promoting knowledge of the world’s cultures, past and present. In all of its activities, the museum strives to further its audiences’ understanding of both the diversity of the world’s specific cultures and the underlying unity of culture as a human phenomenon."
Financial donations to the museum strengthen this work and are deeply appreciated by IU students and faculty, community partners, researchers, and others who benefit from, and support, the museum's important mission.