The Indianapolis Art Center's upcoming campaign to raise funds for a new glass complex received a big kick-start this week.

A $1.2 million grant by the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation will be put toward renovating a smaller building known as the cultural complex into the new glass-making facility, and expanding the east entrance of the center's main building.

The 9,000-square-foot cultural complex -- first used as a daycare center in the 1970s -- is a few hundred feet northwest of the center's main facility.

Joyce Sommers, the art center's president and executive director, said the organization is hoping to raise $10 million to $12.million. Half will go to the building and renovation efforts, with the remainder going to an endowment for the center.

Sommers said the cultural complex will be remodeled to house furnaces for the center's glass-art classes, offices for the glass and outreach departments, a gallery for glasswork and a small public cafe.

The move will triple the size of the center's glassworking area, Sommers said, making it possible for more people to take classes. Also, one exterior wall will be made almost entirely of glass, allowing visitors to watch the artists inside as they work.

"We're doing our part for cultural tourism. This will be an attraction," Sommers said. "Molten glass is a pretty exciting thing."

The cultural complex building is currently used for the fiber arts department. Individual artists and the Writers' Center of Indiana also rent space there. The art center's last major overhaul came with the development of its ARTSPARK outdoor sculpture garden, which opened in 2004.