CONTACT:
Krista Detwiler
krista@whitecloudcommunication.com
208.720.5094
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sun Valley Center for the Arts Announces New Name and Identity
The Wood River Valley nonprofit is now Sun Valley Museum of Art as it heads into its fiftieth year
KETCHUM, Idaho (January 29, 2020) — Sun Valley Center for the Arts, beloved Wood River Valley arts nonprofit, today unveiled a new name and identity as Sun Valley Museum of Art (SVMoA). The new name and identity celebrate the arts experience, clarify its offering and deepen its impact on the community. The new identity includes a reimagined logo and brand aesthetic as well as a new website atsvmoa.org.
“Sun Valley Center for the Arts has enriched our community through transformative arts and educational experiences for nearly 50 years,” said Sun Valley Museum of Art Executive Director Christine Davis Jeffers. “At this pivotal moment, we honor our proud heritage while we look to a dynamic and bright future. Following a comprehensive brand assessment, in-depth strategic planning and thoughtful conversations with our core community, we are excited to announce a new name and redefined identity as Sun Valley Museum of Art.”
The name change will appropriately reflect the multidisciplinary arts and education opportunities SVMoA provides the community. As an accredited museum and a professional theatre company, its mission remains the same: to enrich the community through transformative arts and educational experiences.
“For 50 years this organization has been a pioneer in the arts,” continued Davis Jeffers. “Our goal is to provide this community with transformative arts experiences. That goal will not change. In fact, it will allow for even more world-class arts opportunities for the valley, state and region. We are blazing an exciting new path in honor of our pioneering origins.”
SVMoA will continue to offer BIG IDEA projects and visual arts exhibitions, K-12 education programs, Company of Fools professional theatre, youth and family education programs, adult education, music, dance, film, featured speakers, talks, tours, panel discussions and special events including the Sun Valley Wine Auction.
The name SVMoA communicates the organization’s museum accreditation and core purpose to educate and inspire. The Sun Valley Center for the Arts has been an American Alliance of Museums accredited museum since 2006, a professional designation of best practices held by fewer than 5% of museums in the United States (only five of which are in Idaho).
“A museum is who we are and who we’ve been for a long time,” said SVMoA Artistic Director Kristin Poole. “For 50 years we have been using the arts as a means to discovery—using multiple disciplines—with visual arts at the core. We all look to museums to learn, to be surprised, to shift our thinking. As an accredited museum, The Center has been able to provide opportunities for nationally-known artists to do new work. We also have the privilege of serving this amazing community that is hungry for significant arts experiences. We believe the new name reinforces our work and honors the artists and the community we serve.”
The name Sun Valley Museum of Art speaks to the caliber of its exhibitions and connects participants to a place for investigating BIG IDEAS and asking questions. SVMoA joins the ranks of great 21st-century museums with its multidisciplinary offerings, world-class performing and visual arts exhibitions and interactive, educational approach.
”Across the world, the definition of a ‘museum’ is changing, becoming more inclusive of all art forms and embracing the creativity and connection that are at the heart of artistic expression,” said Company of Fools Producing Artistic Director Scott Palmer. “The change to SVMoA is simply a reflection of who we are, what we do, and what we provide to our community — the arts, in all their glory and in all their forms.”
Company of Fools, a professional theatre company, is an integral partner in delivering SVMoA’s mission and multidisciplinary approach to arts programming. Together, SVMoA and Company of Fools provide access to a range of arts experiences, including live music, dance, film, lectures and hands-on workshops and classes that inspire, delight and engage people of all ages. Company of Fools and The Museum work hand-in-hand and support one another financially, operationally and programmatically.
Stemming from questions dating back to 2001, Sun Valley Center for the Arts created a task force to address its brand and identity challenge. SVCA selected brand consultants Studio Lodato and Studio Riley and the award-winning strategic creative agency Red & Co. to develop its new identity.
“We set out to create a brand visual that was timeless, sophisticated, flexible, joyful and evoked a sense of place,” said Sun Valley Museum of Art Marketing Director Holly Bornemeier. “The red is vibrant, energetic, identifiable and unique to this valley. The continuity of using a circle provides a consistent graphic element from the old logo to the new logo. SVMoA will remain ‘central’ or ‘at the center’ of the arts in our community.”
Sun Valley Museum of Art kicked off 2020 with the opening of the new BIG IDEA project The Bottomlessness of a Pond: Transcendentalism, Nature and Spirit, January 17–March 11, 2020, and a sold out concert with ukulele virtuoso Taimane on January 26. SVMoA will also welcome a sold out crowd to Cheryl Strayed’s talk on January 30 in partnership with the Community Library. Company of Fools will close out their 24th Season with highly anticipated The Niceties, hailed as a “barnburner of a play”, February 19-March 7, 2020.
To view a calendar of events and get involved, please visit svmoa.org.
About Sun Valley Museum of Art
Nonprofit Sun Valley Museum of Art (SVMoA), formerly Sun Valley Center for the Arts, has nurtured curiosity, sparked conversation and engaged the Blaine County community since 1971. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, SVMoA reaches an annual audience of 40,000 with its mission to enrich the community through transformative arts and education experiences. SVMoA’s diverse programming includes Company of Fools professionally-produced theatre, visual arts exhibitions, lectures, concerts, classes, performances, play readings and BIG IDEA multidisciplinary projects. SVMoA enhances K–12 arts education in local schools with elementary school theatre education, student exhibition tours, professional artist residencies, arts-based classroom enrichment projects, and student and teacher scholarships. To learn more about Sun Valley Museum of Art and Company of Fools, explore upcoming events, become a member, or get involved, visit svmoa.org.