Who We Are

Our Mission

To enrich our community through transformative arts and educational experiences.

Celebrating 50 Years of Creativity, Community & Connection

Sun Valley Museum of Art has enriched our community through transformative arts and educational experiences for 50 years. Thank you for your support and involvement.

Since 1971, we have served this community—a community that is curious about the world and eager for arts and cultural experiences. We’ve welcomed amazing artists and thinkers. We’ve provided generations of local students with a strong foundation in the arts. We’ve connected our community through creativity, conversation, and BIG IDEAS.

We are so grateful to our many supporters as we reflect on our past 5o years and look ahead to 100 years

At this pivotal point in our history, we proudly honor our heritage while we look to a dynamic and bright future.

Our Manifesto

At Sun Valley Museum of Art
we want you to think,
we want you to wonder,
we want you to create,
to find inspiration,
to expand your view
and push your boundaries.

In short, we want you to learn
no matter what your age.
We want you to start a conversation.

That’s why we are here.

Our Story

The Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, now called the Sun Valley Museum of Art, was founded in 1971 on the belief that a community cannot be built solely from the presence of a beautiful mountain but needs arts and culture to be both vital and sustainable. Since its founding SVMoA has aspired to enrich our community through transformative arts and educational experiences. As the oldest arts organization in the Wood River Valley and one of only five institutions in Idaho accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, SVMoA serves as the Wood River Valley’s cultural anchor, bringing families, friends, visitors and residents together for shared arts experiences. We offer exceptional year-round programming in visual arts, music, film, the humanities and Company of Fools professional theatre.

Over the last 50 years, Sun Valley Museum of Art has grown from a handful of people presenting classes and events to a professional arts organization that serves more than 40,000 patrons every year. The original campus of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities was established on land deeded by Bill Janss, owner of Sun Valley Company (1964-1977). Back in the early days when the Union Pacific Railroad owned Sun Valley Resort, the 6-acre property along Trail Creek was the site of kennels where the resort’s sled dogs were kept. For several years, SVMoA flourished at this location as a facility for high-level fine arts residencies. Many of the artists and faculty that worked at SVMoA in its first two decades have gone on to achieve celebrated careers.

Today Sun Valley Museum of Art located in Ketchum has become a cornerstone of the Wood River Valley’s rich and diverse arts scene. Our commitment to education and this community has never wavered and is reflected in programmatic choices that cultivate dialogue around relevant regional and national issues. Recognized as a thought leader in our state and region, our exhibition program is nimble and responsive, considering subjects that enhance our community’s understanding of place or current moment. As a non-collecting institution, SVMoA is uniquely suited to invite the most appropriate artists to explore the specifics of a topic or an issue and we regularly offer opportunities to artists, actors, musicians and playwrights to develop new work.

Our Commitments

Sun Valley Museum of Art’s goals are guided by our core values and reflect our desire to be a place of education and discovery as well as a vehicle through which people can exercise their curiosity and creativity. SVMoA's purpose is to engage the whole community through arts and ideas, shaping our programs to encourage connection, conversation and active reflection.

SVMoA is deeply committed to adult and K-12 arts education. In addition to year round lectures, workshops and classes for adults, and our robust partnerships with local schools enable us to bring artists and authors, musicians and playwrights into direct contact with students in area classrooms. Our many outreach programs supplement the school curriculum through the Classroom Enrichment Program, in-school Professional Artist Residencies, Student Exhibition Tours, as well as scholarships and professional development opportunities for local students and educators.

Core Values

Our core values serve as guiding principles that shape the organizational choices we make.   

Excellence

We continuously strive to excel in programmatic and operational effectiveness.

Imagination

We offer compelling programming that stimulates the imagination, advances creativity, and promotes new perspectives.

Discovery

We provide educational opportunities that enable all segments of our community to discover, re-discover and sustain the joy of learning.

Community

We help build an engaged and connected community through transformative experiences that are accessible and inclusive.

Stewardship

We care for the resources entrusted to us through best practices in all we do.

History

During the early 1970s, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, now Sun Valley Museum of Art, recruited highly regarded art and humanities faculty from all over the country. They established the Wood River Valley’s first art gallery and taught intensive classes in photography, printmaking and ceramics for students from across the nation. The Center’s dance and theater workshops offered a broader arts experience, and conferences held by the Institute of the American West attracted prominent historians, academics and authors and an audience hungry for knowledge of the Western experience. Because of the Janss Corporation’s commitment to developing a year-round resort and attracting second homeowners to the area, an expanded community began to demand and support SVMoA’s programs.

In the mid 1980s, a decrease in federal funding for the arts forced SVMoA to closely examine its programs and finances. After careful consideration, the Board of Directors chose to restructure the programs to better align with its financial capabilities and the growing community’s needs. The Center’s philosophy was also redefined, with arts and educational opportunities for the local community taking priority. With this goal in mind, the organization redesigned its art workshops to appeal to a broader segment of the community, and made a commitment to present the talents of nationally and internationally recognized artists in the visual arts, the performing arts and the humanities.

Today, SVMoA is nationally recognized for its unique, multidisciplinary BIG IDEA programming. The directors of SVMoA’s visual arts, theatre, performing arts, education and humanities programs work in tandem with the Artistic Director to develop three or four BIG IDEA projects each year that explore relevant themes from a variety of perspectives. Inviting the whole community to participate in conversation, recent BIG IDEAS include refugees, the brain, Rock and Roll, the meaning of gender in the 21st century, the Great Basin and play and social structures.

In 2006, Sun Valley Museum of Art received accreditation from the American Association of Museums in recognition of its adherence to the highest standards of operation and programming. Only 5 percent of America’s arts and cultural institutions share this distinction.

In January 2013, SVMoA's Board of Directors approved a merger with Company of Fools, a long-standing and award-winning professional theatre company. As a prominent program within SVMoA, Company of Fools maintains its name and identity, basing its operations at the historic Liberty Theatre on Main Street in Hailey, Idaho.

In 2016, SVMoA received a donation of the Liberty Theatre, from Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, who had owned the property since 1995. Moore and Willis’ generous donation formalizes The Liberty Theatre as Company of Fool’s theatrical home and provides a permanent anchor for SVMoA programming in Hailey.

SVMoA’s museum and administrative offices are located in Ketchum. We also operate a facility in Hailey: a historic home that was the birthplace of Ezra Pound and a state-of-the-art, freestanding classroom.

SVMoA’s current strategic plan (2020–2023) includes a commitment to design, build, and remodel facilities to advance our programmatic promise including increasing the capacity of The Liberty Theatre and realizing a dynamic museum building that serves the community on a deeper level, providing artistic experiences that support learning and cultivate curiosity for locals, visitors, families and students.

Future Vision for Sun Valley Museum of Art

Sun Valley Museum of Art needs a new facility—we are actively exploring opportunities to build a new space. We hope to update our community soon with renewed plans for a state-of-the-art facility that will provide the venue for SVMoA programs and exhibitions. The space will allow us to engage more people on a deeper level, create more immersive experiences, and ensure accessibility for everyone in our community.

2019-2020 Annual Impact Report

Sun Valley Museum of Art Making an Impact by the numbers 2018-2019

FAQs / About Sun Valley Museum of Art

Why Sun Valley Museum of Art?

To serve the community at the highest level:

The Sun Valley Museum of Art is for you. It is for the Wood River Valley. It is for the artist, student, teacher, reveler and life-long learner in all of us. We believe the arts are essential—to individuals, to this community and to the creation of global citizens. We serve the community by offering inclusive access to multidisciplinary arts experiences and educational opportunities.

To clarify who we are:

We are a museum. 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). The name Sun Valley Museum of Art emphasizes our commitment to professional presentation and engagement, honors our participating artists and elevates our audience’s expectations. Our original name was ambiguous and did not capture the experience we offer our community. We are not a gallery. We do not sell art. We are not simply a community arts organization. We offer experiences and an investigation of ideas through the arts.

To deliver on our mission:

Education is at the heart of all our programs. We are committed to creating arts programs that lead conversations, explore ideas, inspire wonder and build connections in our community. Museums are a place for discovery and collaborative learning. Education empowers action and inspires change—at home and across the globe. Our clarified identity supports a growing audience, better brand awareness and new funding and relationship opportunities so we can best deliver on our mission.

To provide a space for investigating ideas:

Museums inspire learning. They ignite imagination and create opportunities for the exchange of ideas. SVMoA encourages conversation, piques curiosity and exposes people to new things—from theatre to visual arts to music to hands-on learning. We are not didactic teachers; we facilitate human connection and encourage participants to think about something that deeply matters. Attending a Sun Valley Museum of Art program is an active experience that is illuminating and inspiring.

To celebrate the modern museum:

Museums today aren’t just buildings—they are dynamic and interactive places of learning. Sun Valley Museum of Art is part of a league of 21st-century museums that embrace the importance of creating experiences for their visitors. SVMoA offers multidisciplinary programs to educate, engage and inspire. SVMoA invites multiple generations to participate in intellectual and exploratory hands-on programs. Our exhibitions include artwork by nationally and internationally known artists, and we regularly commission new work from recognized artists. The new name will signpost the quality of the work inside and communicate our commitment to providing transformative arts and educational experiences.

Why now?

Since 2001, our organization has recognized the necessity to clarify our brand. As we approach our 50th anniversary, we proudly honor our heritage while we look to our exciting future. Changing our name to SVMoA defines our offerings and energizes our audience as we shape the future of our organization and our community. We are a leader of the Wood River Valley’s thriving and vibrant arts and culture scene. Our audience is at an all-time high, and we are excited to accommodate a growing audience over our next 50 years.

How can you be a museum without a collection?

The contemporary museum designation implies a place for learning, not a repository of materials. We are a non-collecting museum, allowing us to focus on timely, relevant and engaging programs and exhibitions that resonate with our community. We can curate with flexibility, changing our exciting exhibitions five times a year while addressing BIG IDEAS that are challenging, interesting and current.

Even better? There’s a cool word for our approach: kunsthalle. SVMoA is a kunsthalle (German for “art hall” or “art shed”), a non-collecting institution that presents art on loan from other institutions or individuals. The kunsthalle approach affords a museum freedom to program without allegiance to or responsibility for a collection and to curate exhibitions and programs that are responsive to the contemporary moment.

The approach also allows for leaner overhead expenses so SVMoA can focus on creating an amazing experience for you—not on acquisitions, storage, recordkeeping, and conservation. Curators and artistic directors are free to present coherent thematic exhibitions that are part of larger multidisciplinary BIG IDEA projects.

Nationally and internationally-known artists with whom we’ve worked

SVMoA EXHIBITIONS REGULARLY INCLUDE WORK BY NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN ARTISTS, AND WE OFTEN COMMISSION NEW WORK FROM ARTISTS:

EXHIBITED ARTISTS

Vija Celmins
Michal Rovner
Alfredo Jaar
Dinh Q. Lê
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
Vik Muniz
Martha Rosler
Kiki Smith
Xu Bing
Andrea Zittel
Mark Dion
Spencer Finch
Emmet Gowin
Lesley Dill
Marie Watt

SPECIAL PROJECTS AND COMMISSIONS

Allan McCollum
Camille Utterback
Binh Danh
John Grade
Jason Middlebrook
Patrick Dougherty
Hung Liu
Kim Abeles
Sopheap Pich

19^TH AND 20^TH CENTURY ARTISTS

Lee Mullican
Charles Burchfield
Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Lundeberg
Agnes Pelton
Agnes Martin
Arthur Wesley Dow
Wolfgang Paalen
Alfred Stieglitz
Paul Strand
Ida O’Keeffe
George Nakashima
George Catlin
Fred Sandbck
Timothy O’Sullivan

Why does a museum also include performing arts and theatre?

A museum is so much more than pictures hanging on a wall. Art is so much more than visual art. It is sound, sight, contemplation, emotion and empathy. This modern, contemporary conception of a museum embraces all art forms—offering experiences that educate, engage and inspire a community. Museum programs around the world feature music, film and theatre productions. Company of Fools, a professional theatre company, is an integral partner in delivering our mission and multidisciplinary approach to arts programming. Company of Fools’ award-winning work and deep commitment to education aligns perfectly with SVMoA’s values. 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.

How will the new name support Company of Fools?

Company of Fools has maintained its own unique and strong identity after merging with The Center in 2013 and will continue to. Company of Fools and The Museum work hand-in-hand and support one another financially, operationally and programmatically. The Fools have been a pillar of the arts community for 25 years, offering world-class, professional performing arts programming from their permanent home at the historic Liberty Theatre on Main Street in Hailey. SVMoA and Company of Fools actively engage in national programs such as Theatre Communications Group, the National New Play Network, and the American Alliance of Museums, which allows us to follow best standards and practices in our respective fields and ensures continued funding from discipline-specific agencies. There is no doubt that we are stronger together, and the SVMoA brand change will provide an even stronger platform for The Fools to thrive..

Are you changing anything?

The name change will appropriately reflect the multidisciplinary arts and education opportunities we provide our community. As an accredited museum and a professional theatre company, our mission remains the same: to enrich our community through transformative arts and educational experiences.

SVMoA will continue to offer:

BIG IDEA projects & Visual Arts Exhibitions
K–12 Education Programs
Company of Fools Professional Theatre
Youth & Family Education Programs
Adult Education
Music, Performance & Film
Featured Speakers, Talks, Tours & Panel Discussions
Special Events including the Sun Valley Wine Auction

Full list of SVMoA programs:

BIG IDEA projects & Visual Arts Exhibitions
- Evening Exhibition Tours
- Lectures
- Art History Lectures
- Artist Talks/Lectures
- Gallery Walks
- Panel Discussions
K–12 educational programs:
- Classroom Enrichment Projects
- Student Exhibition Tours
- Professional Artist Residencies
- Company of Fools Stages of Wonder
- Company of Fools Student Matinees
- Student & Educator Scholarships
Youth & Family Education Programs:
- Free Family Days
- Teen Workshops
- Kids Summer Art Camps (for 3-5 graders and 6-8 graders)
- Free Look, Play, Create (for families and kids ages 1-5)
- Free Afternoon Art (for families and kids ages 5-12)
Adult Education:
- Visual Arts Classes & Workshops (Masterclasses & Creative Jump-ins)
- Craft Series Workshops
- Open Studios
- Museum-based Art Therapy Workshops
- Company of Fools Acting Intensives
- Panel Discussions
- Lectures
- Art History Lectures
- Artist Talks
- Evening Exhibition Tours
- Company of Fools Chat Backs
Music, Performance & Film
- Professional Artist Residency Program
- Summer Concert Series
- Performing Arts Series
- Special Engagements/Special Performing Arts Events
- Film Series
Company of Fools Professional Theatre:
- Mainstage Productions
- Play Reading Series and Special Projects/Commissions
- Workshops/classes
- Company of Fools Stages of Wonder
- Company of Fools Student Matinees
- Company of Fools Chat Backs
Special Events & Fundraisers:
- Annual Sun Valley Wine Auction
- Company of Fools private performance event in August
- Company of Fools special winter event
- Guardian Circle special events
- Junior Patron Circle (JPC) special events

Does this mean you’re building a new museum?

SVMoA needs a new facility and the Liberty Theatre requires much needed renovations—we are actively exploring opportunities to renovate and build facilities to support our mission. We hope to provide an update in the near future with renewed plans for a state-of-the-art facility and theatre that will provide the venue for SVMoA programs and exhibitions. These spaces will allow us to engage more people on a deeper level, create more immersive experiences, and ensure accessibility for everyone in our community.

About our new look:

Stemming from questions dating back to 2001, in 2016, Sun Valley Center for the Arts leadership created a task force to address our brand and identity challenge. SVCA selected brand consultants Studio Lodato and Studio Riley and the award-winning strategic creative agency Red & Co. to develop our new identity. We set out to create a brand visual that was timeless, sophisticated, flexible, joyful and evoked a sense of place.

“Sun Valley Museum of Art's logo takes its inspiration from the jagged mountains surrounding Sun Valley. If you look closely, you’ll see it consists of sharp triangle shapes that make out the acronym but also the sun beaming in from above the mountain range. The sun and its red circle shape symbolize our love for and commitment to the community and the arts. The Berlingske font was designed to carefully balance modernization and classic typography. The abstract look of the letter mark along with this classic calligraphy-built serif creates a modern yet timeless identity.”

—Red & Co.

The new logo evokes the landscape of our home and location. The “A” mimics the “V” to create a clean and balanced graphic element. The small “o” feels like the sun in the mountains of this iconic valley. Sun Valley Museum of Art will also be called SVMoA—or The Museum—going forward, and the web address will be svmoa.org.

The color:

Red is vibrant, energetic, bold, identifiable and unique to this valley.

The circle:

The continuity of using a circle provides a unifying and 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. The continuity of the circle connects to our deep history while capturing a sense of place and refreshing the look.

The typeface:

The two typefaces juxtapose one another: the font for SVMoA is clean, simple, contemporary and beautifully graphic. The font used for the lettermark “Sun Valley Museum of Art” is classic and elegant while nodding to the historical value of an established organization.

A Cohesive Look for Company of Fools

Company of Fools will retain its strong brand and remain connected to SVMoA with an updated red accent in its logo.

The People Behind SVMoA

Board of Directors

Ellen Gillespie—President
Jim Reid—Vice President
Linda Bowling—Secretary
Linda Nicholson—Treasurer

Advisory Council

Staff

Artistic Director

Kristin

Poole

Marketing Manager

Holly

Bornemeier

Director of Performing Arts

Kristine

Bretall

Development Director & Wine Auction Director

Peter

Burke

Donor Relations Officer

Laurel

Holland

Director of Education & Humanities

Katelyn

Foley

Director of Finance

Brooke

Fullmer

Curator of Visual Arts

Courtney

Gilbert

Database Administrator

David

Janeski

Visual Arts Class Assistant

Jeanne

Knott

Administrative Assistant

Blanca

Ruiz

Accredited Museum

The Sun Valley Museum of Art is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Just 5% of all museums in the US (including four other museums in Idaho) earn AAM accreditation.

Learn More