Who We Are

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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..

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
   

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.

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.

“A museum is who we are and who we’ve been for a long time. 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."

—Kristin Poole, SVMoA Artistic Director

"For 50 years this organization has been a pioneer in the arts. 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." 

 —Christine Davis Jeffers, SVMoA Executive Director

”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. 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.”

—Scott Palmer, Company of Fools Producing Artistic Director

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.