50 YEARS OF CREATIVITY, COMMUNITY AND CONNECTION
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts (now Sun Valley Museum of Art). Since 1971, we’ve served as a cornerstone of our community and provided connection to world-class artists and thinkers, educators and makers. This summer, we celebrate 50 years of classes and workshops, concerts and exhibitions, lectures and conversations.
We are grateful to our many supporters as we celebrate our past 50 years and look ahead to the next 50. And we are more committed than ever to our mission: enriching our community through transformative arts and educational experiences. We honor the group of artists and educators presented here, each of whom has inspired exploration and participation and helped lay the foundation for the culturally rich community we live in today.
Clay, Silver, Ink was guest-curated by artists Jim Romberg, Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ Director of Ceramics from 1973 to 1986, and Peter de Lory, who began teaching in 1974 and was Director of Photography from 1976 to 1979 and during the summers of 1982 and 1983. The exhibition takes a look back at the Sun Valley Center’s early years, and features artwork made by some of the many artists who taught here in the 1970s and 1980s. When the Sun Valley Center for the Arts launched in 1971, it started as a place for classes and workshops across a range of artistic disciplines, with a focus on ceramics, photography and printmaking. Students from around the world traveled to Sun Valley to take master classes from nationally and internationally known instructors.
The exhibition offers an opportunity to reflect on the role the Sun Valley Center played in the lives of dozens of artists and trace the history of the organization itself, from a teaching institution to an accredited museum. While Sun Valley Museum of Art has transformed through the decades, its values have remained rooted in those of the early Sun Valley Center, with a focus on delivering transformative arts and educational experiences that stimulate the imagination, offering opportunities for discovery, and building community.
Join us as we celebrate 50 years of thriving arts and culture in the Wood River Valley!