The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho is getting ready for a significant change. With the increased community engagement, the museum is ready to expand. In a recent interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, Alexa Stanger, the executive director of the museum, shared the details of the exciting new developments that will come with the museum’s new space.
Stanger says there is currently a limited amount of space available for art classes, which are also used as exhibit space during the day. The expansion will help there to be much more space for classes.
“We’re kind of only limited right now by our space. We’ve maximized all the space that we have to use to offer classes,” she said. “This will just allow us to do so many more classes at a wider range of skill levels and ages. In addition to that, the education center will allow us to reconfigure our existing gallery space, effectively doubling the exhibit area and providing a richer experience for visitors.”
Reflecting on the museum’s history, Stanger emphasized their commitment to serving the community since its beginning. The museum has always strived to be a museum that serves its community and prides itself by helping give a spotlight to either unknown or local artists in Idaho who might not otherwise be able to show their work, Stanger said.
She says another great example of this is the development of the museum’s ‘Artworks’ program. The program serves more than 250 elementary classrooms a year by bringing in kids to the museum for educational experiences.
“We also really celebrate the artists of Idaho and artists in our community. We are one of only three museums in the state of Idaho, and we really do try to highlight Idaho artists and their journey and their stories,” Stanger said. “I’m proud of the museums efforts in revealing artists that maybe weren’t as widely known and now have become more widely known.”
The upcoming expansion will include having a whole new building added to the museum which will be used as an educational center. The projected timeline for the project is estimated to be around three years. The museum is also actively seeking help from generous donors and sponsors who agree with their mission and would like to support them.
“We will actually have a sculptural installation of a fish that will go on the outside of our building, and all the fish will be attributed to the donors and their related amount of money. It’s going to be a kind of fun, artistic way to show off to the communities what we do,” Stanger said.
As the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho prepares for these transformative changes, the community can look forward to a future that is rich with artistic opportunities. If you are interested in more information or would like to contribute to the expansion, you can find that on their website at theartmuseum.org.