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| Rendering of SUMA courtesy of Southern Utah University |
The Independent
Anyone who has recently visited the campus of Southern Utah University has noticed the remarkable progress in the construction of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts. Encompassing both performing and visual arts, the forthcoming center, scheduled to open in summer 2016, will be the new home of the Southern Utah Museum of Art. And as the construction team pours the cement for SUMA’s foundation, they want to spread the word that now is the ideal time for individuals to donate in order to cement the artistic foundations of the museum. Besides the basic membership in the Friends of the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, they are now also offering a SUMA Charter Circle membership with several additional benefits.
The long-awaited Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts on the campus of Southern Utah University is predicted to further establish Cedar City as a regional arts mecca. In addition to the Southern Utah Museum of Art, it will serve as the home to the new Engelstad Shakespeare theatre, a new Eileen & Allen Anes Studio Theatre, and an artistic/production building for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. The Center also features a tree-lined walkway and sculpture gardens and will offer many public gathering spaces ideal for receptions and special events.
The Southern Utah Museum of Art, a state-of-the-art museum, will feature approximately 5,300 square feet of exhibition space composed of five exhibition spaces: the Braithwaite Gallery, the Rocki Alice Gallery, the Austin and Magda Jones Gallery, the Grace Adams Tanner Gallery and the Jim Jones Gallery, which showcases work by the renowned Utah artist who inspired the museum. SUMA will exhibit international and regional art, as well as that of SUU art and design students and faculty. The museum will have dedicated space for collection storage, conservation, and research. The building design will allow visitors to witness the behind-the-scenes operations in the Maud Trismen Mason Collection and Conservation Studio. The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Education Suite includes classroom space for hands-on educational activities for K-12 school groups, and workspace for the SUU graduate and undergraduate students who will operate the museum.
In their continued efforts to support the Braithwaite Gallery’s programming of exhibitions and educational offerings, the long-time fundraising organization Friends of the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery established a new donation level that will help also build the act acquisition fund for SUMA. This new donation level at $300 is called the SUMA Charter Circle. This one-time membership includes invitations to hard hat tours of the Center for the Arts site, artist receptions, copies of our bi-annual publication The Gallery Insider, and more. Unlike annual memberships, when you participate in this one-time membership, you will always be recognized as a member of the SUMA Charter Circle.
You can join online by going to www.suu.edu/giving, check the box next to “other” and in the adjacent box, enter: SUMA Charter Circle. You may also join by writing a check to the Southern Utah Museum of Art, and in the memo line fill in SUMA Charter Circle. Mail the check to Donna Law, c/o Southern Utah University, Office of Advancement, 351 West University Blvd., Cedar City, UT 84720.
For those unable to commit to the SUMA Charter Circle membership level, you can still become a member of the Friends of the Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery for $60 as an individual or $100 for a couple/family. These levels include copies of The Gallery Insider and special invitations to pre-opening preview events. To join online please follow the directions above, but after checking the “other” box, fill in “SUPROG” (stands for SUMA Programming). These donations help in funding future museum exhibitions and programs, including educational activities for K-12 students.
Naming opportunities in the museum are still available. For more information or to donate to SUMA, please contact Donna Law, Director of Development for SUMA, at (435) 865-8182 or [email protected].
