Museum To Be The ‘Mac’

Thu., Sept. 21, 2000

By Michael Guilfoil mikegu@spokesman.com

New York has “Moma,” aka the Museum of Modern Art.

Seattle has “Sam,” short for Seattle Art Museum.

A year from now, Spokane will have “Mac.”

Jane Johnson, director of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture - what most of us still think of as Cheney Cowles Museum - unveiled the organization’s new logo Wednesday. The nameplate, created by Klundt Hosmer Design of Spokane, de-emphasizes the word “Northwest,” instead focusing attention on the prominent letters M, A and C. “We wanted to make sure we selected what nickname gets attached to the museum,” Johnson said.

The new logo’s woodcut-style “M” is intended to suggest pioneering, the frontier and natural resources. The upper-case “A” echoes the distinctive tepee shape of a Plateau Indian tule mat lodge. The final letter - “C” - is executed with the flourish of an enthusiastic paintbrush stroke to represent visual arts.

The $28 million expansion of the museum’s Browne’s Addition campus is scheduled for completion in late fall of 2001. By then, expect to see the “Mac” campaign spread to banners and bus-side advertising.

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