The Center’s mission is “to provoke and stimulate the imagination while opening hearts and minds through excellence in diverse arts programming.”
We do this by
- Providing excellence in the visual arts, performing arts, education, humanities, and theatre
- Planning programs collaboratively across disciplines about topics of interest to our community
- Enhancing education in the schools through these topics and by brining professional artists, musicians, writers and thinkers to the schools
- Enhancing life-long learning through classes, lectures and workshops
- Creating opportunities to have shared experiences through the arts
- Serving a broad spectrum of the community
- Supporting the creation of new works by artists in a wide variety of mediums
Founded in 1971, the Sun Valley Center is the oldest arts organization in the Wood River Valley. It was the brainchild of Bill Janss – then owner of the Sun Valley Company which runs the resort and ski area, who believed that the arts are fundamental to a balanced life and that this resort community would never be a whole community without a vibrant arts and cultural component.
The Center began with that philosophy in mind, and in the subsequent 40 years, the Center has grown from a few people presenting classes and events on an “art campus”, to an organization that serves over 30,000 people a year, 25% of whom are children. In 2006 The Center receivedAccreditation Status from the American Association of Museums in recognition of its meeting the highest standards of operating and program performance.
In 2005 The Center expanded to a second location in the town of Hailey to better serve the needs of the Valley’s working class families and youth.
In 2012 The Center merged with Company of Fools, an award winning professional Theatre group that has been based in Hailey Idaho at the Liberty Theater for 17 years.