MISSION STATEMENT

The Springville Museum of Art strengthens communities by offering life-affirming art and experiences that foster beauty, contemplation, and connection. 

Our Vision: 

We envision the Springville Museum of Art as a widely recognized destination for art experiences that are welcoming, inspiring, and educational -- serving families, students, and artists through exceptional exhibitions, programs, facilities, and permanent collections.

We see the Museum as the heart and center of Utah’s Art City, a place where art is deeply woven into everyday life and reaches every visitor and resident. Through meaningful encounters with art, those we engage are continually transformed -- deepening connections to self, others, and our shared humanity.

Values:

Optimism: We believe art has the power to connect, uplift, challenge, and inspire hope. We take seriously our role as a sanctuary where everyone feels safe to experience the transformative power of art.

Stewardship: We are stewards of a rich legacy, entrusted with sustaining the museum’s mission for future generations. We hold a deep responsibility to our history, our collections, and the communities we serve.

Artistic Excellence: We are committed to curating, preserving, and sharing original art of the highest quality, honoring the creative legacy of Utah’s artists and our founders. We foster and support artistic excellence through expertise, best practices, and professionalism. We are a resource and support for Utah’s living artists.

Supporting Youth: Students and young people have continually been a central component of all that we do. We strive to ensure that SMA remains an accessible, engaging, educational, and inspirational place for all young people.

Connection to Community: We believe in the power of art to connect—people to people, people to themselves, and communities to each other. We engage actively with our local and extended communities by supporting collaboration, education, and mutual care.


COMMUNITY STANDARDS & VALUES

1. The Springville Museum of Art reserves the right to refuse exhibition or collection of any work of art it believes does not uphold local Springville community standards and values. When necessary, the SMA Association Board of Trustees, representing the community’s interest, will make this determination by vote of its members according to policy. Because of the First Amendment right of the Museum at its own premises, the Museum may choose not to exhibit any work of art that it deems offensive or inappropriate based upon its own principled criteria (see part 2 and 3).

2. Art presented for acquisition or exhibition that has the following characteristics must be brought by the Museum's director to the attention of the SMA Association Board of Trustees for review and action. 

  • Art that might be considered patently lewd, pornographic, obscene, or profane
  •  Art that offensively and aggressively challenges public sensitivity to the human form; the disabled; sexuality; gender; religion-creed; sacred objects; and political, racial, or ethnic issues 

3. The Springville Museum of Art accepts and collects art that shows the undraped human figure. But this art must contribute to the reverence we hold for the human body regardless of the aesthetic style of representation. Art depicting sexual activity or graphically intense erotic representations (including exaggerated or abnormally explicit genitalia, seductive poses, carnal distortions,  close-up views, S&M, bestiality, and arousal) will not be displayed at the Museum nor owned in its permanent collection.

4. Works of art curated by Museum staff, or its appointed jurors, and deemed not to conform to this policy will be submitted to the Board of Trustees. Art is considered to still be in the jurying process until after it has been reviewed by the Board of Trustees and a decision has been made. 

5. Any works of art coming to the Museum in a traveling/curated form may be withdrawn from exhibition or zoned. This decision is made at the discretion of the Association Board of Trustees or the director. A notice will indicate that the work of art has been zoned and its location will be identified for patrons.*

6. The Museum does not struggle against a perceived yoke of community standards or family values. Rather it exalts and advocates them through the educational programs it offers and the art it displays and collects. The Museum does not seek to deconstruct society, but rather to encourage the best of our society’s achievements, ideals, and traditions.

*Zoning is the placement of a work of art in an area of the Museum where the public, especially young children, cannot see it without prior warning and/or approval. These controlled conditions allow the work to be viewed by those who make a conscious and informed decision to do so.

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