It’s official! As of today, the AMOA-Arthouse will now be called The Contemporary Austin.
In traditional marriages, the wife takes the name of the husband; a few modern marriages hyphenate their last names, sometimes creating ungainly combos. But the very most contemporary marriages (of museums, at least) hire designers, redefine their mission, and rebrand as one entity. Thus, AMOA-Arthouse, a name that only served to remind everyone of their bachelor days, is now simply “The Contemporary.”
According to the history of the organizations, they were actually once one. The Texas Fine Arts Alliance (TFAA) was formed over 100 years ago and split into two organizations in 1961 when the TFAA spun off the Laguna Gloria Art Museum. TFAA later became Arthouse, while Laguna Gloria was rebranded as AMOA. The two organizations merged again in late 2011. So the new name, brand, and logo is sort of a recommitment ceremony.
By the way, the upper-case “A” in the logo stands for art and Austin. For more details of the concepts behind the museum’s new identity, read the in-depth article in the Austin Chronicle.
