Dear Friends,
Would you believe we’ve been operating out of our sweet, cobbled together little building for 55 years now? This little institution has served as a source of insight and a center for connection for our community for more than half a century. First as the Art Association, then the Art Center, and today your San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. We may have changed names, but we have never changed our belief that art has the power bring us together.
Early this year we adopted our new mission to demonstrate that Art Matters: we enrich our community by using art as a doorway for deeper insight and connection. Just last week we hosted the exquisite Ensemble Salam for a full house concert representing our beautiful community and we have some amazing partnerships coming soon that will provide new ways for our community to find connection through the arts.
A friend sent me this quote recently: You don’t need to be a journalist to understand that we are living through some very dark times, at home and, especially now, abroad. It seems everywhere we look, we are bearing witness to man’s inhumanity to man. It’s against this backdrop that, now more than ever, we appreciate the importance of the arts and their capacity to lift us up, transport us to a different time and space, and yes, even unite us. — Katie Couric.
A 2021 study at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center found that visits to museums, and in particular art museums, are associated with reductions in stress and anxiety and increases in well-being such as feelings of belonging. We believe deeply in this place and its power. We want you to know that you belong at SLOMA.
Leann Standish
SLOMA Executive Director