THE STORY:
The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire is an internationally renowned art museum featuring European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The museum also owns Frank Lloyd Wright’s Zimmerman House. The Currier closed temporarily in 2006 and began a 33,000 square-foot expansion to include additional galleries, classrooms, and amenities. Seizing the opportunity presented by this dramatic transformation, the Currier hired Minelli, Inc. to better position them as an important cultural institution in New England and to generate excitement about the expansion and the institution that will be sustained beyond the grand reopening.

THE SOLUTION:
Minelli created a brand strategy that captures and builds on the Currier’s unique qualities while making them more accessible and inviting to visitors. The distinguished reputation of the Currier Museum of Art is built upon its promise to offer meaningful and personal encounters with the finest art works and art-making experiences. Understanding the Currier’s target audiences and the experiences of those who have visited the museum led to an approach that places people at the center of all encounters with the Currier. “Bringing art to people and people to art” was our rallying cry in helping the museum clarify a vision and strategy for presenting itself to the public.

Bringing the Currier brand to life entailed developing messaging with a conversational tone and the creation of a harmonious visual identity system that included a simple and flexible graphic device, contemporary typography, and a fresh color palette — all intended to create instant recognition of the Currier. Minelli also created appropriate training tools such as presentations, documents, activities and workshops to help the Currier staff incorporate the brand strategy and marketing elements into their daily decision-making. In addition, Minelli developed and designed brand guidelines that highlight key strategic elements of the brand as well as visual identity standards to maintain consistency among staff and outside vendors.

THE RESULTS:
In March 2008, the Currier Museum of Art opened its doors to a stunning new setting that promises entirely new encounters with exceptional art. The Currier had nearly 25,000 visitors within the first two weeks of reopening, a number that represents almost half of their previous total annual visitorship. In addition, over 300 new members — more memberships than were sold during the entire year prior to the museum’s closing — joined the Currier during this same two-week period. Most of the memberships were brand new with more than half of them coming from outside the Manchester, New Hampshire area.