NEW CASTLE, Pa. – The effort to rebrand what is now known as the Hoyt Arts Center transitioned to a broader look at how the organization is viewed and how it serves the public, its executive director said.

The new branding and website for the former Arts & Education at the Hoyt was unveiled on social media last Saturday, said Melissa Maiella, marketing director. The announcement was to be made at Saturday’s Ignite arts festival, which was canceled because of weather conditions.

The Hoyt’s rebrand and accompanying changes were spurred in part by “just the frustration of hearing that there’s nothing to do when we know how much it is we have to offer,” said Kimberly Koller-Jones, executive director. 

The new branding, along with a redesigned website and new approach to programs and activities, were the result of an 18-month process. Many people had some idea of what the museum did but not the whole picture, in some cases believing that it just served specific communities, such as kids or artists, she said. 

Hoyt initially engaged its marketing consultant, Pittsburgh-based Workhorse Collaborative, to develop better marketing strategies but discovered through the process that the museum lacked “a clear identity that the public understood” and suffered from confusion with the unrelated Hoyt Foundation, she said.

“So that’s kind of what incited us to start with the rebrand, really listening to how what people knew about us, how they understood us, where things needed to be corrected, but also what they were really looking for in terms of programs and even availability, hours, access, all of those sorts of things,” she continued. “It started out as a rebrand, but it quickly morphed into a much deeper look at how we are, what we were doing, what we were offering, if it was the right thing and, really, a deeper commitment to serving the public and the marketing end of it is just letting them know about it.”  

Throughout the process, Hoyt and its consultants conducted surveys and focus groups and looked at demographic information, as well as plans for Lawrence County and the city of New Castle, “really looking at how we fit into the bigger picture,” she said. About half of Hoyt’s audience – 20,000 annually on average – comes from beyond Lawrence County, she said. 

“So we’re going to continue repositioning the Hoyt from a county museum to a regional destination,” she said. 

Putting the Hoyt name “front and center was a fabulous idea,” said Ginny Jacob Colella, executive director of Visit Lawrence County. 

“A lot of people know them as the Hoyt,” she remarked. She also said the color palate for the logo stands out. 

In addition to the new branding and associated visuals, Hoyt officials implemented changes to membership benefits, strengthened youth membership and introduced a teen membership, Koller-Jones said. Artist membership was changed to be an add-on to other membership levels. 

Also, a new exhibition activity center will open in October that will allow visitors “to connect with what’s on the wall through hands-on activities,” she said. Other additions include a new tour book for the period house for families to do trivia and scavenger hunts, and a studio access program for artists who might not have access to equipment for ceramics and stained glass at home, with plans to add printmaking and other media to that program. 

Following the success of the “American Innovations” tour in the period house, Hoyt will introduce “Knock on Wood” in February. “We’re restaging the rooms to tell different stories, and this one is going to tell the stories of early 20th-century superstitions and taboos, so it’s going to be a lot of fun,” she said.   

In addition to being part of this year’s America250 commemoration, “American Innovations” also provided a different way to explore the period house, “so rather than it being the same story told every time you visit, it provides different reasons to come back again and again,” she said. 

“Every visit is another chance to experience the arts, try something new, meet new people and make lasting memories,” Maiella said in a news release announcing the rebrand. 

Visit Lawrence County frequently gets calls from individuals from people asking if the county has an art museum and what free activities are available for families, and Hoyt “checks all of those boxes,” Jacob Colella said. 

“We push them a lot within the region. We also push them when it comes to group tours because they can host a bus tour,” she said. 

When groups visit the period house, Hoyt often pairs that with a hands-on activity, Koller-Jones said. 

“We find that people have different ways of learning. Some people can do it through sight. Some people do it by listening. A lot of people need to do something to connect,” she continued. “That’s why the activities, whether it’s with the period house or whether it’s with the exhibitions, are so important because it helps make that connection to what they’re seeing on the walls.”

Hoyt will continue rolling out the brand through the rest of the year, Koller-Jones said. Branded elements will roll out with upcoming events, including Scary Tales, Holiday Open House and the house tours during the holidays. “We’re really just encouraging everybody to give it a try,” she said. 

“Everything they’re looking to do is bringing a Carnegie museum to Lawrence County,” Jacob Colella said. “They’re tapping into that big city museum feel, and they’re bringing it here to Lawrence County.”

Pictured at top: Photo courtesy of Hoyt Arts Center.