WheatonArts and Cultural Center

Lessons in Changing an Organization’s Name and Identity

When the Dodge Foundation received a letter from Wheaton Village announcing that they were changing their name to WheatonArts and Cultural Center, we wondered, “What compels a 36-year-old organization to change their name? And what does that process look like?”

A visit to the new WheatonArts and a discussion with Executive Director Susan Gogan revealed the answers to those questions.

The Name Change Process
When founded in 1970, Wheaton Village was meant to be a typical “glasstown” – educating the public about the history of glassblowing and glass manufacturing, with a glass museum as its showcase. Early staff at Wheaton Village even wore costumes.

Wheaton Village took its name from Wheaton Industries, an internationally-known glass manufacturing company in Millville, New Jersey, which had been in business for nearly 100 years. Wheaton Village was the brainchild of Frank Wheaton, Jr., the grandson of the founder of Wheaton Industries. Although Wheaton Village was never actually owned or operated by Wheaton Industries, the company did provide major support for the organization before it was sold to a Swiss firm in 1996.

Over the years, Wheaton Village expanded to include the Creative Glass Center of America, awarding fellowship residencies to contemporary artists from all over the world, as well as the Down Jersey Folklife Center, which features arts and crafts of more than 40 different ethnicities of people who have settled in south Jersey. By the early 2000s, staff felt that the name “Wheaton Village” was too closely tied to its glasstown past, and not representative of the vibrancy and variety of other artistic mediums alive at the Village. In 2003, Wheaton Village’s board voted officially to change their name.

Lesson One: Do Your Research
The first step in the name change process included surveying as many of their constituents as possible; those surveys revealed a surprising fact: if Wheaton Village wanted a name that would disassociate people’s idea of it as a historical attraction, it was not the word “Wheaton” that was the obstacle as they had thought, but the word “Village” which conjured images of people in costume and colonial times.

In fact, staff and board realized that keeping “Wheaton” in their name served a very powerful purpose: honoring the legacy of Wheaton Industries and its prestigious history in the glass industry as well as its important role in the history in Millville and generous support of Wheaton Village over the years. “The name ‘Wheaton’ was so well known, particularly internationally,” explains Susan Gogan. “It was important to us to honor the legacy of Wheaton Industries as well as our founder, Frank Wheaton, Jr.”

Lesson Two: Don’t Rush a Decision
The name change process hit a snag in 2003 when then-Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey threatened major funding cuts for all cultural organizations, which forced many organizations, including Wheaton Village, to put non-essential planning on the back burner for awhile. This left some on the staff and board feeling impatient, and by winter of 2005, there were many who just wanted a name change and wanted it done quickly in order to move forward. Those deeply engaged with the implementation of change for the past few years, however, felt they hadn’t had enough time to stop and fully evaluate what the best name would be.

At a day-long retreat, the board and staff ultimately made the name change decision together, but as Susan Gogan reflects: “We’re all happy with the name change, but as I look back on the process, a few of us felt rushed to make a decision and that getting the name just right was most important, no matter how long it took. If I have any regrets, it is that I didn’t work hard enough to make time for the needed dialog among the staff leadership. If given the opportunity again, I would have planned a staff retreat prior to the board/staff retreat.”

Lesson Three:
Know When to Change Course
After deciding on the new name, a “name change” ad hoc committee turned their attention to a new logo and a new look to the WheatonArts brand. The committee entered this process with a vision of an “icon” logo, to become the new mark of the organization. The old logo of a glassblower did not reflect WheatonArts’ desire to expand their mission beyond glass. Round after round, something just didn’t feel right about the logos their graphic designer waspresenting. Eventually staff realized that without the perfect artwork to represent their new, expanded mission, they needed to abandon the idea of having artwork altogether. Instead they focused on a text-only logo of “WheatonArts.” 

“It is hard to create a permanent icon for an institution in the midst of change,” notes Susan. “While a car or a computer company with a defined product will often excel with an icon, WheatonArts needed to consider different values. In the end, it was the name that needed branding, a new name that reflected our activities, and ultimately everyone was at ease with our decision. The packaging looks great and the signs are straightforward and readable. The text version, the font, the simplicity of words really work to brand this new name.”

Lesson Four: Change Takes Time
The checklist for the name change process involved a huge list of details such as changing the brown highway cultural signs (which required working with the state), changing all internal signage, updating all brochures and business forms, and updating merchandise in the museum stores. And most importantly, detailed communication to all the stakeholders (members, donors, vendors, the community, et. al.) about the name change was vitally important.

Wheaton Village officially became WheatonArts and Cultural Center in July of 2006, which they celebrated with a big open house attracting more than 2,000 people and an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the community. But for now and for some time to come, they refer to themselves as “WheatonArts (formerly Wheaton Village)” to get people used to the idea of the name change. The deeper change – of fulfilling their vision of a mission expanded well beyond their traditional glass roots – will certainly take even longer.

 

Images from top: "Crafts of Italy" Gallery of Fine Craft exhibit and sale; Glass studio demonstration; Woodturning demonstration at the Wheaton Festival of Fine Craft; Ceramic artist, Terry Plasket; WheatonArts and Cultural Center logo and entrance; Artigianato Popolare: Italian Folk Arts and Crafts. Photographs courtesy WheatonArts and Cultural Center.