ARTS COUNCIL GETS NAME, LOGO CHANGE

Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, Inc., the oldest community arts council in the state of Missouri, will now be doing business as the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri under a new logo.

The council's offices will continue to be located at 1707 Mt. Auburn Rd. in Cape Girardeau with the same telephone number -- 314-334-9233.

Marge Nichols Sullivan, a member of the Arts Council's board of directors, introduced the new name and logo as having "authority, simplicity and presence."

"Although the events sponsored by the organization are well-known throughout the area, we needed a recognizable umbrella name and logo to give the arts council heightened visibility and identity," said Sullivan.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri was originally founded as the Christian Arts Council by Otto F. Dingeldein and other prominent Cape Girardeau citizens in 1962. That was three years before the state of Missouri founded the Missouri Arts Council. Through several name changes and moves, from an all-volunteer organization to a full-time staff, Cape Girardeau's own Arts Council has remained a constant source of opportunities for area children, adults and families to experience arts activities.

Each year the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri sponsors such local events as summer arts workshops for children, old-fashioned summer holiday concerts, arts programs in area schools, spring and Christmas craft fairs, the Arts and Balloon Festival and the Gallery 100 National Juried Exhibitions.