IDAHO FALLS — Since opening its doors in 2002, a museum that describes itself as “the premier visual arts organization in eastern Idaho” is looking to expand. The Idaho Art Museum of Eastern Idaho has been working on plans to grow and improve its facilities, with the goal of creating a more comprehensive space for visitors and artists alike.
In 2014, the museum conducted a feasibility study that highlighted the need for more space. This study was a key step in understanding what the museum needed to better serve its community. Over the years, the museum has worked closely with various partners to bring these plans to life.
Executive director Alexa Stanger shared insights about the museum’s progress. She mentioned that the museum had maximized the space available for storing items off-site. This realization led to the decision to seek expansion opportunities. In a recent news release, the museum announced an official partnership with Resin Architects, a firm that has been helping the museum since 2019. Resin Architects played a significant role in designing the new center, which will be a major addition to the museum’s current facilities.
Stanger recalled a meeting she had with Graham Whipple, an architect from Resin, during a bus tour of an Archie Teater Studio in Bliss in 2022. Whipple and Stanger had known each other for years, and during the bus drive, she mentioned the need to create some renders for the new center. Whipple took this idea and began designing floor plans and renderings of the future space.
According to the museum’s website, the new space will serve as an education center and expand the museum by 22,000 square feet. This expansion will allow the museum to move its educational aspects to the new section and provide its own classroom spaces on the second floor. Additionally, the museum’s gallery space will expand, enabling larger exhibits to be featured on the main floor. The basement storage space will also see an increase in size.
Since 2024, the museum has been raising funds for the expansion, including grants from the CHC Foundation, the Hartwell Foundation, the Simplot Foundation, and other private contributions. Stanger said the total cost of the expansion was estimated at $6 million.
The expansion will roll out in phases, depending on how much funding is raised, to slowly expand the museum while opening new sections to the public. Stanger emphasized the importance of creating connectivity between historic downtown Idaho Falls and the museum. “We’re a fairly young organization,” she said. “We really want to create connectivity between historic downtown Idaho Falls … (and) create a destination here.”
Anyone interested in supporting the development of the education center can donate and have their name attached to a fish. Depending on the level of financial donation, an art installation featuring local and native fish from the Snake River will be created. The levels for this art installation range from $300 (rainbow trout) to $4,000 (sturgeon). Other donation tiers are available on the museum’s website.
Overall, Stanger said the Art Museum’s goal is to highlight Idaho and western artists in Idaho Falls and beyond. “We want to celebrate the voices, all the voices of Idaho artists, present contemporary artists, as well as historically,” Stanger said. “We also love to bring in new ideas. It’s important to bring in other kinds of artists with other viewpoints and understandings, so they can really feed the inspiration for people in our own community.”
