Same mission of offering culture, art, history tours
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
CAPE MAY— It’s now Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture).
The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities announced Friday afternoon, March 27, that is was launching a new brand, complete with new name and logo – and a website that will be up and operating April 1.
It is part of the organization’s 50th anniversary year celebration.
Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture) will “continue to launch elements of the new brand in the subsequent days, culminating in the launch of the organization’s new website on April 1,” according to the announcement.
The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions across New Jersey affected the original brand launch, which was planned for an evening opening of the Carroll Gallery Exhibit, “50 Years of MAC,” March 27. Under an executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy, public gatherings and events across the state were cancelled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
In its place, Cape May MAC is being unveiled online.
“The exhibit highlights and celebrates the rich history of the organization, telling the story of its crucial role in Cape May’s 50-year renaissance, as it helped and continues to propel the resort into one of the most popular and revered shore destinations in the nation,” the release stated. “Instead, the launch will be made virtually, via email to the organization’s thousands of members, via this notification to the media, via social media posts and via the switchover to a new website April 1.”
Cape May MAC maintains and “interprets” three historic sites, the Emlen Physick Estate, the Cape May Lighthouse and the World War II Lookout Tower. It offers trolley tours, house tours, walking tours, group tours, outdoor festivals and numerous cultural events. Between the historic sites, tours and events, MAC attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors.
According to the organization, Princeton Communications Strategies of Princeton has been leading the re-branding effort over two years.
“The process involved numerous meetings and discussions which came from a strategic planning process begun in 2018,” the release said. “That process sought to solve several issues: Are people aware of how much MAC does in the community and if not, why not? Are we reaching everyone effectively who would be interested in our tours, activities and events? It was decided that the organization’s 50th anniversary year was the perfect time to reinvigorate and reimagine the organization’s brand while retaining the best of its rich 50-year history. Thus, the new name ‘Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture)’ pays homage to the organization’s past as it retains the ‘MAC’ with which so many are familiar but adds ‘Cape May’ as a means of emphasizing the organization’s nucleus,” the release stated.
“The addition of (Museums+Arts+Culture) is a new vision of the old acronym, with ‘MAC’ now making perfect sense, and aligning with the organization’s mission,” the release continued. “‘Museums’ is plural, because the organization operates the Physick House Museum and because Cape May, itself, is a museum without walls that the organization interprets almost daily each year for thousands of visitors who take one of Cape May MAC’s numerous trolley tours through the Historic District.”
MAC said the new look is fresh, streamlines its messages, brings the organization into the future and creates “a new level of excitement for its programs.”
MAC History
Courtesy of Cape May MAC
In 1970, the organization was formed under the name, Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC) (later “& Humanities” was added), when a group of passionate volunteers, through guile and grit, saved the historic 1879 Emlen Physick Estate from demolition, putting the city on a path toward a cultural renaissance.
Cape May has evolved since then from a quiet shore town into a bustling and historically charming destination with rich cultural and artistic offerings.
MAC’s founders were ambitious, and its name (“Mid-Atlantic”) reflected their uncompromising and lofty goal: to make Cape May into a regional destination for culture, history and the arts, and preserve its historic integrity for generations.
Cape May MAC’s commitment to excellence continues full steam, with “cultural enrichment of the Cape May region” a continuing and key part of its not-for-profit mission. Not just “America’s First Seaside Resort,” Cape May has evolved in the past five decades into a lively destination for history, culture and the arts, in large part thanks to the vision and dedication of Cape May MAC’s founders.
Now, the organization looks forward to the next 50 years attracting ever more residents and visitors to be educated, enlightened, entertained and inspired by the beauty and history of this National Historic Landmark City.