Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) announces name change to ‘Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture)’

Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) announces name change to ‘Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture)’ as cornerstone of organization’s new brand

The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) announces that beginning March 27 and culminating with a new website on April 1, the organization will launch a new brand that includes a new name, logo, and website.

Part of its 50th anniversary year celebration, MAC announces its new name “Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture)” March 27 and 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.

The brand launch was originally planned for a reception March 27 in the evening at the opening of the organization’s Carroll Gallery Exhibit, “50 Years of MAC” (since cancelled). 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. 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.

The re-branding was a concerted effort over two years in the making. The process was led by Princeton Communications Strategies, Princeton, N.J., after a dedicated search for branding consultants. The process involved numerous meetings and discussions which came from a strategic planning process begun in 2018. 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 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. “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.

The result is a fresh new look that brings the organization into the future, streamlining its messages and creating a new level of excitement for its programs.

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. In addition to maintaining and interpreting three historic sites, the Emlen Physick Estate, the Cape May Lighthouse, and the World War II Lookout Tower, Cape May MAC offers trolley tours, house tours, walking tours, group tours, outdoor festivals, and a full slate of cultural events, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

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.

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