Music has yet to stream through the Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts, but Chapman University’s newest addition just played its first visual note—a signature-like logo that fuses outlines of the letter “M” with movements of a conductor’s baton.
The logo had to accomplish several important tasks, in-
cluding to reflect the center’s “stunning features; spotlight our core focus on delivering the highest standard of arts-related education; and honor the legacy of our extraordinary benefactors, Paul and Marybelle Musco,” William Hall, the center’s founding dean and artistic director, said in a recent email. “The task was challenging, but the ‘emotive beat’ logo captures the passion and innovation that will make the center one of the nation’s best new performance venues.”
Idea Hall in Costa Mesa led the branding effort, which includes a mobile-friendly website that went live last week.
“For us, the logo is an emotional expression,” said the agency’s creative director, Cynthia Murnane. “It’s an M—a tribute to Marybelle and Paul Musco—but it’s also the emotional feeling of the baton of Dr. Hall when he’s conducting or the feeling that you’re experiencing as an attendee or a participant in this center.”
The agency’s research for the project focused on prominent community- and university-based performing arts centers—and a consideration of what makes the Musco Center stand out in comparison.
“This is going to be a very special place,” Murnane said. “From the world-famous acoustician who developed the sound for it, world-famous architects working on it, performing arts consultants, it’s an amazing facility. And such an intimate experience, too, because it’s a small venue. That was part of the emotion we were hoping to capture in the brand expression of it.”
Architect, Acoustician
She was referring to Los Angeles-based Pfeiffer Partners, the architecture firm behind DeBartolo Performing Arts Center at the University of Notre Dame that designed the Musco Center. Acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, whose work includes Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Sydney Opera House, was in charge of the tuning process.
“We did our initial concept, and then everything went through Paul and Marybelle,” Murnane said. “It was very important to us that they loved it as much as we did.”
“It’s a very collaborative process; we are reflecting their vision, spirit and energy into a physical design, but they own it, and it really has to become theirs to embrace,” added Rebecca Hall, the agency’s founder and chief executive. “I think something that’s important to the Muscos is that this is an unparalleled opportunity for students to get real-world experience, and a lot of other universities wouldn’t be able to offer this type of experience—it’s not just the facility but what happens at the facility.”
The Muscos appear to agree.
“Marybelle and I are deeply committed to advancing the educational opportunities for students in Chapman’s College of Performing Arts, as well as expressing our profound appreciation to the community as we complete the center,” Paul Musco, founder and chairman of Santa Ana-based Gemini Industries Inc., said via email. “Everything associated with the new center reinforces the quality, creativity and inspiration of the learning that will occur there.”
The Muscos are the biggest donors to the $78 million center.
Other prominent donors to the center include Julia and George L. Argyros; Bette and Wylie Aitken; Doy and Dee Henley; Steeve and Helen Kay Family Foundation; Thomas E. and Sharon J. Malloy; Daniel Temianka and Zeinab Dabbah; the Marc and Eva Stern Foundation; Women of Chapman; John Tu; the Ahmanson Foundation; Ann and Dale E. Fowler; Donna and David Janes; Lynne and Jim Doti; Greinke Family Foundation; Deedee and Donald E. Sodaro; Eileen and Frank J. De Santis; Pat and Tom Elliott Gail; Ronald E. Soderling; and Elaine and Gaddi H. Vasquez.
The center’s website, also part of the rebranding effort, has put a premium on easy navigation.
“We spent a lot of time with the calendar and making sure people can find information about the performances that will be there and community access so that it’s easy to get a ticket,” Murnane said adding that ticket sales will go live in December.
It will likely get a workout when the center features Placido Domingo for its inaugural concert on March 19.
