Editor’s Note: The Tarble Arts Center is becoming the Tarble Museum of Art, not Arts.

The Tarble Arts Center interim director announced the approaching name change to The Tarble Museum of Art during the opening of its two winter exhibitions on Friday.  

Considering that the center has had its current name for numerous years, Chris Kahler stated that he was motivated change the name to the Tarble Museum of Art since he first stepped into his position as interim director on July 1 of this year.  

Changes are expected to be made by spring 2026, according to Kahler.  

“We are working on the logo design now,” he said. “This was something we started about two months ago. I got it through the board of trustees, and they approved it. But there’s a lot more going on that we have to work on.” 

Kahler explained that one of the main reasons he wanted to change the name was because of the constant confusion between the Tarble Arts Center and the Doudna Fine Arts Center.  

“The Tarble Arts Center existed in that name before the Doudna Fine Arts Center was ever created. What seemed odd to me was that we had two centers. That didn’t make any sense,” he said.  

Kahler said his objective was for the Tarble to have a separate identity that wasn’t associated with the Doudna Fine Arts Center so that it can have a clear vision moving forward. 

“We want the Doudna Fine Arts Center to be known for its music, theater and much more. The title of a fine art center should go to Doudna,” he said. “What I want us to be doing going forward is for the Tarble Museum of Art to be that gem in the Midwest region.” 

Similar to how Doudna is known for its performances, Kahler stated that the name change allows the Tarble to be recognized for what it really is, which is an art museum.  

Gisela Alvarez, the exhibitions and collections manager, stated that the name change had been discussed with the former director of the Tarble, Jennifer Seas, but was never really put into action until now. 

“It was something that we were kind of talking about since I started working here two-and-a-half years ago, but then when the interim director took over, it really went full force into the Tarble Museum of Art,” she said.  

Along with the name change, Kahler also planned to organize a multitude of events with his new position. 

“We hadn’t done a faculty show in nine years here in the building. And then after that, I wanted to host this idea of a 25-year survey of alumni, which has never been done in the almost 40 years that the Tarble has been active,” he said.   

The main exhibition, 25 Years: Art + Design Alumni, 2000-2025, displayed work from 74 former and current Eastern Illinois University students from the past 25 years, with the oldest piece dating back to 2000, according to Sarah Brown, a student staff member at the Tarble. 

Enoch Narh-Korley, who graduated from EIU last year with a master’s in studio art, said that having his artwork displayed again feels great.  

“Sometimes when an artist produces artwork and then it’s used for a particular show like our grad show, we feel that it’s the end of the work for us. And then seeing it up once again kind of brings back memories,” he said.  

The artwork that Narh-Korley exhibited was titled “United not the same” and was inspired by his culture from Ghana, Africa. It displays a married couple side by side with a symbol in the background from Ghana that is composed of two crocodiles, according to Narh-Korley.  

He stated that the work interprets the fact that married couples are seen as one but still have their differences because they come from different backgrounds. 

“These are things I picked for my relationships and marriage. I have a wife, and we have come together as a couple. But we still have our differences because we are from different homes,” he said.  

Lauren McKee, who graduated in 2017, displayed her work titled “Drawing Diary,” a daily drawing series she built in 2021.  

“I wanted to build a series following a geometrical system where each work was done in sequential days to show the variety within the patterns, like a fingerprint,” she said. “It’s nice that it’s shown in Charleston again, it’s good to be back.”