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Council approves Ford family gift; museum gallery to be renamed for Carol Ford
Summary
The council approved Resolution 2025-10 to accept a sizable one-time donation from the Ford family to create an endowed fund and to name a hallway gallery at the Springville Museum of Art the Carol Ford Memorial Gallery, with programming commitments and a 75‑year naming expectation.
The Springville City Council on Tuesday approved Resolution 2025-10 endorsing a donation from the Ford family to the Springville Museum of Art and recognition measures agreed with the Springville Museum of Art Association.
Museum staff described the donation as a one-time, sizable gift intended to be invested as an endowment to support museum programming for decades. As presented, city commitments include naming a hallway gallery the Carol Ford Memorial Gallery and maintaining that name for at least 75 years—staff noted this was intended to extend until about 2100. The museum plans a small retrospective of Carol Ford’s quilts this year, July through September, and to establish a Carol Ford Legacy Award in the quilt show for the next 10 years. Museum staff said educational programming tied to the donation will include a virtual field trip and middle-school outreach using quilting as a community-building metaphor.
"To honor Carol and to honor this really sizable gift to the museum, we worked with the association, city leadership, and the Ford family to come up with this plan," a museum presenter said at the meeting.
Council members asked whether the hallway gallery is currently named and whether the donation is an endowment or one-time payment. Staff replied the gallery is not currently named and that the family's gift is a one-time donation large enough to be invested so that a portion of the annual return can fund programming indefinitely.
The council approved the resolution by roll call vote. Voting recorded in the meeting transcript: Logan — yes; Mindy — yes; Mike — yes; Jake — yes; Craig — yes.
Staff said the museum building is owned by the city, and the council’s approval affirms the city’s agreement to the recognition, program support and the association’s role in administering the endowment. The council did not vote on any change to the museum’s operating budget during the meeting; presenters asked the council to maintain current city funding levels for museum operations rather than offset operations with the donated endowment.
