The Governor of Texas Told Museums They Can Legally Reopen This Week. Texas Museums Said: No Thanks

Texas governor Greg Abbott
announced this week that the state’s stay-at-home order, first
implemented on April 1, will be lifted at
the end of the month.
Museums, among other venues, will be allowed to reopen to the
public—albeit at only 25 percent of their usual capacity—starting
this Friday.

But institutions across the
state—including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Nasher
Sculpture Center, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston—are
effectively ignoring the governor’s announcement and choosing to
stay closed as the threat of the pandemic still
looms. 

“Part of our responsibility to
our staff and community is to ensure that they feel safe and
welcome in our building,” says Agustín Arteaga, director of the
Dallas Museum of Art, which announced that it would not be opening
May 1. “With that in mind,” Arteaga continues, “we are working
through various re-opening scenarios, taking into account new
health and safety measures that would need to be implemented, as
well as guidance from federal, state, and local
officials.”

Contemporary Austin has issued a
similar statement, saying that it has started developing sanitation
plans for its two locations “so we will be ready when and if it
seems safe to reopen incrementally,” says a representative for the
museum. “This would happen
in phases, and would begin by allowing some essential staff to
return to work with staggered schedules to allow for necessary
social distancing. Eventually the public would be allowed to return
in limited numbers.”

The Blanton Museum of Art in
Austin, the Menil Collection in Houston, the Amon Carter Museum of
American Art and Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, the McNay Art
Museum, and the San Antonio Museum of Art have all confirmed that
they, too, will wait to reopen. 

May 1 marks the first phase of
Governor Abbott’s reopening plan, which, in addition to museums,
will also allow retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and
malls to start up again. The second phase, which would see the
occupancy limit raised to 50 percent, could be put in place as soon
as May 18, he said. 

For museums that do choose to
reopen, the governor has mandated that they must shutter any
interactive, touchable components of their programs, including
immersive exhibitions and play areas, which puts a particular
strain on science and childrens’ museums.

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