The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Is the First Major Art Institution in the US to Reopen. Here’s How They’re Making It Work

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
will reopen this Saturday, making it the first major American art
institution to do so since non-essential business closures went
into effect nationwide in March.

Strict safety measures developed
in conjunction with the city and state will be put in place,
including mandatory masks for everyone in the building. Visitors
will have their temperatures taken upon entering the galleries and
plastic panels will be erected in front of the admissions desk and
gift shop register. No
food, drinks, or large bags will be allowed and the museum’s water
fountains and cafe will be closed.

Visitor capacity will be kept at
below 25 percent on a room-by-room basis, and social distancing
rules will be enforced. As a result, the museum is encouraging
the purchase of advance
timed-entry tickets online. (Tickets were made available starting
today; a representative from the museum says it does not yet have
an estimate for how many people it expects this
weekend.)

“We recognize that circumstances
may change at any moment,” said museum director Gary
Tinterow in a statement, noting the museum’s “close
coordination” with city hall” and other institutions in the Houston
museum district. “But we remain hopeful that we will be able to
serve our public under the safest possible conditions and under new
norms, ones to which Houstonians across the city are already
becoming accustomed.”

Texas governor Greg Abbott
announced in late April that the state’s own stay-at-home order
would be lifted at the beginning of May, and that museums, among
other venues, would be allowed to open then. But the Museum of Fine
Arts chose to delay its reopening, saying that the institution’s
reopening task-force was still in the process of putting together a
strategy for ensuring a safe experience for visitors and its 650
staff members. (The sentiment was
echoed by the Contemporary Austin, Dallas Museum of Art, and almost
every other sizable institution in Texas.)  

“We look forward to bringing
some staff back into the buildings and welcoming the public,” a
Museum of Fine Arts representative said in a statement at the time,
“but we are evaluating all of our supplies, including masks and
gloves, and assessing our infrastructure to ensure that we are
ready to operate the museum’s offices and public areas safely and
under social distancing.”

Another institution that
previously chose to hold off on its reopening, the San Antonio
Museum of Art, announced today that it too has a plan to return to
work in a limited capacity. The capital city venue will open its
doors to museum members next Tuesday, May 26, and to the general
public on May 28. Safety precautions similar to those devised by
the Museum of Fine Arts will be implemented, including mandated masks
and social distancing, though the museum will not require
temperature checks upon entry. 

The post The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Is the First
Major Art Institution in the US to Reopen. Here’s How They’re
Making It Work appeared first on artnet News.