Robin Godwin: American Visionary Art Museum to Reopen on Friday

American Visionary Art Museum press release:

After temporarily closing its doors in March in observance of government guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Visionary Art Museum enthusiastically reopens its doors to public visitors on Friday, September 25, 2020 with new hours of Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm for both the museum and museum store, Sideshow. The latter remains free to visit. The museum will welcome visitors up to its 50% capacity limit, which translates to 400 visitors per day.

“I couldn’t imagine a better birthday present this year,” exclaims museum founder and director Rebecca Hoffberger, whose birthday coincides with the reopening. “Six whole months away from our fantastic visitors and fans in our 25th silver anniversary year has been just too much to bear, let alone all the frantic calls for our Sideshow museum store to reopen (‘We need our new eyeglasses—now!’) to cries from educators and scientists saying, ‘Boy o boy, is AVAM’s Earth and climate change show ever right on the mark!’ We have all sorely missed hearing all our visionary visitors’ oohs and ahhs.”

What Can Visitors See
All galleries will be open, though some of the museum’s interactive exhibits will be closed to limit contact. School and group visits remain virtual at this time. The museum’s third floor gallery in its Zanvyl Krieger Main Building will also be closed, though in preparation to open its newest exhibition “The Science and Mystery of Sleep” on Saturday, October 10.

New Measures for Visitors and Staff
The museum has implemented several new protocols towards safeguarding public health that are informed by local, state and federal best practices, recommendations, and guidelines. Those include:

For Visitors

Advanced, online purchase of a timed ticket, face coverings for visitors over age 2, and social distancing are required.
Coat check and use of water fountains are temporarily suspended.
Restrooms and high-touch surfaces, such as doorknobs, are frequently cleaned throughout the day.
Hand sanitizer stations will be available throughout the museum.
Signage will remind visitors of the guidelines.
The museum has installed purifying UV lights in its air handling units.
For a full list of new visitor guidelines and enhanced measures, visit avam.org.

For Staff

In addition to the protocols above, staff will take the below measures:

All staff are required to have their temperature checked before entering the building.
Staff time on site is coordinated to limit the number of people in the office areas.
Remote work and virtual meetings, when possible, are encouraged.
For a full list of new staff guidelines, visit avam.org.

Climate Change Exhibition Extended to January 2021
The museum’s main exhibition, “The Secret Life of Earth” has been extended to January 2021 to allow visitors extra time to view it. The popular exhibition of Holocaust embroideries, juxtaposed with first-person survivor accounts from Rwanda and apartheid South Africa, “Esther and the Dream of One Loving Human Family,” continues through 2024, underscoring the message of dignity and justice for all.

New Exhibition Opens Saturday, October 10
Premiering Saturday, October 10 in the third floor gallery of the museum’s Zanvyl Krieger Main Building is “The Science & Mystery of Sleep.” Anchored by fantastical, handmade bedrooms created by three visionary artists as personal refuge, the exihibition explores the latest scientific research behind sleep as both force majeur to our total wellbeing and hypnagogic portal, enabling fresh revelations in science, art, and creative innovation of all sort.

About the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is a Congressionally-designated national museum and education center that champions the role intuition plays in creative invention and innovation of all sorts — be it art, science, engineering, humor or philosophy, and especially in compassionate acts of social justice. For more information, visit avam.org.