The Birmingham Museum of Art announced this morning plans to reopen its doors to the public on Oct. 6 with visitor attendance limited to 50% capacity.
According to a release, the museum has been carefully monitoring the rate of COVID-19 in Jefferson County and has been engaged in ongoing discussions with public health experts, the City of Birmingham, and its Board of Trustees.
While the museum will limit visitors, it will resume normal operating hours of of Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
The Museum Shop will be open during hours of operation. Oscar’s Cafe, the BMA’s on-site restaurant, and Bart’s ArtVenture, its interactive space for children, will remain closed until further notice.
“While the pandemic is far from over, we believe that art is a powerful medium, with the ability to both heal and entertain at a time when our community may need it most,” BMA Director Dr. Graham C. Boettcher said. “With the health and safety of our visitors and staff as our top priority, we are very excited to welcome visitors back to the BMA. Our spacious 150,000-square-foot facility and 30,000-square-feet of outdoor area, including the stunning and lush Red Mountain Garden Club Memorial Garden, provides members of our community with plenty of space to safely enjoy our vast collection of art from around the world. As always, we are proud to offer admission to the BMA completely free of charge.”
Safety measures that will be put in place in preparation for the museum’s reopening include:
● Masks are required for all staff and visitors over the age of 2
● Deep cleaning of Museum facilities daily
● Cleaning of high-touch areas multiple times per day
● Any touch interactives within the BMA will be closed
● Physical distancing will be aided by visuals in high-traffic areas
● Hands-free hand sanitizer stations are available throughout the building
Upon opening, the BMA will present three new exhibitions, with two additional exhibitions opening later this fall, including a major exhibition ”Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle.”
All programs will continue virtually through at least the end of the calendar year. The museum will continue to host a variety of digital offerings on its website where virtual visitors can #BMAfromHome.
Fall Exhibitions
Wall to Wall, presented by PNC, is a new, ongoing project that invites artists to activate the Museum’s lobby and cafe with artwork inspired by the city. Wallcoverings of artists’ work will stretch across the two largest spaces in the Museum to transform the visitor experience from the moment they enter the building. The inaugural iteration of Wall to Wall w ill feature works created by Alaska-based artist Merritt Johnson. In her work, Johnson considers the land and water of Birmingham while also exploring the ways humans have devalued these natural resources in search of profit.
All Things Bright and Beautiful is an exhibition of contemporary art which brings together works primarily from the Museum’s permanent collection that look at themes of power and agency. The exhibition takes its name from Amy Sherald’s portrait of a young Black girl, which poignantly depicts the joy and optimism of a child with her whole life in front of her. Considered together, these works illustrate the importance of being seen, choosing how to be depicted, and telling one’s own history.
Ways of Seeing: Buildings and Monuments is an exhibition of nearly sixty objects from the Museum’s collection that will draw visitors’ attention to the unexamined spaces of the built environment. Recent events prompted a revision of the exhibition, which now examines not only the relationship between artists and architects, but also the power and problems with seeing buildings and monuments, both within the BMA and just beyond the Museum’s front door.
An Epic of Earth and Water: Clare Leighton and the New England Industries Series opens October 31 and will highlight twelve wood engravings created by Leighton for Wedgwood while exploring the artist’s process. The collection was recently acquired by the BMA and the engravings depict twelve industries that represent the heart and soul of New England.
Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle opens November 20 and is a landmark exhibition of the iconic American Modernist painter, organized by the Peabody Essex Museum and currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition reunites Lawrence’s Struggle series for the first time in more than 50 years, which depicts American history from the American Revolution to World War I, capturing, in the artist’s words, “the struggles of a people to create a nation and their attempt to build a democracy.” The local presentation of the exhibition is presented by Alabama Power and Vulcan Materials Company and media partner, The Birmingham Times.
