After closing its doors in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nevada Museum of Art will begin reopening in phases, including a free Community Day on Saturday, June 20.
“The past three months have brought profound changes to our world,” Nevada Museum of Art CEO David B. Walker wrote in a message on the museum’s website. “The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic collapse, combined with a collective reckoning with racism and social injustice in America, offers a historic opportunity to listen, learn, grow, change, and invest in new ways to serve Nevada’s increasingly diverse communities. Now more than ever, art museums are essential to a civil society.”
The museum’s phased reopening began the week of June 15. Before reopening, the museum updated its policies to ensure visitors’ safety. Admission is available online in 30-minute increments through Advance Ticketing to minimize contact, limit attendance, and allow for social distancing. To read the museum’s full reopening plan and prepare, visit nevadaart.org/visit/plan-your-visit. The museum also created an Operating Reopening Plan to share with other arts and culture organizations throughout the state, which was reviewed by the CEO of Renown Health, the region’s largest not-for-profit healthcare network, and also praised by the Governor’s Office.
As part of the phased reopening approach, the Museum Shop will open for onsite purchases, but online shopping and curbside pickup will continue. Restaurant chez louie plans to reopen July 7.
This phased approach includes a FREE Community Day on Saturday, June 20, courtesy of the Estelle J. Kelsey Foundation. To reserve a ticket, click here.
The reopening also includes an extension of the Museum’s newest exhibition, The World Stage: Contemporary Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, through early 2021/
Organized by JoAnne Northrup, the Museum’s Curator of Contemporary Art, The World Stage showcases 90 artworks by 35 renowned contemporary American artists of diverse backgrounds. The exhibition title, The World Stage, is inspired by the name of a series of paintings by Kehinde Wiley, an artist in the exhibition who is best known for his presidential portrait of Barack Obama that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
“The extension, prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement, provides a backdrop and platform to amplify the voices of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists celebrated in this exhibition, and supports critical dialogue between the artists, members of our community and Museum staff,” Walker wrote. “The Nevada Museum of Art is deeply committed to elevating the artistic voices of BIPOC communities in our galleries, collections, and through our award-winning publications. We are also committed to continuing the vital conversations we’re having both internally and externally, which will help to inform and shape a path towards thoughtful change and healing.”
