The Dallas Arts District and its downtown (and downtown-adjacent) museums have announced reopening plans. (Six of the museums announced closures and cancellations in March due to Covid-19.) Three institutions have plans to reopen between August 14 (for both the Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum) and August 20 (for the Nasher Sculpture Center). Of the remaining three, the Crow Museum of Asian Art will open on September 18, while the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza plans to open around the same time, with no set date for now; the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, which previously planned a July 9 opening, postponed that date and plans to confirm its reopening date soon.
Even as some other museums in Texas announced reopening dates back in June, while others doubled down on remaining closed, the museums in the Dallas Arts District took a wait-and-see approach before announcing plans over the weekend. Reopening guidelines, which were previously announced on the Dallas Arts District website, include requirements that all staff and visitors wear face masks, and that each facility add sanitizing stations.
The museums’ group statement reads: “We have all been working together since our closures in March to prepare for the days when we can safely welcome visitors again. The past five months have been times of significant change. As cultural institutions, we each recognize our unique roles as places for visitors to find solace, joy, and connection. We are excited to finally reopen our spaces to the community.”
The Dallas Museum of Art’s August 14 reopening begins with temporarily shortened hours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, free general admission tickets must be booked in advance. Museum capacity is limited to 200 people at a time for two-hour periods. Current exhibits include Flores Mexicanas: Women in Modern Mexican Art, and For a Dreamer of Houses, which will require an additional ticket purchase.
Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.
Reopening plans for the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum will see the museum open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and member-only hours every Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The museum’s joint release states: “While the entire museum is open, we are particularly excited to encourage our guests to visit our Pivot to America Wing, which explores the journey for civil rights in America, and our current special exhibition, The Fight for Civil Rights in the South, a moving photographic exhibit that chronicles the African American struggle for civil rights and social equality in the 1960s, including the burning of the Freedom Riders bus and the March from Selma to Montgomery.”
The Nasher reopens on Thursday, August 20, and following the opening, the days and times will be Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Advanced tickets are required. Barry X Ball: Remaking Sculpture in the main gallery has been extended until January 3, 2021, and Foundations: Barry X Ball until January 10, 2021. Resist/Release on the Nasher’s Lower Level continues until January 17, 2021, and Nasher Prize Laureate: Michael Rakowitz will remain through April 18, 2021. Closing out the Nasher reopening announcement, Nasher Windows, an initiative that features work by North Texas artists, will continue in the museum’s entrance vestibule until early September.
Starting September 18, The Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas will reopen at a 25% occupancy with operating hours of Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free general admissions to the special exhibition Beili Liu: One and Another, and two exhibitions from the permanent collection, The Art of Lacquer and Immortal Landscapes: Jade from the Collection.
