All the galleries and spaces of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), including the Rienzi and Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, will reopen to the public this Saturday, May 23. The museum announced that the reopening will occur with precautions for health and safety, and will include social-distancing requirements.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order, which included guidelines for reopening museums, was issued on May 1. Since then, some Texas museums have announced plans to reopen or have reopened, including The Museum of Biblical Arts in Dallas, which is currently open, and Houston’s Museum of Natural Science, which opened last Friday.
The MFAH will reopen on May 23.
Earlier this month, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Office of Communications included this recommendation: “The Mayor’s preference is that museums and the Zoo delay opening until June 1 consistent with City of Houston operations.”
MFAH’s Director Gary Tinterow, in a statement regarding the museum’s reopening: “This has been a thorough process, one that considers many variables and takes into account state and city guidelines, close coordination with City Hall and Houston Museum District colleagues, and ongoing discussions with our own staff and museum peers around the world. We recognize that circumstances may change at any moment. 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.”
Some of the COVID-19 safety protocols announced by Tinterow for the main campus, Bayou Bend, and Rienzi include requiring face-masks for all staff and visitors, and timed-entry tickets. The museum’s online programming will continue and be updated twice weekly.
For more information on the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and its opening plans, please go here.
