Houston’s Blaffer Art Museum at University of Houston, which closed in early march due to Covid-19 and remained closed when museums were on a list of business that could reopen, will open its doors on August 15. (The announcement follows a similar announcement by The Contemporary Austin to reopen its Laguna Gloria location in Austin this week.)
Several major Texas museums — including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Kimbell Art Museum, both of which I visited last week — as well as as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, began reopening in May. As with each museum reopening, the Blaffer has implemented health and safety protocols, which include hand sanitizing stations, social distancing requirements, as well as face mask requirements for all visitors. In addition, the Blaffer announced temporary museum hours, which are as follows: Thursday-Sunday, 12 PM-5 PM (and closed Monday-Wednesday). For a complete list of safety protocols and procedures, please go here.
From the Blaffer’s announcement: “We believe that during challenging and unsettling times, the presentation of art can provide inspiration, uplift, escape, and catharsis. We will do so with the safety and well-being of you, the visitor, and our staff and community foremost in our thinking.”
Its current exhibition, Rodney McMillian: Historically Hostile, features work by the South Carolina-born, Los Angeles-based artist Rodney McMillian. McMillian “creates sculptures, paintings, installations, videos, and performances that explore how the accumulated ideologies, policies, myths, gods, and monsters of American history and politics shape experience, identity, and our sense of place.”
For more on the Blaffer Art Museum reopening, and McMillian’s exhibition, please go here.