Museum plans to reopen and reschedule programs at a later date
To reduce possible spread of COVID-19, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western art will temporarily close to visitors, starting Tuesday, March 17.
Based on the recommendations of public health authorities and after conferring with other cultural institutions, Eiteljorg management decided to close the building to the general public until further notice.
“Although not under a government mandate to close, we conclude that for the health of our guests, employees, visitors and our community, temporarily closing the building to visitors is the right thing to do,” Eiteljorg President and CEO John Vanausdall said. “We are monitoring the situation and listening to the advice of public health authorities, and will reopen the Eiteljorg to guests when the museum board of directors concludes it is safe to do so.”
In addition to temporarily closing the Eiteljorg’s art galleries and the Museum Cafe, the following museum public programs will be postponed or canceled:
- Saturday, March 21: The kickoff events for the new exhibition Quilts: Uncovering Women’s Stories, including the lecture by Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, gallery tour and Quilts opening party.
- Saturday, March 25: The meeting of the Western Book Club.
- Friday, April 3: The curator’s choice talk by Dorene Red Cloud, assistant curator of Native American art, about the quilt by Susan Hudson, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women since 1492.
- Saturday April 4: Smithsonian Museum Day and International Slow Art Day.
- Saturday April 11: The quilting-related workshop by InFiber.
- Saturday April 18: Undercover Tour of Quilts, with curator of Western art, history and culture Johanna M. Blume.
- Thursday, April 23: Volunteer Recognition Dinner
- Saturday, April 25: Spring Market
- Friday, May 1: The curator’s choice talk by quilt artists Karen Colglazier and Diane Bremen.
- Saturday, May 9: Quilts workshop with Crimson Tate.
The Eiteljorg is making every effort to reschedule programming events to later dates, if and when possible.
Since early March, the Eiteljorg facilities staff has pursued aggressive cleaning and disinfecting measures for the safety of guests. That had allowed the museum to remain open to visitors through March 16 when the latest developments in the city and state prompted the temporary closure. The public can check the museum’s website, www.eiteljorg.org, or social media for the latest announcements on when the museum and its galleries of Native American and Western art will reopen to visitors, and when programming events will resume.
