Those wanting to catch a glimpse of rare pieces from artists Lawren Harris, Maud Lewis and Shushan Egoyan will have the opportunity next week when the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria reopens following a two-month closure.
The art gallery 鈥� which shut its doors on March 17 amid coronavirus fears 鈥� will become the city鈥檚 first high-profile cultural organization to reopen when it begins allowing visitors again on Tuesday. The province鈥檚 plan to reopen the B.C. economy allows some businesses to resume operating in a restricted capacity this month.
鈥淲e went over what they are expecting from museums and art galleries and institutions like us, and made sure we were doing everything they asked, and exceeded that to the extent that we can,鈥� said art gallery director Jon Tupper.
The gallery on Moss Street will be open Tuesday through Sunday each week, and will offer free admission to all visitors until July 5.
鈥淧eople want to get out, they want to do something,鈥� Tupper said. 鈥淲e want to make it easy for everybody. A lot of people are hurting right now and this gives them an opportunity to take their family to the gallery and not have to reach into their pockets if they don鈥檛 want to.鈥�
Gallery ambassadors will go through the Health Ministry鈥檚 self-assessment tool with visitors before they enter the premises. Once inside, staff will ensure visitors in each gallery room remain two metres apart and that social-distancing procedures are being followed.
The art gallery will be cleaned several times a day.
New protocols include steps galleries and museums around the world have adopted. When the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria closed two months ago, Tupper said, museums in China were starting to reopen, so he looked at what they were doing. Some of those measures will be implemented locally, he said.
Plexiglas shields will be installed at the front desk, and gallery staff will constantly assess what can be done to ensure the gift shop remains open. With protocols that allow one visitor for聽every square metre of space, the total capacity is set at 20 people.
鈥淲e will have a person counting to make sure there is limited amount of people in the gallery, and they will ask people to wait like they do at a grocery store,鈥� Tupper said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a similar type of situation. We鈥檒l have to tweak it to make sure it works perfectly, but nobody has done this before so we鈥檙e learning as we go along.鈥�
The gallery will continue to offer virtual programming through its website for those who prefer to stay at home.
The two largest galleries in the building will showcase rare pieces pulled from the gallery鈥檚 collection of almost 20,000 works.
What the gallery has put on display is not as important as what the reopening says about the effort organizations are making to combat the coronavirus, Tupper said.
鈥淓very cultural organization is hurting right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we have a role to play in restarting B.C.鈥檚 economy.
鈥淭he gallery is an economic driver in the community, too, so we have a role to play in tourism and other economic sectors. It鈥檚 important for those things to start opening up so we can get to the other side of this a little bit faster and easier.鈥�
