Boca Raton Museum of Art Welcomes Visitors with Free Admission Through September
By: Robert S Weinroth
The Boca Raton Museum of Art has reopened.
The reopening is an opportunity to unveil the Museum’s two new architectural renovations: the Wolgin Education Center and the Jody Harrison Grass Lobby
The new museum hours will be 11AM – 7PM, Wednesday – Sunday, with early Member Mornings on Thursday – Saturday starting at 10AM.
The museum is offering free admission to all guests through September, as a way of giving back to the community.
The reopening plan is in accordance with guidelines from the State of Florida, Palm Beach County, and the City of Boca Raton.
In consideration of the safety of visitors and staff, the Museum will follow guidelines regarding capacity limits, and has created a robust cleaning and sanitizing schedule.
Masks are required (with a limited number of masks available for purchase in the Museum Store), and they will adhere to social distancing guidelines in all galleries and during check in.
A limited number of lockers are available for guest use to store personal items.
Guests are encouraged to use hand sanitizing stations placed throughout the Museum. Additionally, the Museum is offering cash-free and touchless payment options at the Museum Store and lobby desk.
For the time being, there will be no docent tours or scheduled programs.
According to museum director, Irvin Lippman, the Museum’s temporary closure on March 16, their online channels have stepped up to this new challenge and continue to serve all. Their extensive digital resources feature more than 40 online programs including virtual tours and programs so far.
During the past few months, they have been able to reach millions of people locally and worldwide, through our web site, social media, and through press coverage. These efforts will continue since the museum realizes the importance distance learning has taken and they are aware that not everyone can come to visit the Museum yet, and will only be able to enjoy our offerings online.
During the last 11 weeks of our temporary closure due to COVID 19, the Musuem has also continued moving forward on the many projects that were underway including the renovation of the Jody Harrison Grass Lobby and Wolgin Education Center.
When you return you will find these new, transformed areas providing patrons with a space of inspiration, and repose.
The Museum has been fortunate to be able to extend the exhibitions that were due to close in June. The revised exhibition schedule is as follows:
On view through September 20: EYE TO I: SELF PORTRAITS FROM THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
Eye to I is especially appropriate in the age of the “selfie.” Organized and drawn from the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, this exhibition explores how American artists have portrayed themselves through painting, drawing, photography, and video since the beginning of the 20th century. Artists in the exhibition approach self-representation from realist renderings to alter-egos that can reveal or obfuscate their inner lives.
This exhibition has been organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. and supported in part by Mr. and Mrs. Michael H. Podell.
On view through January 3: STEICHEN: IN EXALTATION OF FLOWERS (Works on Paper: Drawn from the Collection)
Before Edward Steichen became a seminal figure in 20th-century photography, he was a painter. From 1911 to 1914, Steichen painted seven large Art Nouveau panels – ten feet tall each – for the Park Avenue townhouse of Eugene Meyer and his wife Agnes. Due to financial setbacks, these murals were never installed. After a number of owners including the Museum of Modern Art, they ended up in the collection of Art Bridges, a non-profit founded by Alice Walton dedicated to sharing outstanding works of American Art. The murals are inspired in part by Maurice Maeterlinck’s book, The Intelligence of Flowers, and features members of the Meyers’ and Steichen’s circle of friends including Agnes Meyers, Isadora Duncan, Mercedes De Cordoba, and others along with their floral counterparts. They were shown for the first time in a century at the Dallas Museum of Art in 2017 after their restoration.
Photographs by Steichen from the Boca Raton Museum of Art’s collection will be shown with the murals.
On view through January 3 2021: ON PAPER: DRAWN FROM THE COLLECTION
The over 75 works in this exhibition are culled from the collection of the Boca Raton Museum of Art and includes several promised gifts. Highlights include recent gifts from the George and Helen Segal Foundation, The Saul Steinberg Foundation, Wojciech Szczepanski and Pamela Rockett, and John Raimondi. It will also feature works on paper from the Dr. and Mrs. John J. Mayers Collection. This 1989 donation of 65 works was one of the most important gifts in the Museum’s history and includes drawings by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Georges Seurat, Alberto Giacometti and many others. Drawings from the 2007 Bequest of Isadore and Kelly Friedman will also be featured in this important overview of one of the great strengths of the Museum’s collection.
On view through September 20: GALEMBO: MASKE
For over two decades Phyllis Galembo has documented cultural and religious traditions in Africa and among the African Diaspora with striking large-scale color photographs. Her subjects are the participants in contemporary African ceremonies celebrating mythic characters in masks and costumes. Whether they are humorous or frightening, her portraits capture the transformative power of masquerades. This exhibition will be installed on the museum’s second floor in close proximity to its African collection which includes many masks.
