With the knowledge that art promotes health and wellbeing, the Farnsworth is working diligently to reopen its doors. Preparations by a committee of experts in the fields of security, safety, and visitor services are underway to meet or exceed all CDC guidelines as well as State of Maine guidelines.
What has Farnsworth staff been up to since our temporary closure began?
Thanks to the quick work of the Finance department, the Farnsworth was able to secure a federal loan under the Paycheck Protection Program, which is providing coverage for staff salaries until June.
The Advancement team moved nimbly to mount a digital campaign, Art Cannot Be Contained, to bring the museum to our guests through podcasts, videos, interactive art viewing, and more. The Farnsworth’s online audience has increased more than 300% as a result of this online content. Sign up for these virtual doses of art at farnsworthmuseum.org.
The Farnsworth’s Education staff has pivoted from preparing for its annual Stories of the Land and Its People children’s art exhibition to creating arts-integrated lesson plans for classrooms through distance learning. They continue to hone plans for completing the current Stories work with the students of the 2019-20 program, and revise the format of the opening celebration to take place in a completely new way. Stay tuned!
Further, education programs are moving to a digital platform and many summer classes will be offered virtually. Online workshop will be offered this summer as well as an online summer camp!
The Farnsworth curatorial staff is busy researching and preparing new exhibitions. Undaunted by difficulties experienced in the transportation of many previously arranged loans of works of art, they have regrouped and their plans are exciting! We look forward to sharing them with our supporters soon. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy exploring digital content focused on our three most recent exhibitions:
- Eliot Porter: All the Wild Places in the Crosman Gallery.
- Women in American Book Cover Design is located in the Library Gallery.
- Andrew Wyeth: Maine Legacy is located in both in the Study Center Gallery and Hadlock Gallery.