Last March, while the coronavirus spread across the nation and put a halt to everyday life, the Ackland Art Museum was forced to close down. For 10 months, the museum’s brick facade in downtown Chapel Hill remained devoid of visitors, barring entry to the public so as to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Following much deliberation and planning, the Ackland was able to open its doors this January, eager to once again share its collection with the public, along with many of its new exhibitions and programs.
For the reopening, many regulations have been put in place to keep visitors safe and socially distanced as COVID-19 continues to spread across the country. The museum’s communications director, Ariel FIelding, explained some of the new rules.
“After we closed in the middle of March, we set up our reopening task force, which decided on a set of terms and conditions in line with all of the measures at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Fielding said. “We’re asking everybody to wear masks, we have instituted a timed ticketing system so there can only be a small number of people in the museum at any one time, [which] allows for social distancing and the cleaning of surfaces in between the tickets.”
At the museum, visitors can enjoy a set of newly installed temporary exhibitions. “Clouding: Shape and Sign in Asian Art” is an exploration of cloud motifs used throughout Asian history and culture, while “holding space for nobility” is an installation by artist Shanequa Gay, memorializing victim of police violence Breonna Taylor.
Alongside these new exhibitions, works by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama can be seen in “Yayoi Kusama: Open the Shape Called Love.” This exhibition, installed before quarantine began, was extended for the Ackland’s reopening in response to popular reception.
The museum’s deputy director of curatorial affairs, Peter Nisbet, explained the process of preparing these exhibitions and caring for the museum’s collection amidst a pandemic.
“We were able to plan these installations during the pandemic because a lot of the work was done beforehand, in terms of choosing the objects and that sort of thing,” Nisbet said. “We’ve added security to the building, and we’ve had essential employees go in to look over storage and that kind of thing. So it’s all been perfectly safe and secure.”
Eve Bryner, a junior at East, spoke positively about her experiences seeing these exhibitions.
“I saw [‘Yayoi Kusama’] and I thought that it was really great. I’ve seen another exhibit of hers in Washington D.C., and I definitely noticed the themes in her artwork between these two exhibitions,” she said. “Her work is really colorful, and there was a lot of information about her. So it was really cool to see her artistic development throughout the years.”
Besides the new installations inside the building itself, the museum has also expanded its outreach online while in quarantine.
“We’ve been able to maintain and develop new resources, new digital content especially. We have a new feature on our website called ‘Close Looks,’” explained Fielding. “It’s a series taking close looks at various works of art. This year we’re trying to engage with artists who identify as people of color and or LGBTQ. That project wouldn’t have happened in the same way without the pandemic.”
Though the museum was put on halt by the coronavirus, the Ackland has continued to make many acquisitions of art during its hiatus, adding to its permanent collection of 19,000 artworks.
“I’m particularly proud of the African art we have acquired. It’s a smallish number of pieces, but some really good ones,” Nisbet said. “Overall, what I think I’m most proud of with the Ackland is how we collect across so many world cultures: Asian art, contemporary art, African American art, European porcelain. The real strength of the Ackland is how we pay attention to all these areas and periods of culture.”
As visitors begin to return to the museum’s galleries, things at the Ackland seem to be returning to normal following a turbulent and eventful 2020.
“With all this preparation, we have been really well positioned,” Nisbet said. “Many of the days we’ve reached our maximum capacity, I think people have been hungry to get into the museum, eager to get into the museum.”
Photo by Luke Zhang/The ECHO
