Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Community, Art, Communication
Museum finds audience hungry for gallery experiences
Lou Meluso, executive director of the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, says he’s never in all his years in the museum business needed a response plan for a pandemic — until now. Keeping the museum staff employed, transitioning educational programs online and reopening as soon as safely possible have all been success stories, he says, thanks to the support of the museum board and the advice of colleagues in Arkansas and beyond.
“We had our gala planned for the second week in March, and we essentially closed just days before,” he says. “It was a struggle. We had dissenting voices on our board, some who wanted to go forward and some who were more worried, but fortunately, we also had physicians on our board who could offer medical advice. We ended up taking a conservative approach, even though it would take a big bite out of our fundraising, because the safety of our constituents was paramount.”
The museum closed March 17 and reopened June 6. But like every other organization, FSRAM is “quite different” now, Meluso says.
“What we’ve done here is instituted all of the recommendations from the Arkansas Department of Health for social distancing, traffic control, hand sanitizer stations, cleaning protocols throughout the day of touchable surfaces — and masks are required,” he explains. “In addition, we’ve also closed part of our museum to help prevent covid spread. One of our galleries, the porcelain gallery, is closed because it’s a fairly enclosed space and doesn’t allow for social distancing. Also closed is the student gallery on the B level for the same reason. We closed our ‘touch gallery,’ which is something I instituted when I got here so people can learn about art and materials and techniques by handling art objects. It’s a wonderful tool for both adults and children, but even though we’ve always had a sanitizing station included, it’s probably an area I wouldn’t want to promote at this time.
“We’re also not holding openings, not holding classes in house, and we’re moving the bulk of our educational programming online,” Meluso says. One thing FSRAM is not doing is timed ticketing, however. “We generally don’t get the crowds that places like Crystal Bridges get, where it’s part of the traffic control,” he says. “Certainly if anybody was to come in any sort of a group, we’d ask them to schedule ahead.”
All that said, Meluso sees a lot of silver linings in the covid-19 clouds.
“Since we’ve reopened, particularly on Sundays, we’ve had better visitorship than we had in the past,” he says. “I think some of us have been so socially distanced that when the opportunity to get out and have an available experience other than what you’re seeing on your television or your four walls at home, we’ve jumped at it. We’re certainly not seeing many out-oftown visitors — but a lot of locals are coming.”
Meluso is also excited about the museum’s two major exhibitions, “A Family Affair: Three Artists, Three
Visions, One Family,” featuring the art of Fort Smith artist Dede Hutcheson and her talented daughters, Robyn Horn and Karen Hutcheson, which has been extended through Oct. 11; and “Tim Ernst: Arkansas Wilderness,” a collection of photos by the renowned wilderness photographer, open through Aug. 30. And he’s thrilled that the Hutcheson exhibit has not only a video tour available online but the museum’s very first hardbound exhibit catalog, which will be arriving in the museum store any day now. He calls the artists showcased in both exhibits “Arkansas treasures.”
“Art in all of its forms, from the ‘Mona Lisa’ to animals scratched on a cave wall in France, art is about communication,” he says. “It requires two people to be involved — the artist and the viewer. We’re missing that social connection right now and are hungry for it. This is just one aspect of that need. People are looking for relief from the sense of turmoil we’re experiencing, and they look to art. We are going to come out of this stronger than we were before.”