Stax Museum to shut down for COVID-19 surge
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is closing temporarily.
In a statement announcing the move, the Stax Museum confirmed that in “accordance with a new Shelby County Health Directive with restrictions regarding public and private gatherings and area businesses operating at reduced capacity, we have made the decision to temporarily close.”
The Stax Museum will close at 5 p.m. Dec. 23 with plans to reopen Jan. 5, “unless instructed otherwise by City and County directives.”
Stax officials noted that while there is no “Shelter in Place” order at this time, they made the decision to close “out of concern for the safety of our staff, vendors, volunteers, and guests, and to do our part in stopping the rapid spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.”
Like other local tourist attractions, the Stax Museum was forced to close and amend its hours earlier this spring due to the pandemic.
The museum closed for more than three months starting in March and reopened in June with limited hours, eventually reverting to its normal schedule of operations, but with strict safety protocols in place.
In lieu of its usual public programming inside the museum’s Studio A, Stax has streamed several events, including a concert with Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum, a show by Memphis soul singer Talibah Safiya and the Stax Music Academy Alumni Band that was co-hosted by The Kennedy Center, and a book panel with authors David Less and Robert Gordon.
Stax also launched a new website, “Deep Cuts: Rare Items from the Stax Archives,” a digital collection of LP art, posters, trade advertisements, books and original Stax Fax newsletters, which is available to the public at staxarchives.com.