Greenwich’s Bruce Museum announces temporary closures
GREENWICH — Taffy Holliday, who moved to Greenwich in the 1980s, visits the Bruce Museum frequently.
“The lectures are outstanding, and I always come away from them feeling like I’ve really learned a lot, having a great deal of respect for the research that goes into putting together the lecture,” she said.
Holliday was “of course” disappointed when the Bruce Museum unexpectedly closed to the public due to ongoing work on its ambitious expansion project.
Construction can cause disruptions, “even during the best of plans,” Holliday, chief operating officer at a software startup, said by phone. “Those are things we couldn’t have foreseen.”
The temporary closure was announced this week by Executive Director and CEO Robert Wolterstorff, who said the construction project made it difficult to keep public galleries open.
“Museum staff will continue to work, and our public programs, which are all online already due to the pandemic, will continue as planned,” he said in a statement.
“This closure comes as the museum looks to the future, with the construction of a major 43,000square-foot addition that will double the size of the museum by fall of 2022,” he added.
The museum website summed it up by saying, “Pardon our dust.”
The scale of the project is intimidating, with large excavators and huge mountains of soil on the property, said Suzanne Lio, the Bruce’s managing director and chief operating officer.
The entrance area is filled with dust, noise and large machinery, and interior climate controls that protect artwork have been disrupted by the construction and related power outages, she said.
“We’re trying to find a balance between being open for folks while these construction-related challenges are ongoing,” Lio said in explaining the decision to close earlier this week.
“We knew we would have these challenges, and this, I’m sure will probably not be the (last) time that we have to close because of construction,” she added.
“No decision has been made about reopening at this time,” Lio said. “I think (people) will hear from us in the coming weeks about that, though.”
Bruce Museum leaders said they will work provide updates in advance of any major changes, such as this closure.
“But sometimes that’s not going to be possible,” Lio said.
The Bruce Museum is immersed in a $60 million capital expansion plan that includes a three-story addition, state-of-the-art exhibition galleries and new education and community spaces, including a restaurant and an auditorium, according its website.
The museum is also dealing with limited numbers of in-person visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the required social distancing measures, Lio said.
The Bruce has been able to “really pivot” by offering some of their programming online, she said.
Two exhibits were on display at the Bruce Museum when it temporarily closed this week: “Fun / No Fun: Children’s Book Art by James Stevenson” and “She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms: Paintings and Prints by Emily Mason.”
In a regular year, the Bruce Museum hosts 12 to 14 exhibitions with 60,000 to 90,000 annual visitors.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, admissions have dropped to 25 percent of that total expected number, another factor leading organization leaders toward their decision of closing amid constructionrelated complications.
The Bruce Museum’s leaders have promised not to furlough or lay off any of its approximately 40 staff members.
The support from the community has been swift and kind after the announcement of the temporary closure, Lio said.
“Fortunately, personally, for me it’s not the end of the world because I know I can go back. I know it will reopen,” Holliday said.
An active member of the Bruce Museum, she encouraged community members or interested patrons to remain patient throughout the construction work.
“Let’s just do our best to make it easier on those doing the construction, so that it can get done on schedule, and the museum can (re)open better than ever,” Holliday said.
To contribute to the new Bruce Museum expansion, visit newbruce.org. The Bruce Museum’s annual fund is also underway at brucemuseum.org.
For information about the museum’s workshops and webinars and to make a reservation to participate, visit brucemuseum.org or call 203-869-0376, ext. 311.