Newly renovated art museum posts rentals

After shutting down in 2019 for extensive renovations, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is set to reopen on April 22 of next year.

Soon after its big debut, the 133,000-square-foot building located at MacArthur Park in Little Rock will offer spaces available to rent out for public and private events.

On Thursday, the museum announced its slate of facility rentals that will be available starting May 12.

The renovated museum will offer several rental options of varying size and styles.

The Cultural Living Room, a multipurpose second-floor space with floorto-ceiling glass walls that overlook the Courtyard Entrance and the Crescent Lawn, can hold up to 500 people standing and 350 sitting.

The Atrium is a 5,270-square-foot space that connects the exhibition and programming areas of the museum.

There are other spaces available for rent as well: the Glass Box can hold up to 220 standing people and has access to a private outdoor area; the Performing Arts Theater can entertain an audience of 350; the Governor Winthrop Rockefeller Lecture Hall has a capacity of 153; and the Terri and Chuck Erwin Collections Research Center has a capacity of 53 people.

The museum will be available for events such as weddings, dinners, lectures, parties and receptions.

Events like fundraisers,

proms or ticketed events will not be allowed.

“We hate to put forth a negative image, but there are types of events that are not always conducive to a museum space,” said AMFA’s Special Events Manager Leslie Garner. “Because we are museum first and rental space second, we do have to protect our building in protects the use of the building.”

Rental fees include oversight by Garner, janitorial services, a one-time setup and breakdown of AMFA-owned equipment, use of event tables and chairs and use of audio and visual equipment in select rooms.

Originally opened in 1937, the museum’s Foundation Collection contains approximately 14,000 works of art in various media, primarily from Europe and the Americas, dating from the 14th century to the present.