Since the abrupt closure of the Museum in 2019, we have all been waiting to hear the city’s plans for reopening.
On September 12 the City Manager, Alex Nguyen, submitted a proposal to the Community Services, Public Safety, Housing and Development Committee for approval and forwarding to the City Council for action. The City’s plan does not include reopening the Carnegie as an art museum.
The City is exploring the option of deaccessioning (selling) the Permanent Collection and turning the museum into a space for after school art classes, renting out the facility for private events, and possibly having it open in the evenings with art work from local artists on view. Besides the enduring effects of losing the PermanentCollection and the educational programs associated with it and the many exhibits, this is a considerable under-use of the building. The Carnegie Art Cornerstones board attended this meeting and, fortunately, we were able to register our concerns with the committee and forestall further action until they had done some research.
We requested that they get community input from residents, artists, collectors, donors, etc. before they went any further. They agreed to do so, but we are not sure how that will be handled.
On September 12 the City Manager, Alex Nguyen, submitted a proposal to the Community Services, Public Safety, Housing and Development Committee for approval and forwarding to the City Council for action. The City’s plan does not include reopening the Carnegie as an art museum.
The City is exploring the option of deaccessioning (selling) the Permanent Collection and turning the museum into a space for after school art classes, renting out the facility for private events, and possibly having it open in the evenings with art work from local artists on view. Besides the enduring effects of losing the PermanentCollection and the educational programs associated with it and the many exhibits, this is a considerable under-use of the building. The Carnegie Art Cornerstones board attended this meeting and, fortunately, we were able to register our concerns with the committee and forestall further action until they had done some research.
We requested that they get community input from residents, artists, collectors, donors, etc. before they went any further. They agreed to do so, but we are not sure how that will be handled.
We want you to have a voice in this process!
To that end, we have compiled a survey, and ask that you take a few minutes to fill it out so we can show the committee that there is real community interest in the Museum and its collection.