Gilcrease Museum leadership said Tuesday that the museum's reopening during the pandemic has gone smoothly, safely, and successfully, and that they will begin advertising an in-person exhibition scheduled to open in October.
"I feel good about our reopening," said Susan Neal, the museum's executive director, during a virtual meeting of Gilcrease's board of trustees Tuesday morning. "We've just not had any problems. It's gone on without a hitch."
The museum has been open to the general public since July, with rules such mandatory masking, diligent sanitization, and requiring guests to schedule their visits in advance.
Neal said the museum is ready to take the next step: getting the word out to attract more visitors.
"Since our reopening on July 29th, to the public, we have not done a lot of promotion other than, 'We're open, we're accessible, we're so glad people are back,'" Neal said. "Our first media push for on-site attendance will be the Shan Goshorn exhibit opening Oct. 9th."
Goshorn was an Eastern Band Cherokee artist whose weaving highlights themes such as violence against Indigenous women and cultural appropriation.
"Shan Goshorn was internationally recognized for weaving archival documents and photographs into baskets using traditional Cherokee techniques to create historical, political and cultural commentary on Native American issues that continue to resonate in the 21st century," Gilcrease writes on the exhibition webpage.
Disclosure: The Gilcrease Museum is operated by the University of Tulsa, which also holds the broadcast license for KWGS / Public Radio Tulsa.
