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Here comes word that two of Eureka’s premier cultural institutions — the Morris Graves Museum of Art and the Clarke Historical Museum — have been given the green light to reopen to the next week. With changes, of course.

Here are their respective announcements. From the Morris Graves:

The Humboldt Arts Council is pleased to announce the reopening of the Morris Graves Museum of Art. For 20 years the Morris Graves Museum of Art has been welcoming visitors from around the world into our galleries and sculpture garden to experience firsthand the beauty and power of art. At this extraordinary moment in time, we believe that the need for art has never been greater. We believe in its ability to lift people up, and to give them hope, comfort and strength. We are looking forward to welcoming you back to the MGMA and are taking numerous precautions to create a clean, comfortable and enjoyable visit.

“Our reopening is the result of weeks of behind-the-scenes work to guarantee the safety of your visit – and to ensure we meet or exceed every single guideline from the Centers of Disease Control, the State of California and the County of Humboldt,” HAC Executive Director Jemima Harr said in a statement. The following guidelines will be enforced to ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and museum visitors:

• Face coverings are required for staff and visitors
• Social distancing will be enforced
  
• Museum attendance will be limited
  
• Hand sanitization stations throughout the museum
  
• Increased hourly sanitization schedule for all public areas and surfaces
  
• All public programming including Arts Alive has been suspended at this time
  

The MGMA will be open for HAC Members only from July 8th through 19th, Wed through Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m. During this time all new memberships will be 50% off to welcome new members into the HAC family. Annual memberships start at $15 and the popular Circle of 100 Membership, which is part of the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association, is only $50. The Circle of 100 Membership offers reciprocal benefits to the network of 1,178 art museums and galleries, historical museums and societies, botanical gardens, children’s museums, zoos and more across North America.

On July 22nd the MGMA will open to the general public.

The Morris Graves Museum of Art, located at 636 F Street, Eureka is open to the public noon-5p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults; $2 for seniors (age 65 and over), military veterans, and students with ID; children 17 and under free; Families with an EBT Card and valid ID receive free admission through the Museums for All initiative, Museum members are free.

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And here’s the Clarke:

The Clarke Historical Museum is excited to announce the official reopening to the public will take place on July 8, 2020. In preparation for re-opening, the Museum has introduced new cleaning protocols and safety measures that follow County and State requirements and has been approved by the County to reopen.

Says Interim Director-Curator Katie Buesch: “We’d like to thank everyone who has stayed in touch with us over the past three and a half months through email, social media, and mail. It’s been fun being a digital museum, and some of the online programs we’ve initiated will likely continue into our next phase – but we’re ready to start greeting visitors in person! Special thanks go out to our new and current members for continuing to support us while we were closed.”

In accordance with County and State requirements, visitors must wear a mask that covers both nose and mouth while in the museum. Anyone without a mask must remain outside, where informational materials about the museum’s current exhibits will be available. Hand sanitizer is available at the building entrance, along with information on our cleaning protocols and distancing requirements.

We look forward to seeing you at the Clarke soon!

The Clarke Historical Museum is at 240 E Street, Eureka and on the web at http://www.clarkemuseum.org.