MOCA Jacksonville’s management has taken a slow, cautious approach to its reopening, which kicks off Tuesday, August 11.
The reopening starts with 360-degree virtual tours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., as well as limited in-person tours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The in-person component is being capped at 10 people per tour and requires online reservations. Social distancing and masks are mandatory.
“Following CDC guidelines, we've created what I think is going to be a safe experience for our guests and our staff, but also a very dynamic and, in fact, quite an innovative one,” said MOCA Director Caitlin Doherty Monday on WJCT News' First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross.
Reservations for the in-person and live virtual tours can be made on MOCA’s website.
Editor's Note: At the time of this story's publication, MOCA's website was experiencing a technical issue.
“The virtual tour is particularly exciting because we actually hired a videographer from here in Jacksonville with a startup company, 360 View Virtual Tours, and Ryan Hickox of that company did a tremendous job and created 360 degree views, videos of our gallery,” said Doherty.
The museum is featuring two new exhibits to kick off the reopening.
“One is a beautiful art installation in our project atrium by artist Rina Banerjee that explores the relationship of nature and culture,” said MOCA Senior Curator Ylva Rouse, who also appeared on First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross.
The second exhibit is through the museum’s partnership with the University of North Florida.
“We have an exhibition curated by us Professor Sheila Goloborotko called Multiple Ones: Contemporary Perspectives in Print Media. And this exhibition shows how artists today are using printmaking methods in the most surprising way to create their art,” said Rouse.
The MOCA CAFE has also reopened with new grab-and-go offerings.
To hear the entire interview with Doherty and Rouse, listen to Monday’s First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross. The show also encores at 8 p.m. on WJCT News 89.9.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
