The director of Prichard Art Gallery, Roger Rowley, said every exhibit the gallery had scheduled went into turmoil when COVID-19 first reared its head in the U.S.
The gallery itself has been closed to the public for months, but the exhibit that opened Feb. 14, “Four Old Guys Walk into a Gallery,” has remained installed in the building for the duration of the Prichard’s closure.
“If lockdown had extended much longer, we would have just dismantled it and moved on to something else,” Rowley said. “But as it is, we’re opening it up for one last week to anyone who missed it.”
“Four Old Guys Walk into a Gallery” is a mixture of creative endeavors from four long-time pillars of the Moscow arts community. The Prichard reopened Saturday for the public to view the local artists’ work through June 20. The works include painting, photography, sculpture and visual text.
Rowley said the only other exhibit they would’ve had over the course of Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s stay-at-home order was the 2020 Master of Fine Arts (MFA) exhibition. The Prichard will still hold a delayed presentation for MFA students, which is scheduled Sept. 11.
“The vast majority of MFA students ended up not having a physical presentation of their work. All of it went online,” Rowley said. “I told them, ‘we will make a commitment if you guys want to have a physical exhibit, we will give you time and you can have an exhibit.’”
Opening on June 26, the Prichard’s next exhibit is “Out of the Woods.”
“There won’t be a normal opening reception,” Rowley said. “We’re planning on a closing reception around September instead.”
Rowley said when it comes to reopening, the gallery has followed guidance from the University of Idaho, with which its affiliated.
“It wasn’t our decision to make, but we’re comfortable with it,” Rowley said. “As the university is moving through the phases, the state has laid it out and they said we can open with phase four.”
In a press conference Thursday, Gov. Little announced Idaho had narrowly met the qualifications to move into Stage 4 of the Idaho Rebounds plan. As a result, large venues can resume business and groups of more than 50 people may assemble.
To keep up with safety guidelines, Rowley said the gallery has stepped up cleaning protocols.
“We’ll have masks available and we’ll have hand sanitizer available,” Rowley said. “But we won’t let anyone in without a mask.”
Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @apalermooo