While the vast majority of cultural institutions in Dallas have remained closed, two joint museums near NorthPark Center have opened their doors.

The Museum of Biblical Art and the National Center for Jewish Art both reopened on May 1st, after Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order allowing some businesses to resume at 25% capacity.

The facility can accommodate about 150 people, but museum director Scott Peck says they’ve had anywhere from zero to 22 guests in a single day in the last two weeks.

“Because we’re a smaller museum, it’s a lot easier to dip our foot in the pool,” Peck says. “If we had hundreds and hundreds of people coming in, it’d be a whole different story.”

Peck says the traditional format of an art gallery makes it easier to spot any issues.

“We’re very different from something like the Perot Museum, where you’re touching everything,” Peck says. “We don’t touch the art. So, it’s very few handles and making sure that those points of contact are monitored and disinfected continuously.”

Museums cannot legally enforce mandatory face masks, but Peck says they are strongly encouraged.

Current exhibitions at the museums include “Andy Warhol: Jewish Heroes” and “Marc Chagall: Memory and Tradition.”

“People want to get out there and do something that builds the soul,” Peck says. “That’s one things that museums do, but you have to balance that with protecting people and caring for their physical lives.”

Got a tip? Email Miguel Perez at mperez@kera.org. You can follow him on Twitter @quillindie.

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