Catalina Island Museum reopened its outdoor Artists’ Plaza and Schreiner Family Plaza and new sales gallery to the public this week.
The reopening includes the “Elizabeth Turk: Tipping Point” exhibition, open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You’ll have to wear a mask to enter.
The reopening comes after being closed for months due to pandemic-related restrictions.
“Through art comes the power to inspire and heal and we are excited that our members and visitors can once again explore, discover, and be inspired by our exhibitions and the many unique stories and ties to Catalina Island,” said Julie Perlin Lee, executive director of the Museum. “Our priority continues to be the health and safety of our members, visitors, and staff and we look forward to welcoming everyone back safely.”
Catalina Island Museum’s spacious open-air plazas and garden areas overlook distinctive views of Catalina’s canyons and clear waters and offer guests over 8,000 square feet of outdoor space to explore at their own pace and from a safe physical distance. The outdoor plazas, museum store, and sales gallery are operating at 25 percent capacity with increased measures and guidelines in place including enhanced sanitizing and cleaning protocols, hand sanitizing stations at all entrances and restrooms and the requirement to wear a mask.
On the roof of the museum in the Artists’ Plaza and Schreiner Family Plaza, guests can experience the museum’s ongoing “Tipping Point” sculpture exhibition by artist and MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship awardee Elizabeth Turk exploring the concept of extinction. Inspired by a changing natural world and with many of California’s Channel Island birds on the cusp of extinction, Turk titled her work “Tipping Point” to highlight the danger to us all but also to show that there is hope.
“Bird songs,” archived by the Macaulay Library at Cornell University, create the foundation for “Tipping Point.” Turk’s sound columns, “Echoes of Extinction,” give three-dimensional form to extinct and endangered bird sounds, many of which have ties to California’s Channel Islands.
Visitors can also view and purchase original prints from the “Soot and Water: Gyotaku Records of Catalina” exhibition featuring a collection of 17 gyotaku prints by artist Dwight Hwang in the museum’s sales gallery. Hwang’s traditional form of printmaking offers an opportunity to see beneath the waves into Catalina Island’s undersea world and showcases 23 species from the waters surrounding Catalina Island.
While the museum’s indoor exhibitions remain closed to the public, the museum’s spacious retail store is open. Guests can view exemplary products telling the story of the island’s awe-inspiring and wondrous history including Catalina pottery pieces, a small exhibition sharing the story of Bruce Belland’s “26 Miles” song, and a grouping of plein air (open air) paintings depicting the various buildings and spaces that existed before its 2016 facility was erected. Museum staff can help visitors to the island plan their days and activities including information about historical landmarks and points of interest throughout Avalon and a wealth of knowledge about the history of the island from its indigenous roots to the present.
A virtual tour of the museum’s “Titanic: Real Artifacts, Real People, Real Stories” is also available for viewing in the museum store. The new “Gayle Garner Roski: Journey to the Titanic” exhibition displaying 26 watercolors documenting her visit to the remains of the RMS Titanic can be viewed from a distance in the museum store through a wall of glass.
The museum invites members and visitors back to enjoy the open-air plazas at half-price admission of $8.50 available for purchase online at catalinamuseum.org.
The museum is strongly encouraging visitors to purchase admission in advance at catalinamuseum.org. The museum plazas, sales gallery, and retail store are open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and on Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment only. To make an appointment for Monday or Tuesday, please contact the museum at (310) 510-4650 or email info@catalinamuseum.org.
