Camille Broadway
Thanks to a private donation, UF’s Harn Museum of Art will be extending its hours on Thursdays, starting this week.
The new Art After Dark program will expand the museum’s hours from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every Thursday. The Camellia Court Café and the museum’s store also will be open during the extended hours.
The program is funded through a $300,000 grant, but the donors wished to remain anonymous, said Tami Wroath, the museum’s director of marketing and public relations.
The donation will help fund the extended hours for the next two years, but the museum, at 3259 Hull Road, would like to extend the program beyond that time period, Wroath said.
“In addition to offering free admission, the Harn strongly believes that the museum will be accessible to more visitors by staying open later these evenings,” Dr. Lee Anne Chesterfield, the director of the Harn, said in a press release. “Providing more hours… will allow our visitors additional opportunities to spend time at their art museum.
The Harn has been operating Museum Nights on the second Thursday of every month from 6 to 9 p.m. The popularity of Museum Nights along with visitor feedback prompted the museum to make the extended hours a weekly offering, Wroath said.
Museum Nights, which “are much more robust with extensive programming such as tours and art activities relating to specific themes and exhibitions,” also will continue, Wroath said.
The next of the Museum Nights on Jan. 12, for example, is built around the Harn’s current exhibit “AWE-some: time :: materiality :: meaning,” which features fine art photography from 15 photographers. The free event will include a gallery talk, a film screening, jazz music from Hot Club De Ville, and an open runway with a guest emcee.
In addition to allowing people to explore the Harn’s permanent collection and special exhibitions after 5 p.m., the Art After Dark evenings also will involve refreshments and entertainment on certain nights, Wroath said.
The Art After Dark on Jan. 19 will include light bites from Blue Gill Quality Food and a performance from 6- 8 p.m. by The Front Porch Backsteppers.