GREENWICH, CONN.- The Bruce Museum announced that it will be temporarily closed to the public effective Tuesday, January 12, 2021, due to challenges encountered during the ongoing construction project to create the New Bruce, which make it difficult to keep the public galleries open. Museum staff will continue to work, and public programs, which are all online already due to the pandemic, will continue as planned. This closure comes as the Museum looks to the future, with the construction of a major 43,000-square-foot addition that will double the size of the Museum by fall of 2022.

“We are enduring some of the growing pains associated with any major expansion,” said Robert Wolterstorff, The Susan E. Lynch Executive Director. “We had two really great special exhibitions on view, and were hearing from our visitors how much they were enjoying them. I’m very hopeful that we will reopen soon.”

The exhibitions impacted by the temporary closure are Fun / No Fun: Children’s Book Art by James Stevenson and “She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms”: Paintings and Prints by Emily Mason. The Museum Store will also be closed to the public. The re-opening of the Museum will be announced at a later date.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause Museum members and other visitors, especially lovers of the wonderful illustrations created by James Stevenson and the dazzling abstract paintings and prints by Emily Mason,” Wolterstorff added. “The entire Museum staff will continue to bring exhibitions to the public online, as well as offer programs to educate and entertain all ages through our website and social media channels.”

Fun / No Fun opened to the public on December 13, 2020 and was scheduled to be on view through April 18, 2021. This exhibition of children’s book art from the esteemed New Yorker cartoonist and longtime Connecticut resident James Stevenson had attracted highly favorable reviews; a video Curator’s Tour and overview of the exhibition may be found on this page of brucemuseum.org.

Virtual programs relating to the exhibition will take place as planned. They include an art workshop on Saturday, January 16, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm. Teaching artist Emily Curran will conduct a Zoom webinar for families about how to create your own illustrated story inspired by James Stevenson’s illustrations and drawings.

“She Sweeps with Many-Colored Brooms”: Paintings and Prints by Emily Mason opened on November 22, 2020 and was scheduled to be on view through March 21, 2021. Related programs still on tap include a three-part weekly series of printmaking workshops with Nancy McTague-Stock, starting Wednesday, January 20, 10:00 – 11:30 am, and a Bruce Experiences virtual conversation about Emily Mason’s printmaking techniques featuring master printmakers Janis Stemmermann and Lisa Mackie, along with Steven Rose, Director of the Emily Mason and Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation. The discussion will be presented via a Zoom webinar on Thursday, January 28, 7:00 – 8:30 pm.