The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, after a historic 461 days of closure, will reopen its doors. The museum which has already reopened seven of its museums and the National Zoo this month, said that the remaining locations will open on a staggered schedule from June 10 to Aug. 27.
It will start with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York on 10 June. All museums will have added safety measures and many will have reduced hours.
It will be the first time the Smithsonian’s venues will be fully open since March 2020, when the Covid-19 set off a wave of closures. Eight venues temporarily reopened between last July and October, but a spike in coronavirus cases led to an across-the-board shutdown in late November. Most of the museums will require visitors to obtain timed entry passes, and all will require people two years of age and older to wear masks.
Following the Cooper Hewitt’s reopening in New York, the National Museum of Natural History will welcome visitors on 18 June and the National Museum of the American Indian in New York on 23 June. The National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Asian Art Freer Gallery will reopen on 16 July. (The latter museum’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery will remain closed until November for exhibition construction.)
The National Air and Space Museum and the Castle will open their doors on 30 July and the Anacostia Community Museum on 6 August. The Hirshhorn Museum, whose sculpture garden is already open, will greet visitors on 20 August and the National Postal Museum on 27 August.
The Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building, which has been closed to public since 2014, will also reopen with an exhibition keyed to the institution’s 175th anniversary in November.
This month the institution reopened its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of the American Indian (in Washington) as well as the National Zoo.
Updates about visiting hours, which in many cases are reduced, passes and coronavirus safety protocols are available at the Smithsonian’s website.
