David Kary

ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES TO REOPEN MONDAY JUNE 1

Hello friends,

In anticipation of our reopening on Monday, which we are very pleased about, we’ve been carefully planning the measures we need to implement, in line with the NSW Government’s health guidelines, to keep everyone at the Gallery safe in the coming months.

One of these measures is free timed-entry tickets, which we’d like to offer to you, as an Artmail subscriber, before the tickets are made available to the general public tomorrow, Thursday 28 May. You can book now to visit the Gallery from 1 June.

While fewer visitors will be in the Gallery together, and with no groups and tours permitted, the benefit for you, and all art lovers, is a more intimate, ‘together alone’ experience with art than was possible pre-COVID-19.

While nothing matches the experience of viewing art in close proximity to it, we did make up for the lost opportunity in the past couple of months by maintaining our online presence through Together In Art. I hope those of you who don’t yet wish to visit the Gallery, or who need to stay at home a while longer, can stay connected with us online.

Our priority for our reopening is to keep all our visitors and staff safe. Understanding that some people might be cautious about returning to the Gallery, and knowing it won’t be the same experience as it was before COVID-19, I’m hopeful that the pleasure of being back at our much-loved art museum will outweigh the inconvenience of the necessary safety measures we are putting in place.

To assist you to plan for your time at the Gallery in the coming months, please find below information about the measures we’ve put in place to keep everyone safe. Art has no rules, but at the moment we do!  I hope these measures provide you some level of comfort when you’re with us.

We’re certainly looking forward to seeing you again very soon.

Take care,

Michael Brand
Director, Art Gallery of New South Wales

 

What visitors need to know before they visit:

 

  • From 1 June the Gallery will reopen to limited numbers of visitors from 10am to 5pm daily, using a free, timed-entry ticket system. 

 

What’s open:

 

  • Exhibitions and collection displays, along with the Gallery Shop, cafe and members lounge.

 

What’s closed:

 

  • Cloaking facilities, the library and archive, the study room
  • Chiswick at the Gallery remains closed temporarily.
  • There are presently no tours and events, and no late-night Wednesday openings for Art After Hours.

 

What we’re asking visitors to do to keep everyone safe:

 

  • Book a free timed-entry ticket online via Qtix
  • Provide name and contact details of each visitor when booking or on entry, to support contact tracing.
  • Arrive for the time booked and wait to be checked in by Gallery staff.
  • Bring a credit or debit card for any on-site purchases (we won’t be accepting cash).
  • Bring a water bottle (we’ve turned off the drinking fountains/bubblers).
  • Avoid bringing large bags (you’ll have to carry any bag at your side or on your front).
  • Don’t visit in a large group.
  • Don’t visit if you’re unwell, have experienced cold or flu symptoms in the last 14 days, or have returned from overseas in the last 14 days.
  • Consider downloading the COVIDSafe app.

 

At the Gallery:

 

  • Use the hand-sanitiser provided on arrival.
  • Cloak your umbrella yourself in the stands provided.
  • Keep at least 1.5 metres distance from others at all times.
  • Wait in a marked queue or go elsewhere if a particular space has too many people.
  • Allow less-mobile visitors to use elevators first, or consider using the stairs or escalators.
  • Cough and sneeze into elbows or a tissue, and put the tissue in a bin.
  • Wash hands with soap for at least 20 seconds in our restrooms.
  • Please don’t touch the artworks.
  • Visitors with access requirements can still use ramps and lifts, and borrow the Gallery’s wheelchairs or mobility scooters which are sanitised after each use.
  • Visitors who don’t comply with these conditions will not be admitted or will be asked to leave to ensure the safety of all.

 

What the Gallery’s doing to keep everyone safe:

 

  • There are separate entry and exit doors, floor markings and signage to help visitors maintain safe distances.
  • Each Gallery space has a maximum capacity, based on the rule of 1 person per 4 square metres. Please follow instructions from staff.
  • We’ve removed some seating in exhibition spaces to give visitors more space to move. Folding chairs are still available from the information desk.
  • We’re cleaning frequently with hospital-grade disinfectants, and high-touch items are sanitised after each use.
  • We’ve provided hand sanitisers at the Gallery entry and at various places throughout the building.

 

Ticket FAQs

 

  • Tickets can be printed at home or shown on your mobile device at the entry.
  • There is no limit to how long you can stay at the Gallery.
  • To make changes to your booking, call the Gallery on 02 9225 1700 (seven days a week) or email artmail@ag.nsw.gov.au (Monday to Friday only).
  • Tickets for June will be available from 28 May and for July from 15 June. Tickets for August onwards will be released at a later date.