Mar
29

All Smithsonian museums will be open seven days a week by Memorial Day

Secretary Bunch has announced that our museums will resume normal operations on a staggered schedule during the coming weeks.

The Way Ahead banner

As CDC Community Levels of COVID and its variants remain at low levels, I am pleased to announce that the Smithsonian is continuing to pursue the “way ahead” and will gradually return to its traditional schedule with all but two of our museums open seven days a week by Memorial Day, May 30. We have already lifted mask requirements for visitors and Smithsonian staff will no longer be required to wear masks on site, beginning Wednesday, March 30.

Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo have been operating on modified schedules for the past two years due to COVID-19. The Smithsonian Institution Building (“The Castle”), the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the National Zoo and the National Museum of Natural History are already operating seven days a week.

The National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall remains closed for renovations until the fall. The Arts and Industries Building, temporarily open through July 6, will maintain a reduced schedule through July.

Our remaining museums will return to a schedule of seven days a week on a staggered basis over the next two months:

Monday, April 4

  • National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • National Museum of American History

Friday, April 8

  • National Postal Museum

Monday, May 30

  • Anacostia Community Museum
  • Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (located in New York City)
  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
  • National Museum of African Art
  • National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C., and New York City locations)
  • National Museum of Asian Art
  • National Portrait Gallery
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • Renwick Gallery

            Museums will continue to operate on modified schedules until these dates; a current schedule of days and hours for all Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo is available at si.edu.

      As we begin to adapt to our new way of working and serving the public, we continue to keep the safety of our staff and visitors foremost in our considerations. Thank you, as always, for your patience and resilience.

Please remember: We do not have a pan-institutional date for volunteers to return to site. Your volunteer supervisor will reach out to you directly when your volunteer program is eligible to return to site safely. Please do not report to your unit until your supervisor reaches out to you.

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Posted: 29 March 2022
About the Author:

Lonnie G. Bunch III is the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and is the first historian to be Secretary of the Institution.