Arts & Entertainment

Long Island Museum Closes to Prep New Exhibit

It's the second year the museum will close during January and February.

In a cost-saving move that will also allow it ample time to install a new exhibit, the has again closed its doors to visitors in January and February.

It's the second year of such a closure for the museum, which typically saw its lowest number of visitors during the first two months of the year, according to Julie Diamond, the museum's director of communications.

The museum will reopen in March with its new exhibit, "Centuries of Progress: America’s World’s Fairs, 1853 – 1982." The exhibit will feature sections on the two World's Fairs which took place in Queens, one in 1939 and one in 1964, and will be accompanied by a lineup of programs specific to the exhibit.

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Normally, installation of a new exhibit takes around two weeks, Diamond said, but the World's Fair exhibit will likely take three to four weeks. Its parent curator, Exhibits USA, will send assistants to help set it up.

"This is a rather large show so having the museum closed for two months allows us to put the effort into this show that is required," Diamond said.

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The musuem's educational programs are still open, however, including preschool programs and February events scheduled during the school vacation. So far, Diamond said, the museum has received just one inquiry from a guest who didn't know it was closed for two months. In 2010, the museum received more than 20,000 visitors.

Abby Van Ness, program communications manager for Exhibits USA, said the World's Fair exhibit has enjoyed success in its previous tour stops, including stays in Oklahoma, California, West Virginia, Minnesota, and Oregon.

The exhibit combines photographs and artifacts to deliver a retrospective on the World's Fair, which the museum described in a statement as a platform for "ideas and innovation that celebrated progress, trade and goodwill."


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