An era has passed since the pandemic came to American shores in early 2020. Long months became years for us, trapped in our homes, behind screens, behind plexiglass, behind masks, often separated from family, friends and colleagues, whether by 6 feet or 600 miles. Hopes for normalcy were repeatedly bolstered and then defeated in waves of re-openings and re-closures.  

Initially, museums were reduced to one-way paths through quiet hallways smelling faintly of bleach, with patrons single-file. Gallery labels disappeared to avoid slowing the pace or drawing visitors too close together, forcing us back into our screens for interpretive information. Even behind our masks, we were afraid to talk too loudly or to laugh, in case our respiratory particles might travel beyond the allotted six feet. Our need for shared, communal experience, and for touch, was unfulfilled.

Now, in 2025, finally crossing into the post-pandemic promised land, we find restrictions relaxed, labels returned to the walls; we can meander through galleries at whim, and spend as much time as we want, alone or together, without being hurried along. We enjoy once again the murmurs of a crowded gallery or café, and even, on occasion, the outbursts of school groups. We brush elbows without fear, welcome the anonymous jostling of crowded elevators and let our hands linger along railings to appreciate their unique profiles and textures. We notice the soft smell of age in historic houses. We have become explorers of a world we had taken for granted long ago, as we seek personal contact, tactile adventure and the immersive experience of the real. Having prepared for this, museums now entice us more than ever before through multi-sensory experiences that enrich their educational mission: 

The grand skylit court at one central Massachusetts museum now attracts more visitors to its weekly Dance Nights than its blockbuster exhibits and galas did. Dance instructors provide hands-on classes in salsa, bachata, swing and even the waltz, with appropriate paintings, photographs and textiles hung on the atrium walls. Live bands play, lights are low, and the bar is open, as patrons embrace to dance across the ancient mosaic floor late into the evening.

After considerable research and development by its conservation staff, a New Hampshire gallery has pioneered the use of a new spray-on protective coating for its sculptures, to create its “Please Touch the Art!” program. Multitudes of children and adults of all ages visit, eager to caress the smooth marble and bronze. The excitement of such unexpected tactile engagement has overridden concerns about the slightly visible, matte appearance of the coating.

Meanwhile, at one Connecticut museum, the most popular and revenue-enhancing programs are its group meditation and exercise classes, which are fully subscribed through the current season. Visitors pay fees substantially higher than those at local fitness clubs to gather shoulder-to-shoulder for meditation sessions in front of the Mark Rothko’s and for energetic “Action-Painting Zumba” classes in the Abstract Expressionism gallery.

Amongst the most widespread new programs for history museums is the extension of first-person interpretation to first-person visitor participation, inspired in part by the pre-quarantine British television show “24 Hours in the Past.”  Countless historic house museums have now replaced their original furnishings with reproductions, in order to offer overnight guests a fully immersive historic experience (booked through the NEMA-affiliated site, historichousemuseumbnb.com). Visitors pay handsomely for the opportunity, which begins at home with personalized character dossiers received in advance. They then arrive to change into costume, to partake of period-appropriate meals served in restored dining rooms crowded with other guests and interpreters, and to withdraw to historic bedroom accommodations (albeit with modern indoor plumbing!). Mid-20^th-century house museums are in greatest demand and draw a younger demographic with their “Mad Men” settings, cocktail hours, and TV dinners. The many house museums of Maine and Vermont report that requiring a two-night minimum stay has not adversely affected bookings.

Without doubt the most notorious new program is “Clothing-Optional Days,” launched by one institution in the Berkshires to accompany its magnificent “Celebrate the Nude” exhibition. Originally a temporary exhibit drawn from the museum’s rich collection, the show became permanent after a number of college students spontaneously shed their clothes in the middle of the gallery. While many visitors remain fully clothed, enough were inspired by the students over subsequent months to result in record-setting visitation. Guests now congregate, unabashed, in the exhibit in their altogether (or not), enjoying the unclothed bodies around them—both representational and real. The popularity of taking nude selfies in front of one’s favorite Renoir or Eakins has led to an unprecedented volume of on-line postings!

After months and years of Coronavirus Crisis isolation, we now find that we are turning to museums for an antidote to our deprivation, drawn by salutary new and expanded programs that offer inviting, communal, multi-sensorial experiences.

Image by Paul Henri Degrande from Pixabay