Southern Ohio Museum 'lights up' the summer
Jul. 6—PORTSMOUTH — Beginning on Friday, July 8, the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center will be closed to the public in order to install new track lighting throughout the exhibits.
The temporary closure signals the coming of new and exciting things to the museum, however. Beloved fixtures and events will return after the museum reopens.
Though the museum will be closed to the public through July 26, Collections Manager and Performing Arts Coordinator Jenna Stewart said that patrons will be greeted with an improved exhibit area once the upgrades are complete.
"We will be having people in to install all new track lighting in our galleries. While that's going on, obviously we have to de-install all of the art in the museum. Once all of the lighting and cleanup is done, we will be reinstalling [upstairs] our permanent collection galleries, but we'll be switching things up a little bit. It won't be the same art that we took down. We are refreshing everything," said Stewart.
The museum doesn't expect to miss a beat upon reopening, with several events planned after the new and improved lighting is installed.
Stewart said that an intimate acoustic set from Alan "Corduroy" Brown will come to the museum's community patio on July 30.
In addition to the museum's numerous arts and cultural lectures and presentations, a short prose and poetry reading is also on the horizon—an event which the museum hopes to offer as an ongoing series with featured authors.
Frequently held lecture series focused on the artwork and artifacts within the museum's permanent collection will continue after the lighting is installed, with dates to be announced on the museum's social media and website.
As the museum reopens on July 26, it will also begin accepting submissions for the 2022 Cream of the Crop juried exhibition. Artists who are aged 18 or older and who are living and working within an 85 mile radius of Portsmouth are encouraged to enter.
Artwork must be for sale, clearly labeled, and delivered to the museum during business hours along with completed registration materials. Artists may drop off artwork to museum staff during the museum's hours of operation.
Submitted artwork must also be ready to hang or display per the museum's rules for entry. A non-refundable entry fee of $25 permits each artist to submit up to three entries for the exhibition.
"There are very few restrictions on what type of art you bring in," clarified Stewart. "Any kind of medium or genre can be entered—we always tell people 'as long as you can get it through our doors, there are no size restrictions.'"
"Anything that needs to be hung needs to be ready to hang, and anything entered needs to have a price on it, but the artist can set their own price. And it's open to everyone, you don't have to be a professional artist. Anyone can enter," Stewart said.
Artwork for the 2022 Cream of the Crop exhibition can be submitted to the museum from July 26 through August 5. A visiting juror will then determine which artwork will appear in the exhibition.
Following installation of the chosen artwork, the 2022 Cream of the Crop exhibit will run from August 27th until September 30. The opening of the exhibition will be celebrated on August 27 from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., with a presentation of awards at 7 p.m.
For more information about the museum's upcoming programming or to access the link to the registration materials for the 2022 Cream of the Crop exhibition, visit the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center's Facebook page or website at: somacc.com.
Reach Kasie McCreary at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1931
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