New Plans Set For Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center After Virus Delays Opening

The Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center’s grand opening has been delayed for months due to COVID-19, but the museum has a phased reopening in place.

The center closed abruptly, just before opening night back in March.

“We had national media in town for the opening. We had shown them the building, we had shown them the exhibitions and we were at dinner when the Thunder game and the Jazz player came out positive,” Executive Director Eddie Walker said.

The next day, Walker and his colleagues made the decision to indefinitely postpone the opening.

“It was like a gut punch for the staff, for the board, for the donors,” Walker said.

The new building off Northwest 10th Street and Broadway Avenue will remain closed, likely until the middle of the summer, according to Walker.

Numerous special events using the museum as a venue were canceled.

However, the center has been in the works for more than a decade, and Walker said it’s worth the wait, even for a few more months.

“We have two fantastic exhibitions. The main exhibition, Bright Golden Haze and a companion exhibition, Shadow on the Glare. The owners of the art that is upstairs have all agreed to delay. We will delay the exhibitions so that everyone will get a chance to see them,” Walker said.

Virtual programs continue online for the museum.

“We have great things here in store and great things ahead of us as we learn what this new facility can do and should do for the Oklahoma City community,” Walker said.

Until the inside of the museum opens, art connoisseurs can observe the architecture which is meant to reflect the Oklahoma City sky.

“Just as the building reflects the changing sky, our spaces can adapt and react to what’s happening in the city, in the nation, in the world,” Walker said.