Bishop Museum to Reopen and Launch New Outdoor Museum Experiences

Following the latest mandates from City and State officials, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum will soon be reopening to the community. As a special mahalo, the museum will open from June 19-25 exclusively for Bishop Museum Members. On June 26, the museum will open to the general public, and will offer free keiki admission for kamaʻāina families and military families from June 26-July 5. Bishop Museum has instituted new protocols in order to keep visitors and employees safe according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, over the coming months Bishop Museum will be launching new "Outdoor Museum" experiences, a selection of offerings, activities, and events that will allow visitors opportunities to learn, play, and enjoy being outdoors on the museum's 15-acre park-like campus.

"We're very happy to be welcoming our community back to Bishop Museum," said Melanie Ide, president & CEO of Bishop Museum. "Health and safety continue to be our highest priority, and all staff are prepared to institute and monitor safe practices. We recognize that many families are eager to get outdoors and off screens to break the usual routine, and we want to provide a safe and enriching outlet for this. We're looking at new ways to interpret our gardens and historic grounds, bringing in partners to engage visitors in their work, and getting more shade for people to relax, picnic, or just watch their kids from a safe distance."

From the June reopening through the month of July, Outdoor Museum programming will have the theme Nā Mea Ola or "Health and Wellness." Guests are invited to participate in self-directed activities in Nā Ulu Kaiwiʿula, the Native Hawaiian Garden and other areas; learn about the healing properties of plants on the Great Lawn; attend socially distanced presentations on food and its effects on physical and mental well-being; and have keiki take home a small growing kit via the "Grow and Go" activity. New themed programming for the Outdoor Museum will rotate on a monthly basis.

To keep safety as a top priority, all entering the museum campus will be required to wear a facemask at all times, practice social distancing of at least 6 feet, and are encouraged to practice good hand hygiene by frequently washing their hands for at least 20 seconds and using hand sanitizer. In addition, daily capacity has been limited to no more than 500 people, and visitors are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets online for a designated time slot, which helps to limit person-to-person contact with staff and to manage museum capacity. Staff have increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting across the campus, installed additional hand sanitizing stations as well as new outdoor hand washing stations, and installed Plexiglass shields at the admissions desk and at the Bishop Museum Café by Highway Inn counter. For more information on the museum's safety protocols, visit www.BishopMuseum.org/COVID19.

Upon reopening, visitors will also be able to enjoy Bishop Museum's offering of original exhibits.

Spineless Wonders: Rising from the Deep continues in the J.M. Long Gallery through June 28, 2020. This will be the last chance to explore stunning images by acclaimed nature photographer Susan Middleton, and encounter an array of marine invertebrates, usually hidden below the ocean's surface, from the Museum's collections.

Mai Kinohi Mai: Surfing in Hawai'i has been extended through March 28, 2021. Located in the Castle Memorial Building, the exhibit invites visitors to explore surfing as a culture, an art, a sport, and a way of life. Drawing from the richness of Bishop Museum's collections, the exhibit displays the oldest surfboards known to exist, some owned by Hawaiian royalty, as well as archival photos and manuscripts, an immersive media experience, a surfing simulator, and other interactives that examine the science of surf as well as the importance of sustainability and ocean conservation.

Opening in the Long Gallery on July 18, 2020, a new original exhibit, Kaula Piko: The Source of Strings, curated by Bishop Museum's historian DeSoto Brown in collaboration with Kilin Reece of the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings, will explore the extraordinary instruments, performers, and music of 19th century Hawaiʻi and its influence on music around the world.

Exhibits in Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Hall, Pacific Hall, and Science Adventure Center will be open. Daily group tours and programs including the Lava Pour and J. Watumull Planetarium shows, will remain temporarily suspended.

During the month of June, visitors will receive complimentary parking with Bishop Museum admission on a first-come first-served basis. As a mahalo to the medical community, all medical workers and hospital staff can take advantage of a 50 percent discount on Bishop Museum Membership through June 30.

For more information about the Bishop Museum's reopening and to purchase tickets, visit www.BishopMuseum.org/EKomoMai.