Masterworks Museum Re-Opens, Free Entry
The Masterworks Museum of Bermuda is set to reopen on Monday, June 29th, and will be offering free entry to everyone for the entire summer.
A spokesperson said, “Bermuda’s art collection will be accessible to the public again. Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art will be offering free entry to visitors for the entire summer and is launching their community art project, ‘Canvasing Our Future.’
“With the recent events around the world unfolding before all of our eyes, our global society must take time to repair the wounds of our community. Tom Butterfield, Executive Director, and Risa Hunter, Assistant Director at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art believe that art plays a significant role in that healing process.
Mr Butterfield states, “We have been through a lot in our local community and we have wounds as a society – it will take some time for our scars to heal”.
Risa Hunter adds, “Not just Bermuda, but the world has seen in the span of five months, two horrors, one old and one new. The novel COVID-19 presented us with an unprecedented scare to our global health. We also saw the impact of the long-standing systemic injustice and inequality rampant in cultures around the world. Both together have chartered an unknown path for 2020.
“We must find ways to continue conversations that are needed in our communities and find new avenues to establish hope as a society. Art can present us with opportunities to uncover stories; to share pain; to offer positivity, helping us identify with one another and build our connections.”
“Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art might offer a glimmer of hope in what can seem like a dark and difficult chapter in our history. In an effort to get people to recover emotionally using art as the therapy, the Museum will be offering free admission from its opening date of June 29 to the end of August.
“In addition, Masterworks is offering a special prize to the first 150 individuals/families that enter the Museum after its re-opening. With the Museum opening up, Tom, Risa, and the rest of the hard working staff behind the scenes are hoping to come out stronger from this than ever.
“The Museum recently lost an advocate, Dr. Eva Hodgson, who not only supported the Museum but also championed equality in our Bermuda community. In honour of her memory as a passionate humanitarian, the Museum wants to continue to celebrate her belief that through art we can build a better society.
Mr Butterfield adds, “With a multitude of indicators that our society is broken, it is not lost on me that at the same time we are fighting for equal rights, one of our most public figures in this arena has passed. We have to do better as a society, not just for Dr. Hodgson, but for all of us.”
“The current exhibition on display, ‘Follow the Sun’ is aptly named in a time where positivity is the guiding light for the Museum. In particular, the Ambrose E. Webster paintings that are displayed as part of this exhibition, not only provide visual optimism but also opportunities for reflection.
“In addition to re-opening, the Masterworks team is particularly excited to launch a community art-making project: ‘Canvasing Our Future’, one of the many events they plan under their ‘Reimagine Bermuda’ campaign.
Mr Butterfield states, “Next year it will be the fiftieth anniversary year that John Lennon wrote the song, ‘Imagine.’ The words of this song still rock our world today as much as they did back then. Lennon was supposed to be celebrated by Masterworks this year in an exhibition dedicated to his ‘Imagine’ mission. He visited Bermuda forty years ago and drew on our island as creative and artistic inspiration. As an arts and culture institution, we must continue Lennon’s message. We want to reimagine how our world could look in the next fifty years.”
“Embarking on this campaign that invites individuals to ‘paint a brighter future together’, the team are focused on being both bold and bright, committing to bring Bermuda’s people together to celebrate art and community. This first event will be held at Botanical Gardens on Saturday, July 11 and will encourage Bermuda’s community members to paint a section of Bermuda’s largest ever canvas.
Ms Hunter adds, “We are delighted to be bringing our community members together for a creative project that helps us visualize our future commitment to each other as residents of Bermuda. We rest our hope in the knowledge that through art we are positively stimulated as individuals and as a community. Art is our connector and right now we need connection more than ever. Together we are stronger, and that in this time of suffering, we can learn from and support each other.”
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