The Academy Center of the Arts has always put our patrons, our supporters, and our community members first. That’s why, when COVID-19 began to spread throughout the region, we closed our doors ahead of official governing regulations, and why we continue to put tremendous thought into reopening those doors once again.
In the attached document below you will find a detailed plan guiding our organization through re-opening and hosting guests in our venues. This plan was made by staff in consultation with local and regional professionals and approved by our local health department. This is a living document, in that at any time, should factors change, that it will be edited to fit the current realities brought on by the spread of COVID-19.
Access our Venue Reopening Health & Safety Guidelines
While we encourage you to read through this document to gain a full understanding of our new policies and procedures, below are a few highlights of the changes we have made as an organization with your health and safety in mind.
Educational Activities
In addition to our online educational offerings, summer camps and classes for students of all ages will resume in-person instruction beginning June 30, 2020.
The following measures will be adhered to:
- Increased disinfecting and sanitation measures on-site
- HVAC enhancements
- Installed social distancing controls for queuing
- Timed entry for student arrival
- Enhanced health and safety screening at venue entrance points upon arrival including:
- Contactless temperature screening
- Hand-washing
- Symptom checking
- Availability of disinfectant and sanitizer at touchpoints
- Requirement of facemasks worn on-site
- Strict social-distancing measures in place, adhering to the 6-foot guideline
- Increased staff presence to assist with symptom checking, supervision, and disinfecting measures
- Limited access to specified class or camp classroom and restrooms for art-based camps
- Limited access to Historic Theatre venue, as well as assigned small-group break-out rooms for larger, theatrical-based camps
- Break-out rooms will be used for personal belonging storing, lunch-time, and rest breaks with staff supervision
- Individually-assigned supplies and/or props to eliminate cross-contamination among students
- Interval health and safety measuring throughout the day to include frequent hand-washing and symptom checking
- Timed departures
Performances and Ticketed Events
The Academy Center of the Arts will resume in-person performances when restrictions on indoor performance venues are lifted by state authorities. More information will be released as it comes available on upcoming performances.
The following measures will be adhered to:
- Increased disinfecting and sanitation measures on-site
- HVAC and air filter enhancements
- Installed social distancing controls for queuing
- Enhanced health and safety screening at venue entrance points upon arrival including:
- Contactless temperature screening
- Hand-washing
- Symptom checking
- Requirement of facemasks worn on-site
- Availability of disinfectant and sanitizer at touchpoints
- Touchless ticket scanning
- Guests must use print-at-home or show tickets on mobile device
- Will-call ticketing prohibited
- Strict social-distancing measures in place for lobby, concessions, and restrooms, adhering to the 6-foot guideline with floor markings
- Increased staff presence in restrooms to assist with guest movement and disinfecting between rush periods
- Strict health and safety measures taken at concessions
- Addition of no-contact pick-up and delivery options at performances
- Elimination of lobby seating to discourage gathering
- Contactless playbill distribution
- Assigned seating entry to reduce gathering at main doors
- Socially-distanced seating, assigned at point-of-sale, to adhere to 6ft guideline
- Elimination of intermission
- Usher-dismissal from seats to eliminate congregation
- Direct exit-routes from seating
Galleries
The Harrington Gallery Building will resume in-person First Friday events on July 3, 2020, with a cap of 20 patrons in the building at all times. This is in addition to private visitation, which can be scheduled through our staff.
The following measures will be adhered to:
- Increased disinfecting and sanitation measures on-site
- Installed social distancing controls for queuing
- Timed entry for visitation, allowing a limited number of patrons in the building every 30 minutes
- Patrons must reserve no-cost ‘tickets’ to gain access to event
- Enhanced health and safety screening at venue entrance points upon arrival including:
- Contactless temperature screening
- Hand-washing
- Symptom checking
- Requirement of facemasks worn on-site
- Availability of disinfectant and sanitizer at touchpoints
- Strict social-distancing measures in place, adhering to the 6-foot guideline with floor markings
- Restriction of food, beverage and live-music offerings on-site
In summary, our current goal is to re-open our venues with topline safety considerations and measures in place to allow healthy guests to enjoy our offerings on-site.
For those that do not feel comfortable visiting, live-streamed performance options and online educational opportunities will also become increasingly available as a way to continue to bring the arts into your home.
Community members knowing our current, and ever-evolving, plan and understanding that we are making every reasonable effort to provide a safe and healthy environment can ease apprehension however, we know there is no guarantee of zero risk. We hope you will choose to join us soon, but moreover we hope that you continue to remain safe.
As we move forward, our plans will continue to be data-driven to assure that we protect our community members, our staff and volunteers, our artists, and our venues. For additional questions, call (434) 846-8499.
