The Arkansas Arts Center and Central Arkansas Library System have reached an agreement to ensure the museum’s artwork is publicly accessible while the facility undergoes a years-long rebuild, officials said Wednesday.
The partnership will also preserve several youth and adult programs, as well as the popular annual Young Arkansas Artists exhibition of work from school children throughout the state.
Roughly 150 pieces of artwork from the museum’s craft collection will be divided among 15 Central Arkansas Library System locations, including the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, officials said. The artwork will start going on display early next year.
The deal is the first of multiple agreements the museum is brokering with community organizations to maintain a public presence during the $98.8 million expansion and renovation project.
“The Arts Center is by no means shutting down," said Laine Harber, the Arts Center’s interim executive director. "We’re going to continue as much programming as possible. This is one huge step in making that happen.”
Construction is scheduled to start October 2019, and the redone museum would reopen in early 2022, according to the current timeline.