The holidays are coming up and the campus has a new gift awaiting. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts has been closed since mid-January of this year, keeping art galleries from public view for renovation. Little by little the museum has been opening sections to the public; from the auditorium opening this September, to the Museum Café in October, and the museum store finally opened its doors on Black Friday.
Mindy Wilson, Director of Marketing and Communications of UMFA expressed her anticipation as a new section will be open to the public. “We ourselves are missing the museum spaces, we miss our visitors. So this is just one more piece that’s going to draw more people to the museum and we’re really excited about that.” With the store reopening, the whole front of the museum will be accessible to the public. It has proven to be a stepping stone in leading to the grand reopening. “It feels like we’re turning the corner and we’re going from being closed to starting to anticipate reopening. It’s a big step for us to have the front of this museum back open to the public,” she said.
The museum is the place to look at the art exhibitions and collections, but the Museum store is also a popular place for residents and others because of the unique merchandise. Over the years, it has proven to be the destination for people to come in and get last minute one-of-a-kind gifts for anyone, so stress from Christmas shopping can be alleviated for those last minute shoppers. That is also one of the reasons why it opened Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year.
“We thought we would reopen for the holiday season and that makes a lot of sense. If we’re going to reopen, let’s open at the time that people are doing a lot of shopping,” Wilson explained. The store’s reopening has a lot to do with students also. Wilson explained, “It was sort of by popular demand and we kept hearing people that they missed the store and wanted it to be open. So we’re going to do it and leave it open. We hope the campus community is excited about it and takes advantage of it.”
So what’s in store for Black Friday? In addition to several items that are old time favorites, store manager Carol Bigelow has taken her time to find and stock several new items that are sure to please the public. All of the jewelry being sold will be new and created by local artisans, for example. Other new items include clocks, quilling cards, hourglasses, beautifully designed postcards, reusable vases, a selection of new books and even jewelry from the Chart Metalworks brand.
As Wilson said, “There really are items in the store that you can’t find anywhere else in town.”
For Black Friday, members will be able to get an additional 10 percent from items they purchase, totaling to 20 percent off. This deal is only for UMFA member but Wilson reassures students, “It’s not too late to join. You can go ahead and join, become a member and get the discount for Black Friday.”
The store will be open from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. on Friday and will continue to be open on weekdays from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. until the grand reopening of the Museum on Aug. 26 & 27 of 2017.
k.laureano@dailyutahchronicle.com