Museums Stay Closed but Still Pay Salaries

Though almost all other museums in Houston have reopened, the leadership at the small, elegant Menil Collection hasn’t finished its navel-gazing. Rebecca Rabinow, its director, whom I don’t know, wants to wait. “Our opening is tied to decreasing COVID-19 hospitalizations,” she recently told the New York Times. “And we’re just not seeing that yet.”

She and her trustees deserve a Greek chorus of skeptical snorts. As of May 22, there were 413 people in Harris County hospitalized with COVID-19 problems in a population of 4.2 million. That’s tiny, and a poor excuse. The Menil isn’t a nursing home, and it’s not a meatpacking plant. With a few precautions, COVID-19 is as likely to roll through its galleries as a herd of tumbleweed. Does she really even want to go back to work? Is it all too stressful?

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Art

Though almost all other museums in Houston have reopened, the leadership at the small, elegant Menil Collection hasn’t finished its navel-gazing. Rebecca Rabinow, its director, whom I don’t know, wants to wait. “Our opening is tied to decreasing COVID-19 hospitalizations,” she recently told the New York Times. “And we’re just not seeing that yet.”

She and her trustees deserve a Greek chorus of skeptical snorts. As of May 22, there were 413 people in Harris County hospitalized with COVID-19 problems in a population of 4.2 million. That’s tiny, and a poor excuse. The Menil isn’t a nursing home, and it’s not a meatpacking plant. With a few precautions, COVID-19 is as likely to roll through its galleries as a herd of tumbleweed. Does she really even want to go back to work? Is it all too stressful?