Rochester, N.Y., March 13, 2020—The George Eastman Museum is committed to the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, and visitors, and to taking all necessary steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. In light of the declaration of a national emergency, and after consultation with other cultural leaders in the Rochester region, the George Eastman Museum has temporarily closed to the public as of 5 p.m. today, March 13, 2020, until further notice.
We will continue to closely monitor communications and guidelines from the Monroe County Department of Public Health, New York State Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The museum is proactively implementing precautionary measures to protect the health of our staff. Employees of the George Eastman Museum will continue to report to work as scheduled and as appropriate.
We believe closing the museum to the public is in the best interest of the Rochester community and our visitors. It is our hope that this public health crisis ends soon.
We look forward to welcoming our guests and visitors back to the Eastman Museum. We appreciate your ongoing support as we navigate this together.
Please continue to check our website for additional updates at eastman.org/health-safety.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the National Historic Landmark estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program and, through its two joint master’s degree programs with the University of Rochester, makes critical contributions to the fields of film preservation and of photographic preservation and collection management. For more information, visit eastman.org.
