HAGERSTOWN – Beginning Jan. 2, the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts will be open full days on the weekend, expanding to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. The museum is closed to the public only on Mondays.
“Expanded weekend hours not only increase public access to our collections and exhibitions, it also makes us more available to regional visitors who may need more travel time to get here. It aligns with our goal of attracting visitors from a wider geographic area,” explained museum Executive Director Sarah J. Hall.
Admission to the museum remains free, as it has been since it opened in 1931.
“The founders, William Henry Singer and his wife Hagerstown native Anna Brugh Singer, believed deeply in the power of art to enrich and transform lives and the importance of the museum being a cultural center,” Hall explained.
“Throughout correspondence related to the museum’s founding, Anna Singer discusses the importance of the museum being ‘open and accessible to the public, free of charge,’ noting the importance of artistic access to developing a wider vision.”
In addition to its permanent collection, the museum’s current special exhibition of Japanese wood block prints from the 17th-through-mid-19th century, “Floating Beauty,” runs through Jan. 12, and the other special exhibition of prints of accomplished early 20th century women, by famed British (German-born) photographer E.O. Hoppé, runs through March 9.
The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts sits next to Hagerstown’s historic City Park Lake and free parking is available. For more information, readers may visit: https://wcmfa.org/.
