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Carnegie Arts Center reopens to public
Cut Up Cut Out pic1
Irises by Gabriel Schama is one of the works on display in the Carnegie Arts Center’s new exhibit, “Cut Up/Cut Out.”

After seven months of closure and only virtual exhibitions, the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock has re-opened their doors and is ready to welcome back visitors with a new exhibit.

“It has been frustrating for those of us whose work depends on sharing joy and discovery through the arts to be unable to engage with our audiences,” said Carnegie Arts Center Director Lisa McDermott.  “We've been trying to maintain those relationships through virtual exhibitions and programs, but there is nothing that compares to an in-person conversation around a real work of art in the gallery.”

The Carnegie was closed in March when the entire state shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. It has had to remain closed because COVID-19 spread has been widespread in Stanislaus County. Recently, the county moved into the red tier, which signifies substantial transmission, but does allow for the expansion and opening of several businesses, including art galleries with 25% capacity.

“Anyone who has visited our spacious galleries knows that, even at 25% capacity under the red tier guidelines, we can have a good number of visitors and still maintain appropriate distancing to keep everyone as safe as possible,” McDermott said.

The Carnegie Arts Center is welcoming visitors back with the exhibit Cut Up/Cut Out. It is an exhibition of international artists using a wide range of media from paper and plastic to metal and rubber that has been transformed through piercing and cutting.

In a news release, the Carnegie Arts Center described the art as: “the transformative nature of cutting into and through a surface provides endless possibilities for converting the material from opaque to transparent, from flat to sculptural, from rigid to delicate, and from ordinary to exquisite.”

“Cut Up/Cut Out features work that has to be seen to be believed,” McDermott said.

The exhibition will be on view in the Ferrari Gallery through Jan. 3, 2021.

Admission is $7 general, $5 students/seniors, free for CAC members and children 12 and under (accompanied by an adult).

The Carnegie has masks available for anyone who doesn't have one and there is hand sanitizer available as people enter or exit.

“We want people to feel safe coming here, because spending time with art can be so healing and helpful when we are under stress,” McDermott said.