Di Rosa extends closure through 2020

Art center officials will use break to re-focus operations.|

The di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is extending its temporary closure through the end of 2020, officials from the Napa art center announced this week.

Community and education activities will continue remotely this year and the di Rosa campus will reopen to the public in January with new exhibitions planned for 2021, the nonprofit’s board of directors announced in a press release April 25. Staff reductions also were announced.

Girish Satya, president of the Rene and Veronica di Rosa Foundation board of directors, said in the statement that despite the pandemic’s effect on public access, the art center’s “mission to engage the community with important ideas through art is steadfast.”

“The Di Rosa board and core staff will work to map out our future and prepare to emerge from these uncertain times ready to engage with our community in full once more,” said Satya. “We believe this is the perfect time to work diligently on our strategic thinking and financial management.”

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, di Rosa had not been immune to the financial difficulties that many art museums have experienced, the release said. Di Rosa is currently working to define a focused legacy collection.

“The (legacy collection) remains part of the board strategy going forward and is proceeding with careful consideration,” board co-president Linda Fine said.

According to Fine, this also will be a time of staff transitions. Several di Rosa staff members will be laid off or furloughed during the extended closure. The remaining staff members will maintain di Rosa facilities and necessary operational functions.

The Rene and Veronica di Rosa Foundation is a private foundation established by Rene and Veronica di Rosa in 1983 and supports the Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, which features two galleries and a sculpture meadow, located on 217 acres in the Carneros region of Napa Valley.

Fine and Satya asked di Rosa patrons for patience as the board and staff work toward reopening in January. “These decisions were not easy ones to make, but are necessary for di Rosa’s long-term sustainability,” they said.

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