Irma damage keeps Baker Museum in N. Naples closed; major exhibition canceled

The Baker Museum — breached by water during Hurricane Irma — will remain closed indefinitely, canceling its major exhibition of the season.

The closure could continue into 2018. There is no scheduled date yet for the museum to reopen, according to museum officials.

Staff of Artis—Naples, the venue that holds The Baker Museum, is waiting on reports from several engineering and architectural experts after water seeped into the building between the second and third floors Sept. 10 during the Category 3 hurricane.

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The cause of the water incursion hasn't been determined yet, said Jon Foerster, communications director for the museum.

However, mold is not a reason for the museum closing, Foerster said.

"We've had air quality inspectors out and the museum got a clean bill of health," he said.

No mold was detected, but Foerster said contractors were removing drywall and would reinstall new surfaces.

Before the latter happens, though, Artis—Naples administrators want to have the  experts' reports and present them to the board of directors at the end of this month to choose a course of action.

They also want to filter any changes through the New York consultants, Weiss Manfredi, who are working on a plan to help Artis—Naples fulfill future arts and community needs.

Foerster said no particular entity was being cited as culpable for the problem. 

"Nobody knows what happened," he said. "Until we get those engineering reports, we can't place the blame on anybody or anything."

In the meantime, exhibitions scheduled for The Baker Museum this year will be postponed at the very least.

That includes "French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950" from the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition was to open Friday, Oct. 20, showing work from artists such as Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Bonnard, Rodin, Chagall and more.

That exhibition is on a scheduled tour, and Foerster said Baker Museum officials are trying to find a way to bring it to Southwest Florida in the future.

"But until we know when the museum can reopen, there's really not a lot we can do," he said.

"The checklist was phenomenal; and so it is disappointing we're not going to be able to share that with our patrons this month, when it was supposed to go up, " Foerster said. "We feel, I think, the same pain the patrons of the museum do because we were so excited about all these things.

"But the safety and security of people and art is paramount, and humidity is a big part of keeping art in pristine condition. And so to have any moisture is unacceptable in that regard."

He said there wasn't any structural problem that would pose a safety danger to visitors.

"But pretty soon it's going to be a construction site, so we'd have some issue there," Foerster said.

"The good news is that all the art is safe.

"We had professional conservators come out and take a look at everything, and they said that we had stored everything appropriately and that there was no damage to the art. We're continuing to store it at industry-standard practices and ensure everything remains safe."

The museum's first exhibition, "Unnatural History," from Israeli-born artist Arik Levy, was barely up when Hurricane Irma struck Naples. But the artist had come to the museum while the exhibition was being installed and became familiar with the campus.

"Frank (Verpoorten, museum director and chief curator) has reached out to Arik and they're working on a plan to get as much of the exhibition out into other parts of  the campus to make the exhibition as accessible as possible They're working on seeing which can be displayed outdoors and which can placed in other parts of the campus.

"We really want as many people as possible to see this, because his art is really exciting and appealing. But we obviously respect that not all art can be displayed outside the museum environment."

Neither Verpoorten nor Kathleen van Bergen, Artis—Naples president and CEO, were available to talk about the situation Monday. 

The museum at 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd. in North Naples opened in 2000 as Southwest Florida's largest museum, with 30,000 square feet of space. The building, with its angled brick- and stone-toned fascia tiles, was designed by Florida architect Gene Aubry, who also designed the Hayes Hall building next to it.

It was recently gifted with a collection of contemporary American art from Paul and Charlotte Corddry and part of the collection from the estate of Olga Hirshhorn, a supporter of the museum. It also owns a collection of  American modern prints, 20th-century Mexican art and sculpture.

None of the events at adjacent Hayes Hall or the Daniels Pavilion have been affected by the closure.

"What we want most of all is to have a great experience for our visitors," Foerster said. "Our ability to do that will determine when the museum re-opens."