Here at The Model, we were thrilled to open our doors again last week. Those who visited will have noticed some changes to the visitor experience, which we have introduced to curtail the spread of Covid-19, and to ensure that all of our visitors and staff have the safest experience possible in our building.
Entrance to The Model is strictly via The Mall and exit is onto Connaughton Road. When you enter the building, one of our staff will take your name and contact details, and these will be held temporarily in case of the positive identification of Covid 19. We ask that you wear a mask whilst in the centre in the interests of the safety of our staff and your fellow patrons. We also ask that you tell staff if you have been outside of the country in the last 14 days as we would prefer that those who haven’t self isolated for the requisite time do not enter our building. Staff and invigilators are available at all times to answer any queries that you might have – please keep a safe distance of 2m when speaking to our team.
One of the first things you might notice is that we have a new one-way system going through the building and galleries. This is to make sure that social distancing can be maintained by visitors at all times. To help you navigate this system, we have provided arrows on the floor and signage for you to follow. In the Niland Gallery, where visitors can see our newly opened show, Jack Butler Yeats; ‘A Thought of Sligo’, we have placed foot markers in allocated places in the gallery to indicate the required physical distance they should observe while viewing the exhibition. ‘A Thought of Sligo’ enables viewers to observe the evolution of Jack’s practice as a painter, and particularly the way in which Sligo and the Northwest was an ever present influence in his work.
The acclaimed group exhibition “The Sea Around Us” returns with some minor tweaks to it’s presentation, each room now has signage indicating its maximum capacity and we ask visitors to queue if that particular gallery is full. Two film investigations by Forensic Oceanography are on view, and while we can no longer supply shared headphones, we invite visitors to plug their own headphones into the docking stations we have provided so that they listen to the audio on these videos. If you don’t have your own, you can buy earphones in house for €3. At the Café you can also enjoy our new menu which includes a selection of sandwiches, a homemade soup of the day, a selection Danish pastries, gourmet coffee and our very special homemade cheesecake. All prepared with care on site by our chef.
We are currently working on the introduction of QR codes! These QR codes will provide links to the galleries online catalogue, information on specific exhibitions and the history of the building itself and will enhance the visitor experience. More information on your safe visit is available here.