In response to the coronavirus threat, the Contemporary Jewish Museum in downtown San Francisco has closed indefinitely as of 5 p.m. today.
The museum will reopen “as soon as it is safe to do so,” according to its website.
The decision comes as other museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, shut their doors. CJM’s chief operating officer Kerry King said these other closures influenced the San Francisco museum’s decision.
“It does feel very surreal,” King said. “Like many other things right now.”
The CJM already was experiencing a financial impact from the coronavirus crisis before the closure, according to King, with corporate partners who usually rent out its space all canceling.