'Rome: City And Empire' Closing Early At Frist Art Museum

The exhibition of Roman antiquities, Rome: City and Empire, currently on view at the Frist Art Museum, will be closing early due to construction issues in the downtown area. The last day to see the exhibition will be this Saturday, April 21. The museum will offer free admission this Friday, April 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to accommodate as many visitors as possible before the extraordinary exhibition leaves Nashville.

Rome: City and Empire has been on loan from the British Museum. The decision to close ahead of the scheduled closing date of May 28 has been a difficult one but was made as a precautionary step to ensure protection of the objects. Lending institutions reserve the right to withdraw objects or an entire exhibition at any time. Earlier this month, 13 of the most fragile objects were removed from view and placed in safe storage. No work in the exhibition has been damaged or compromised.

The more than 200 art objects and artifacts have been on view in the museum's Ingram Gallery since February 23. The Frist Art Museum was the exclusive North American venue for the exhibition.

"It is with great regret that we announce that Rome: City and Empire will close early," said Dr. Susan H. Edwards, Frist Art Museum Director and CEO. "We were pleased that after several years of negotiations with the British Museum, we were able to arrange an exhibition of Roman antiquities for Nashville. The British Museum has one of the most extensive and finest collections of Roman art in the world, and we are saddened that the opportunity for people in Middle Tennessee to learn about the impact of the Roman Empire on world culture has been cut short."

"We work with many partners and have been pleased to include the Frist among the institutions with whom we partner to deliver our exhibitions," said Amy Dillmann, British Museum Project Manager. "We are committed to sharing the collection, but the safety and security of the collection has to be our top priority. We are delighted so many people have seen the exhibition in two months and look forward to collaborating with the Frist again in the future."

"Construction in vibrant, growing cities like Nashville is a given. We are grateful to San Diego-based Southwest Value Partners, the developers of the Nashville Yards site, for working closely and diligently with us to lower the impact of construction excavation and blasting significantly below the limits set by the State of Tennessee to meet vibration tolerances agreeable to the British Museum," said Dr. Edwards. "And, despite efforts by the Frist Art Museum to provide extraordinary precautionary measures, it was not possible to keep the exhibition here until the end of May. We hope many additional visitors will be able to see the exhibition this week before it closes this Saturday, April 21."

The current exhibition in the Gordon Contemporary Artists Project Gallery, Slavery, the Prison Industrial Complex: Photographs by Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick, will be closed, Sunday, April 22 through Thursday, April 26, and will reopen in the Ingram Gallery on Friday, April 27.