Recent changes in state and county COVID guidelines are allowing Stanford to begin gradually reopening access to arts and athletics venues next month. Outdoor spaces on the main campus that are part of the Arts and Athletics Zones will also reopen to the public April 12.

The Anderson Collection and the Cantor Arts Center will open at 25% capacity in spring 2021. (Image credit: Andrew Brodhead)

Among the changes: After first opening to the campus community, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University and the Cantor Arts Center will open to the public at 25% capacity on April 21. Stanford Live’s Frost Amphitheater will also reopen in the spring with outdoor movies, and during the summer months will transition to live performances. More information about tickets will be announced soon.

Additionally, Stanford Athletics officials plan to welcome families and friends of participating student-athletes to select athletic venues beginning April 1. (As details regarding attendance opportunities for broader audiences beyond the friends and family of participating student-athletes and coaches become available, they will be posted at GoStanford.com/HealthAlerts and through the Stanford Athletics social media channels.)

“Our community has faced isolation and loss during the pandemic and we know people are looking for opportunities for engagement,” said Matthew Tiews, interim senior associate vice president for the arts and associate vice president for campus engagement. “We hope that by reopening some of our wonderful community resources we are providing a way for members of the Stanford community and visitors from our surrounding communities to reconnect and to experience joy.”

Stanford will continue to have graduate students and undergraduate students with special circumstances on campus. In addition, it will welcome juniors and seniors to be in residence on campus for the spring quarter. The broadened access to Arts and Athletics Zones will be phased in after the undergraduate period of “restricted activity” at the beginning of the quarter. This will allow the necessary time for undergraduates to settle into the campus safely.

Stanford Arts

Stanford students, faculty and staff will be invited to a special museum preview weekend, April 16-18, and the public will be welcomed back beginning on April 21. New museum days and hours will be Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with special member hours from 10 to 11 a.m. during the first week of reopening (April 21-25). Free, timed tickets, which will be required for every museum visitor, will be available one week prior to opening.

“We are so excited that in April the Cantor will welcome students, faculty and the community back into the museum to see the remarkable exhibition When Home Won’t Let You Stay, on view through May 30, 2021,” said Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, interim co-director, Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator and curatorial fellowship program director.

The first floor of the Anderson Collection will be open through May 2 for viewing Formed and Fired: Contemporary American Ceramics and Hostile Terrain 94. The second floor will remain closed during this first phase of reopening, and the entire museum will close temporarily for the summer on May 3 for building maintenance and artwork reinstallation.

“Because of the pandemic, we had to put off a maintenance project that will require the museum to close for several months,” said Jason Linetzky, executive director of the Anderson Collection. “But we so wanted to be a part of the first reopenings at Stanford to give the campus and community a chance to come back for a visit after being away for so long.”

The Anderson Collection will reopen in fall 2021 with new exhibitions, a newly installed permanent collection and engaging in-person and digital programs.

Campus zones and parking

The current COVID guidelines allow for the reopening of outdoor spaces in the Arts and Athletics Zones to the public beginning April 12. Members of the community are asked to respect the rules for visiting campus, which include avoiding campus if exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms; maintaining six feet of distance from individuals not in their immediate household; wearing face coverings inside, and outside when six feet of physical distancing is not possible; and not gathering in groups.

“When we created the campus zones program to meet state guidelines, it was a very difficult, but necessary, decision to temporarily restrict outdoor areas of the main campus,” said Megan Swezey Fogarty, associate vice president for community engagement. “We’re thrilled to soon begin welcoming our neighbors back to some of these spaces, facilities and events that are so important to many community members, and we look forward to a further reopening of the campus as conditions allow.”

Visitors will be welcome in the outdoor areas of the Arts, Athletics and Community Zones, while the other zones on campus, including the core academic campus, will remain limited to approved students, faculty and staff to support teaching and research activities. A campus map showing the locations of the different campus zones is available here.

Once the restrictions are lifted in the Arts and Athletics Zones on April 12, parking enforcement hours for visitor and hourly parking space in these zones will return to Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with no enforcement on the weekends. Payment for visitor parking has transitioned to a contactless process through the ParkMobile app. In the interest of safety, physical pay stations at visitor lots have been taken offline to avoid the touching of shared surfaces that cannot be adequately disinfected throughout the day.

Enforcement for ‘A,’ ‘C,’ ‘Motorcycle’ and ‘Service Vehicle’ parking spaces in the Arts and Athletics Zones will return to Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Indoor facilities in the Athletics Zone will continue to be reserved for approved uses only.