Over five thousand years of art will be accessible once again as the The Metropolitan Museum of Art plans to reopen its doors to art-lovers later this month. 

The museum abruptly closed in March due to the severity of coronavirus cases throughout New York City. As the once-coronavirus-hotspot enters phase four, the MET plans to reopen its doors with limited capacity. All visitors will be required to wear face masks and stay six feet apart at all times when inside the museum. 

Three new exhibits will open August 29th — the MET’s projected reopening date — and feature a diverse list of artists. Jacob Lawrence’s “The American Struggle” will feature paintings noting painful points in American history. A “Making The Met” exhibition will feature over 250 pieces from the MET’s history. And the famous Roof Garden will feature a commission by artist Héctor Zamora.

The MET’s diverse exhibit list arrives after a museum chairman, Keith Christiansen, tweeted a controversial statement on Twitter in June. In the Tweet, Christiansen criticized a national movement to remove statues of slave owners. The chairman later apologized for his comments.

After closing, the MET launched multiple digital ways for museum-enthusiasts to discover the MET. Over 500 books were made available on the museum’s website as well as a plethora of audio tours. The MET 360 Project, an award winning online tour of the museum, is also available to view.