The Society of Bluffton Artists Gallery to reopen with limited hours, crowd restrictions

The Society of Bluffton Artists (SOBA) gallery in Old Town Bluffton will be open for the public starting May 21. The gallery and the Center for Creative Arts has been closed since March due to coronavirus restrictions. 

The public is invited to a grand reopening set for 11 a.m. May 21 at the gallery, located at 6 Church Street. SOBA artists will work on paintings from the gallery’s porch. 

A virtual tour of the gallery, showcasing the latest art on exhibit, will take place 11 a.m. May 28 from SOBA’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/sobabluffton/.

“Because of our current situation with the virus we are adopting the recommendations of the Hilton Head/Bluffton Chamber of Commerce,” said Linda Hilts, a SOBA board member. “And we have put in place some additional guidelines that staffers will have to abide by to keep everyone safe.”

The gallery will operate with limited hours — from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday with a limit of six people at a time in the gallery. In keeping with the social distancing best practices, visitors are asked to stay six feet apart. Volunteer staffers will be wearing masks, gloves and washing their hands frequently. Other precautionary measures will include daily cleaning and sanitizing of the gallery’s high frequency touch points.