Lauren Rhoades is the director of the Eudora Welty House and Garden. Rhoades, who holds degrees in English, Spanish and political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, recently spoke with Sun staff writer Nikki Rowell about how the Welty House and Garden has been impacted by coronavirus.
Tell me about the Welty House and Garden and what is typically offered there, under different circumstances.
“That feels so long ago. We’re a literary house museum and a historic garden. The house museum is actually one of the most intact literary houses in the country. So, it looks almost exactly as it looked when Ms. Welty lived there in the 1980s. It has all of her original furniture and objects. Normally, we would take visitors on guided tours through the house. It is a very interactive tour experience.
The garden is also a great part of what we have to offer at the museum. It is a historic landscape, so it is actually preserved to look as it did between 1925 and 1945. So, visitors can take a tour of the garden or do a self-guided experience. Something is always blooming there year round. So, it is a really great place to just unwind, but also learn about the restoration of the garden and Ms. Welty’s connection between her work and her love of gardening.”
What do operations look like now in the wake of COVID-19?
“We closed to the public March 12, I believe, and pretty much moved all of our programming to be virtual. We didn’t want to have radio silence. We wanted to still be educating the public about Ms. Welty and inspiring creativity, which is our mission. So, we started a virtual book club. It’s a 10-week book club called Welty at Home where we’re reading ‘Losing Battles.’ Once a week we have a live, virtual discussion on Zoom with Dr. Suzanne Marrs, who was Ms. Welty’s friend and biographer. So, people can participate that way.
We also have quotes from the reading each week on Facebook and Instagram, so if you can’t make the virtual call, people can participate on social media. We’ve also been doing weekly virtual storytime reading. A staff member has been reading Welty’s children’s book ‘The Shoe Bird.’ We’ve been posting those videos each week on Instagram and Facebook. We will also start another storytime with the Mississippi Library Commission. We have really emphasized our virtual presence. Starting June 1, we did open the garden for limited hours to the public for safe enjoyment. We recommend people practice social distancing and wear masks.”
What are the garden hours now?
“The hours now are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Our new website was just launched recently, so those hours can be found on our website along with information about our opening and eventually when we do reopen the museum what those hours will be. It’s just on a limited basis.”
Is there a limit on the number of people who can be in the garden at a time?
“So far, we haven’t had to cap the number of visitors in the garden. On our first day, I counted less than 10 total visitors. So, we’re not widely publicizing it because we’re hoping it’s local folks able to enjoy and get some fresh air. We haven’t had to make a visitor maximum yet.”
What is currently blooming? What can visitors expect out there?
“Ms. Welty had an enormous collection of heirloom daylilies. Almost all of the daylilies are in bloom right now, and they’re really beautiful. There are also roses in the garden that are blooming. There is a section of the garden called the cutting garden, and Ms. Welty and her mother used to cut blooms and give them to their friends and neighbors.
So, this year we are growing something called hibiscus manihot. Welty had those seeds given to her by a friend, so there is a historical connection there. Those are blooming right now. There’s also hydrangea. Another feature of the website is that there is a bloom calendar. Visitors can actually go on our website and see, at any given season of the year, what they can expect to be blooming.”
What is the Welty House and Garden’s annual budget?
“We are part of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, so our annual budget is part of the larger agency budget. So, unfortunately, I can’t give you a hard number for that.”
Has the Welty House and Garden been impacted financially by coronavirus?
“We had to shut down mid-March, and our busiest time of year at the Welty House is in the spring. April and May are when we see our largest groups for field trips. We had to cancel so many field trips. We also host the scholastic awards ceremony, and that usually draws a few hundred people to the site in one day. We had to cancel that. So, yeah we missed our busiest season of the year, so agency-wide I think we will really be impacted.”
Where does funding come from for the Welty House and do you think this will affect it?
“Our funding comes from the state government for the operations of the Welty House, so it’s not a direct one-to-one, if we sell more tickets then our budget is larger. We all share in the MDAH budget. Luckily, we do have the support of the Eudora Welty Foundation, which is a non-profit. But I think we are all going to be feeling the economic impacts of this.”
How have you guys been impacted as far as the exhibits you have going right now? Are they being kept until visitors can return or did you guys have to scrap those?
“We have permanent and temporary exhibits in our visitor’s center, and we had to shut that down as well. The temporary exhibit was put up in February 2019, so luckily visitors have had a year to see that exhibit. We are working on our next temporary exhibit, which might be delayed from the impacts of the closure. We aren’t sure, but we’re hoping to be on track for opening our temporary exhibit next year.”
What exhibits can visitors look forward to once it has reopened?
“One of the silver linings is that we’ve really been able to reach a broader audience with some of our virtual events with people who may not live in Jackson and may not ordinarily be able to attend in person. We hope to continue to do virtual events to supplement our tours and other on-site programs and activities.
We are being really cautious and trying to think through every possible aspect of reopening the Welty House to the public. We have a lot of volunteers and almost all of our tours are actually led by volunteers. We are especially cognizant of their safety as well, as most of them fall into at-risk groups. I think people can expect limits to the number of people we are able to accommodate on a tour, as well as other safety measures in place.”
Do you know when the Welty House will reopen?
“Right now, we are planning to open the Welty House in early July. We haven’t set a date yet. We are still closely monitoring updates. It isn’t set in stone, but right now we are aiming for early July.”
