Some Trumbull County arts and cultural institutions didn’t wait for Gov. Mike DeWine’s directive before reopening.

The National Packard Museum in Warren reopened on Tuesday. Two weeks ago, the Medici Museum of Art in Howland began offering tours by appointment to groups of 10 people or less to see its display of Norman Rockwell paintings.

Mary Ann Porinchak, executive director of the Packard museum, said, “We put a package together and sent it to the health department, and they were good with it. There didn’t seem to be any reason to delay it. We’re plenty big enough that people can socially distance and nobody touches anything in here. Our maximum capacity is 200 and we probably won’t have more than 10 to 15 people here at any time.”

Hand sanitizing stations have been added throughout the museum. Staff will be wearing masks, and visitors will be encouraged to do the same. A sneeze guard has been installed at the main counter, and signs at the entrance stress social distancing.

“Two Wheels at the County Fair,” the museum’s annual vintage motorcycle exhibit, opened six weeks before the museum was forced to close in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was supposed to close last month. The show now will run until the end of June and maybe longer.

A Corvette car show still is planned for July 25, Porinchak said, but the event now will be more like a parade of vehicles through Packard Park instead of a traditional car show with parked vehicles.

With no admission revenue or merchandise sales for two-and-a-half months, Porinchak said the museum sent letters to 75 of its past donors (many from out of state) asking for help.

“We cut everything from our operating expenses we possibly could,” she said. “We kept our utilities paid and we kept our insurance … It was so rewarding on a lot of different levels. It was nice to know that when the chips are down, we could count on their support.”

Being forced to scale back some of its summer plans will continue to make the budget tight, Porinchak said, “But we’re working very hard to tighten our belt and make sure at the end of the year we’re in the black.”

John Anderson, one of the directors of Foundation Medici, which operates the Howland museum, said many people have taken advantage of the tours by appointment, especially in the last week. Despite DeWine’s announcement that museums can open on Wednesday, Medici isn’t planning to change its procedures.

“I think we’ll stick with that for the time being until we get a complete understanding (of the state policy),” he said.

Medici now has an app available for smart phone users that includes an audio guide to the “The Rockwell American Scouting Art Collection” exhibition, which Anderson said should help with social distancing among visitors.

Trumbull Art Gallery in downtown Warren will start its reopening process on June 18. For at least the first couple of weeks, the gallery only will be open noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and visitors will have to press the buzzer at the front entrance to gain admission.

“We’re asking that people ring the buzzer and wear masks,” Director Pat Galgozy said. “We’ll see how it goes and then make some adjustments.”

She expects normal Tuesday-through-Saturday hours to resume in July.

A Treasures for TAG show featuring items donated to the gallery will be on display, she said. Summerfest has been canceled for 2020, but TAG is exploring other ideas for children’s art classes and programming for the summer, and the gallery also is working on resuming its adult art classes.

Many Mahoning County institutions are waiting until at least July to resume operations.

The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown will reopen July 7 with exhibitions featuring the work of Chicago painter Sam Rosenthal, machine sculptures by Allen Erdmann and paintings by Youngstown artist Clyde Singer (1908-1999).

Masks will be required both for staff members as well as visitors, said Wendy Swick director of public relations. Those who cannot wear a mask for health reasons can contact the museum to schedule an appointment during non-regular hours.

Film series, lecture programs, artist receptions and other events that involved mass gatherings are suspended until further notice, and the museum is working on ways to bring back educational programming and art classes.

The McDonough Museum of Art on the campus of Youngstown State University probably won’t have its first exhibition until early September. Most of its staff is furloughed until August due to budget cuts at YSU. The Soap Gallery in Youngstown will be open by appointment only beginning Friday and is planning a group photography exhibition for July and August.

Dave Ragan, communications manager for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, said the Tyler History Center downtown and the Arms Family Museum near YSU would remain closed until further notice, but MVHS should have more information available next week.

OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology on West Federal Street, plans to keeps its focus on online programming for the foreseeable future.

“Our primary responsibility is making sure our guests and staff are safe,” Executive Director Suzanne Barbati said. “We do have every intention of reopening. We just want to be very cautious about that.”

agray@tribtoday.com.