Guri-si Restarts Efforts to Build Municipal Art Museum

Attendance by Local Cultural Artists, City Council Members, and Experts
4th Construction Advisory Committee Meeting Held

The city of Guri, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun) announced on the 13th that it held the 4th Guri Municipal Museum Construction Advisory Committee meeting on the 7th at the 4th floor conference room of the Guri City Hall main building.

Guri City held the 4th Advisory Committee Meeting for the Construction of Guri City Art Museum on the 4th floor conference room of the Guri City Hall main building on the 7th. Photo by Guri City

The Guri Municipal Museum Construction Advisory Committee is an organization established under the "Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of Various Committees in Guri City." It plays an advisory role in establishing the museum's identity, securing and utilizing collections, facility operation plans, and architectural plans to successfully promote the municipal museum construction project. The committee consists of 11 members, including representatives of Guri's cultural and artistic organizations, city council members, and experts from various fields (university professors, museum directors).

At the 4th meeting, in-depth discussions were held on the necessity of building a museum that can become a cultural facility and tourist attraction in Guri, the direction and identity establishment of the museum for reapplying for the preliminary feasibility evaluation of establishing a public museum by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Guri City had established a plan in 2023 to build a municipal museum with a contemporary art concept in Sanmaru Park, Galmae-dong, with a site area of 33,070㎡, a total floor area of 4,500㎡, three above-ground floors, and one basement floor, and applied for a preliminary evaluation by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. However, it received a notification of inappropriateness due to insufficient presentation of the museum's identity and the need to supplement the collection acquisition plan.

In response, Guri City hired an art curator in October to be in charge of the project to supplement the preliminary evaluation review opinions. Through investigation and research on local cultural heritage and art history, the city plans to establish a museum concept differentiated from other public museums and promote consultations with local affiliated artists and potential donors to secure valuable collections.

Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun of Guri said, “We will actively reflect the valuable opinions of the committee members from the advisory committee to supplement the shortcomings pointed out in the previous preliminary evaluation by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and thoroughly prepare for the next preliminary evaluation.”