CORNING, NY (WENY) -- This Friday, the Southern Tier is set to move into phase 4 of New York's reopening plan. Phase four includes things like movie theaters, casinos and museum. Today, the executive director of the Rockwell Museum sat down with us to explain their reopening process. Brian Lee said he expects to receive guidelines from the state this week, but added the museum has already taken steps on its own to keep everyone safe.

"Of course, we are following the Governors guidelines and rules for mask wearing at the museum. So, all of our staff and all of our guests will be required to wear a mask. We will also have thermal screening in place, it will be a very simple process and no way make people feel uncomfortable. We just want to ensure the safety of our staff, our guests, and members as they enter the museum," said Brian.

The museum will follow Governor Andrew Cuomo's guidelines for mask wearing, and all guests and employees will be thermally screened. The Rockwell has also created a path for visitors to follow.

Brian says, "So, what we've done is create an actual path through the museum that will help you practice social distancing and see who's in front of you and some signage on when you might need to pause and wait for a gallery to clear or to close. It's not 100%. So, if someone needs to go to the rest room or check on something, of course that's available."

With all the interactivity the museum provides, Brian does have some concerns they're working to address.

"One of the experiences at the museum is interactivity. So, we have a lot of places and spaces within the museum and with our kids Rockwell art lab on market Street where people can touch and experience and do things to help them engage with art. That's just something we do not want to promote right now so, we've had to pull some of those things back and think about those experiences differently," said Brian.

The museum has pushed many events back towards the fall but they will continue to interact with members virtually.

Brian adds, "We are still doing a lot of virtual programming. So, I've been hosting. Initially with our members we've done a directors happy hour where I introduced some works of art with a complementary cocktail through works of art and we are extending that to our music and margaritas program. Which is usually a lot of fun. We have people on our terrace and great bands, and we are just not able to do that this year, but we are still trying to represent the programs virtually."

Brian also did say he expects to get required guidelines from the governors office by the middle of the week.