The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was one of the first businesses to close as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the United States. Currently closed through at least July 31, the museum was forced to lay off or furlough many of their employees, and to date has lost more than $22 million in revenue due to the ongoing closure.

Hardship aside, the Country Music Hall of Fame remains committed to providing as many resources as they can, even while their doors are temporarily closed.

“That’s what makes us all redouble our efforts, continue serving, and continue moving forward, and make sure the museum is well-positioned for all times, even when times are really hard,” Lisa Purcell, Senior Vice President of Community Outreach, Education and Development at the Country Music Hall of Fame told Everything Nash. “This is definitely one of those times.”

The CMHOF already had online programs and educational opportunities available while they were open, but worked hard to find even more creative ways to engage country music fans, even if they can’t visit the museum in person.

“We’ve been closed since March 13th,” Lisa said. “We are so excited to get back in there and so excited to welcome guests back, and get them close to artifacts and things that are primarily sources to the story, and certainly our favorite thing. In the meantime, you come up with new favorite things and you come up with new ways to share country music in a way that is accessible, approachable, but still very much keeps our programming alive.”

The Country Music Hall of Fame has numerous programs and ways for people to still both engage with the museum, and celebrate the diversity of country music.

“Everything starts with the collection,” Lisa said. “We have a digital art class and we are adding new artifacts to the digital archives. You can go through the Country Music Hall of Fame website, and check out some holdings in our collection.”

Lisa also hinted that there will soon be a way to enjoy more of the museum online as well, thanks to a generous National Endowment for the Humanities CARES grant.

“We will start introducing the exhibitions online later this year,” Lisa revealed. “So you can have an exhibition experience digitally, which we’re really excited about.”

The CMHOF is also offering other interactive programs, including their popular Songwriter Session, which has included people like Brett James, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis and more. The Songwriter Session, which includes each guest sharing their stories behind some of their biggest songs, is held every Tuesday at 8:00 PM CT on Instagram Live.

There’s also plenty of family programming available, including special Wednesday sessions, at least through July. The program offers free, interactive classes on various topics, including a recent one that taught participants how to make harmonicas while learning about DeFord Bailey, who was the first African-American to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. Future classes include learning how to write a song, on July 22, and creating a journal to write down song ideas on July 29.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum may not be certain when they will open again, but they do vow to continue to make as many resources available to guests as possible in the interim, and even after the museum reopens.

“Our commitment is to service and open access,” Lisa acknowledged. “As a nonprofit that holds the country music story and the public trust, it’s ‘How do we serve people all the time in the best way?’ I fully anticipate that our commitment to digital programming will maintain after we reopen, and I think that’s one of the great awakenings for many arts and cultural organizations in this post COVID world. We’ve all been challenged to transition our service in the digital space.

“One of the great things that has happened is we realized how many people we can serve,” Lisa said, adding that they have already reached more than 100,000 people. “The impetus for continuing to serve and reaching people and our moving barriers and the handiness of technology is real … The reach is really big and that is one of the silver linings. The innovation of how to serve people, I think we’ll continue to advance that.”

Currently, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum also offers Watch & Listen and  Words and Music at Home, among other programs. Find a complete list of programs available online here.