BALTIMORE — History is around every corner in Baltimore; on the corner of Watson and Lloyd streets, a red brick building between two synagogues is home to centuries of it.
After a year and a half of renovations, the Jewish Museum of Maryland is open again.
"The museum was built in the early 1990s, and so it was time to give this place a refresh," Erika Hornstein, the museum's board president, told WMAR.
Hornstein said the museum now features a 'brand new visitor experience' including a central arcade - made possible by Orioles owner David Rubenstein - a production studio, and space for exhibits.
MORE: Orioles' owner David Rubenstein set to donate $1.5 million to Jewish Museum
On display right now: a music exhibit curated by a Baltimore-based historian, and decades of issues of 'Generations,' the museum's magazine publication from 1978 to 2012.
According to the museum, over 12,000 objects and 100,000 pictures are under its roof.
"I personally have found lots of objects and pictures from different sides of my family, that my family didn't even know existed," Hornstein said.
While it was closed for the renovations, last August, someone list a fire at the front entrance of the museum. Baltimore police arrested a 66-year-old suspect, whom they say had a history of fire-related incidents.
READ MORE: Man arrested in connection to fire set outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland
Artifacts were not damaged, and the work continued, resulting in the improvements seen today.
The museum is home to thousands of artifacts, but it wants to keep adding.
"The whole renovation of the museum, and the way it's been transformed, is in a participatory way, so we want the public to engage with our work," Hornstein said.
"We invite anybody who identifies as Jewish and has a relationship with the state of Maryland to submit three family photos, one from the past one from the present and one chronologically in between," Hornstein said.
The museum is located at 15 Lloyd St., and is open Sunday from 10am-4pm and Monday-Wednesday from 12pm-4pm.
