It had been approximately six months since I last walked through the doors of Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher Building, but when I entered the lobby Sunday afternoon on my way to explore the recently opened exhibit, “Anatomy of a Collection: Recent Acquisitions and Promised Gifts,” it seemed as if almost no time at all had passed.

Inside, of course, there were a number of differences to be found since my last pre-pandemic walk-through. Staff were masked and seated behind plexiglass, and…