AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

WASHINGTON (AP) – Museums and galleries popular with visitors and locals in the nation’s capital have closed as the partial shutdown of the federal government drags on. Museums and galleries under the Smithsonian Institution umbrella were to close starting Jan. 2, the Smithsonian said on its website.

The National Gallery of Art will close starting Jan. 3, a spokeswoman said. The shutdown also is affecting national parks, although unevenly. Some remain accessible with bare-bones staffing levels, some are operating with money from states or charitable groups and others are locked off.

With no resolution in sight, the shutdown is forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors to stay home or work without pay. Agencies scrambled to provide essential services.