Take a Trip to Boston Presents Our Inaugural Coverage of The Museum of Fine Arts!
Whom You Know is Thrilled to Announce Our Official Coverage of the MFA in Boston! Peachy Deegan took many trips there while a student at Boston College, and as we expand our Boston coverage they were on the top of our list!
It's important you know their history:
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
Chronology
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February 4, 1870: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), was incorporated by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature.
July 4, 1876: The MFA opened to the public on the nation’s centennial. It was first located in a brick and terra-cotta Gothic building designed by architects Sturgis and Brigham in Copley Square, and was one of the first institutions in Boston’s Back Bay area.
1877: The School of Drawing and Painting was established, known today as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
1899: The Museum made plans for expansion in order to house its growing collection. The trustees purchased land in the Fenway area of Boston to build the new, enlarged MFA.
1909: The new Huntington Avenue facility, designed by Guy Lowell, opened its doors to the public.
1915: The Evans Wing opened, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans’ gift of one million dollars to the Museum. The Evans Wing increased exhibition space by 40 percent.
1927: The School of the Museum of Fine Arts opened its new building on Museum Road.
1928: The MFA opened its new wing for Decorative Arts of Europe and America, comprising 50 galleries dedicated to the display of decorative arts.
1970: The George Robert White Wing, designed by architect Hugh Stubbins, added 45,000 square feet of space to the Museum for public programs and visitor amenities.
1981: Through the support of the Museum’s many benefactors, the new West Wing of the Museum, designed by I.M. Pei, was completed.
1988: The MFA opened its contemplative Japanese garden, Tenshin-En – The Garden of the Heart of Heaven..
1996: The Museum’s website, www.mfa.org was launched. Today, the site features a searchable online database containing more than 346,000 objects from the collection.
1999: The architect selection committee, appointed by the Board of Trustees, chose the renowned firm of Foster + Partners (London) to create a master site plan for a major addition and renovation project as envisioned in the Museum’s Strategic Plan, developed in 1997.
1999: The Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts (N/BMFA) opened in Nagoya, Japan, welcoming more than 600,000 visitors during its inaugural year. The MFA became the first American museum to open a sister institution in Asia.
2001: The Museum launched its Building the New MFA campaign to support substantial building and renovation enhancements to the Museum, strengthen the endowment for programs and positions, and support critical annual operations.
2001: The Gifts of Art campaign was launched at the Museum to enhance the MFA’s encyclopedic collection. Since its inception, it has received more than 14,000 gifts of art valued at more than $183 million, and almost $29 million for the purchase of art, a combined total of more than $212 million. It will continue to be an important initiative as plans for the new Art of the Americas Wing and Linde Family Wing become a reality.
2002: Foster + Partners unveiled their architectural designs for the comprehensive Master Site Plan, which will transform the Museum with the addition of an Art of the Americas Wing and new public spaces, the development of new educational facilities and conservation labs, the renovation of existing galleries, and the addition of new visitor amenities.
2005: MFA staff, architects, and supporters gathered to celebrate the November 14 groundbreaking for the Building Project. To mark the occasion, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation gave a gift of $15 million to the Building the New MFA campaign to support both the building and the Museum’s endowment. In recognition of this generous support, the Glass Courtyard—a central component of the Museum’s Building Project—will be named the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard
2006: The Art of the Ancient World Wing was named in honor of George D. and Margo Behrakis in recognition of their extraordinary generosity to the Museum. This was the first time in nearly a century that an MFA wing consisting of art galleries was named for a benefactor.
2007: The Museum acquired the historic building and grounds of the Forsyth Institute, which stands directly to the east. Architect Edward T. P. Graham designed the Forsyth in a classical revival style complimentary to its closest neighbor, the MFA.
2008: The Museum’s renovated Fenway Entrance overlooking the Back Bay Fens portion of Edward Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace reopened. It was named the State Street Corporation Fenway Entrance in recognition of the $10 million gift presented to the Museum by State Street Corporation for the Building the New MFA campaign in 2007. This gift was the largest corporate contribution in MFA history.
2008: The centrally located Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Center, named in recognition of the Sharfs’ generosity to the Museum, opened. It serves as the MFA’s information hub, where visitors can learn more about the Museum’s collections and programs, as well as about Boston and the area.
2008: The Museum successfully concluded its Building the New MFA campaign, the largest at a New England arts institution, exceeding its goal by raising $504 million. Contributions to the campaign, which began July 1, 2001, and ended June 30, 2008, were made by 25,674 people.
2008: The West Wing became the Linde Family Wing in recognition of Joyce and Edward Linde generosity to the campaign and their deep commitment to community arts education.
2009: The renovation of the Museum’s Huntington Avenue Entrance on the Avenue of the Arts was completed. The MFA also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the opening of its building on Huntington Avenue.
2010: The culmination of the MFA’s expansion and renovation project, designed by Foster + Partners (London), occurred in November with the opening of the Museum’s new Art of the Americas Wing and the Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard. The project has increased space for the MFA’s encyclopedic collection and dramatically enriches the ways in which visitors navigate the Museum’s galleries and encounter its great works of art. More than 5,000 works from the MFA’s Art of the Americas collection are now on view in the new wing. The MFA’s Ann and Graham Gund Gallery for special exhibitions is housed in the court level of the Shapiro Family Courtyard. Also in the courtyard is the MFA’s restaurant, the New American Café.
2011: The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art opened in September. It features seven new galleries dedicated to contemporary art of all cultures and media. This new wing dramatically increases the Museum’s ability to highlight the arts of today. The Museum Road entrance to the wing has become the School and Community Group entrance, which leads into the new Edward H. Linde Gallery for the display of works by acclaimed graduates of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) and by participants in the MFA’s Community Arts Initiative. The wing also houses the Henry and Lois Foster Gallery; the John, Bertram A. and Ronald M. Druker Family Pavilion, which includes two new classrooms and the renovated Bookstore and Shop; Remis Auditorium; and three dining venues (Bravo, Taste, and the Garden Cafeteria). The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art has become a vibrant space where contemporary art, film, music, and other programming converge within the context of an encyclopedic museum, resulting in a new dialogue for the Boston art scene.
2011: The Museum opened the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation Gallery—one of only a few at US museums solely dedicated to jewelry. It features works from the Museum’s outstanding collection of approximately 11,000 ornaments. Additionally, the MFA opened its new Asian Paintings Gallery and South Asian and Southeast Asian Sculpture Gallery.
2012: In 2012, the MFA renovated its William I. Koch Gallery, one of the Museum’s grandest spaces, featuring masterpieces from 16th- and 17th-century Italy, France, Spain, and Flanders hung on walls covered in red damask, complemented by a spectacular display of German silver and four tapestries from the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. In addition, the Museum opened several new galleries: the Michael C. Ruettgers Gallery for Ancient Coins, Gems and Jewelry of the Ancient Mediterranean Gallery, and Arts of Korea Gallery.
2013: In January, the Museum opened its newly enhanced Art of Japan Gallery, and in the spring, will open a new Dutch and Flemish Gallery, and new Hartman Galleries, which feature period rooms and decorative arts. In the fall, the MFA will open its new African gallery dedicated to works from the Benin Kingdom.
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TICKETS
Members are always admitted free. Admission to the MFA, which includes full-day access and one repeat visit within 10 days, is:
$25 for adults
$23 for senior citizens and college students (University Members are admitted free)
Youths 7–17 are admitted free (except during school hours, when admittance is $10)
Youths 6 and younger are always admitted free
Admission includes special exhibitions in the Ann and Graham Gund Gallery and all MFA exhibitions
· Wednesday nights after 4 p.m. admission is by voluntary contribution ($25 suggested)
Free admission offered to active-duty military ID holders and family members throughout the year; active duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active duty National Guard and active duty Reserve members.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership to the MFA includes free admission and guest passes (number based on membership level), as well as invitations to members-only exhibition previews, special events, and family programs. Discounts are available on parking (including Red Sox game parking), dining, lectures, concerts, and Museum Shop purchases. Members receive Preview, the MFA members’ magazine, and e-mail with exhibition information, exclusive invitations, and special offers. The cost of membership is tax deductible. For additional information about membership and all other levels, visit the MFA website at www.mfa.org or call 617.369.3395.
MFA GUIDES
MFA Guides—multimedia guides for adults and children—are available for rental ($5 for members, $6 for the general public, and $4 for children) at the Museum’s ticket desks. Among the features of the guides are images and narration for more than 500 works, as well as videos of curators and artists. There are 120 collection highlights on the guides translated into seven languages—Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese. The guides also incorporate special features for those who are blind, have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, allowing all visitors to use the same device.
VISITOR AMENITIES
The MFA offers enhanced visitor amenities for approximately one million visitors who come to the Museum each year. These include:
Ticketing areas and self-ticketing kiosks at both the Huntington Avenue Entrance and State Street Corporation Fenway Entrance
Sharf Visitor Center, where visitors can learn more about exhibitions, tours, and special programs at the MFA; the Museum’s Map and Visitor Guide is also available there in seven languages (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese), and at both entrances
The MFA Guide to Family Fun and activity cards for young visitors are available at Sharf Visitor Center
Daily tours (except Monday holidays), free with admission, highlighting the Museum’s collection in English; tours in French, Russian, and Spanish also conducted at various times each week, made possible by The Lowell Institute
A variety of free (with admission) gallery talks offered each week
Concierge computers in the Sharf Visitor Center available for the public to access interactive tours of the Museum’s encyclopedic collection
Four dining venues, including the New American Café in the Shapiro Family Courtyard, and Bravo Restaurant, Taste Café, and the Garden Cafeteria in the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art
Three opportunities to shop, at the Bookstore & Shop in the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art (Level 1), and two shops at the Huntington Avenue Entrance (Level 1), and adjacent to the new Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (LG).
Additional restroom facilities available throughout the Art of the Americas Wing
Valet parking available at Huntington Avenue entrance.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Museum is accessible to visitors with disabilities—all entrances are accessible and have a drop-off area, and free manual wheelchairs and walkers are available (on a first-come, first-served basis, without reservations). For further information about Museum accessibility services, please email access@mfa.org or call 617.369.3189 (voice) or 617.267.9703 (TTY). Accessibility is generously supported by Bank of America, with additional support from The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, The Lowell Institute, and the Maida S. Abrams Fund for Increasing Access and Educational Opportunities for People with Disabilities.
PARKING AND DIRECTIONS
The MFA is accessible by taking the Green line E train to the MFA stop, the Orange line to the Ruggles stop, bus #39 to the MFA stop, or #8, 47, or CT2 buses to the Ruggles Street stop. For driving directions, please go to www.mfa.org. Parking, which is discounted for members, is available in the surface parking lots on Museum Road and in the Museum garage.
MUSEUM HOURS
Saturday through Tuesday 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 10 a.m.–9:45 p.m.
The Museum is open seven days a week and is closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Patriots’ Day, and Independence Day.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)
Avenue of the Arts
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
617.267.9300
