Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Ave., 617-267-9300
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Simply stated, the MFA is
one of the most comprehensive arts museums
in the world, and the crown jewel in
Boston’s museum community. The MFA first
opened its doors in 1876 in Copley Square
with a modest collection of approximately
5,600 works, moved to its current Huntington
Ave. location in 1909, and today has built
up a collection of more than 450,000 works
in virtually every discipline from all over
the world.
WHAT’S NEW?: The MFA always has a slew of
temporary exhibits, but the newest
development at the museum is an expansion
project that will ultimately result in a new
wing for the Art of the Americas, including
four levels of galleries and a 150-seat
auditorium, as well as a new glass courtyard
facing the Fenway neighborhood.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: MFA Public Relations
Representative Amelia Carignan offers a few
suggestions to please fans of all
disciplines and cultures: “For American art,
highlights include John Singer Sargent’s
famed murals and our collection of paintings
by John Singleton Copley. For Egyptian art,
you’d want to make sure you saw King
Menkaure and Queen, as well as the vibrantly
decorated coffin of Nes-mut-Att-neru. And
the MFA’s French Impressionist paintings
collection is world-renowned, including
works by Monet, Cezanne, Gaughin, van Gogh
and Pissaro.”
—Erica Coray
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and
Museum
Columbia Point, 866-535-1960
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Still Massachusetts’
favorite son more than four decades after
his untimely death, President John F.
Kennedy’s life, political career and
societal and historical impact are
chronicled within this I.M. Pei-designed
library opened in 1979.
WHAT’S NEW?: In addition to the permanent
collections dedicated to the Kennedy family
legacy and JFK’s presidency, the JFK Library
features rotating temporary exhibits
throughout the year. Currently, visitors can
learn about the early life of the Kennedy
family matriarch from Rose Kennedy: In Her
Own Words; explore the Irish heritage JFK
was so proud of, with a detailed look at his
one visit to the Emerald Isle in
A Journey
Home: JFK in Ireland; and marvel at the
diverse assortment of hand-crafted folk art
sent to Kennedy from ordinary people all
around the world in Handmade and Heartfelt.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: Unlike many of the
historical figures from the distant past
memorialized in museums, JFK had the
advantage of being a public figure during
the age of television and motion pictures.
As such, the JFK Library is home to a great
deal of archival video footage of this
charismatic leader—press conferences,
debates and classic speeches—that allow
those who missed out on seeing Kennedy to
still get a firsthand sense of what an
exciting and passionate leader this young
president was.
—Josh Wardrop
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
280 The Fenway, 617-566-1401
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: It’s a rare individual who
can continue to influence the art scene in
Boston 80 years after her death. But
Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) was no
ordinary woman. One of the last true art
patrons, Gardner dedicated her life to the
arts, purchasing foreign artwork during her
travels, supporting the Boston Symphony
Orchestra and befriending the leading
artists of her time. The museum she
established in 1903 displays her eclectic
4,000 piece art collection just as she
arranged it—displaying masterpieces from
separate cultures, eras and styles together,
unlike other museums—and has remained
virtually unchanged ever since.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: The vibrant indoor garden
courtyard that sits at the center of the
Gardner Museum is a beautiful sight in any
season, and gives the museum a vibe that
Curator of the Collection Alan Chong calls
“much more personal and direct than larger
institutions.” Any art aficionado will want
to make sure they catch the pieces by
all-time masters like Michelangelo, Degas
and Manet.
—Katie Veillette
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
Science Park, 617-723-2500
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Opened in 1951, the Museum
of Science houses 700 interactive exhibits
that cover every subject from space
exploration to engineering, and the museum
has always remained on the cutting edge of
science and technology education. “We’re
situated right at the hub [between top
hospitals and universities] of all the
research activity and medical breakthroughs
in Boston,” says Carole McFall of the
museum’s media relations department. “This
allows us to constantly host lectures and
forums and showcase breakthrough technology,
making us a real partner in the community.”
WHAT NOT TO MISS: Just like the world of
science itself, the possibilities are
endless. Those fascinated by the natural
world should check out the Butterfly Garden,
an enclosure overlooking the Charles River
that gets visitors up close with a variety
of brilliantly colored specimens. Meanwhile,
those seeking a larger-than-life experience
should check out films like Alaska: Spirit
of the Wild on the Mugar Omni Theatre’s
five-story-tall IMAX screen or gaze into
outer space or enjoy a cosmic laser light
show at the Hayden Planetarium.
—Arielle Altman
DECORDOVA MUSEUM & SCULPTURE PARK
51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: When art-loving Bostonians
feel that the hustle and bustle of city life
is too much to take, they have a ready-made
artistic oasis to escape to—the DeCordova
Museum and Sculpture Park, where the grounds
on which the museum is situated perfectly
complement the breathtaking abstract art
inside. Located 15 miles west of the city in
Lincoln, on the former estate of tea
merchant/inventor Julian DeCordova, this art
museum exhibits modern 20th and 21st-century
art, with a special emphasis on New England
artists.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: The 40,000 square foot
gallery houses contemporary paintings and
photography, but what truly sets DeCordova
apart from other museums can be found
outside—surrounding the castle-like building
is New England’s only Sculpture Park, where
you can view 75 sculptures by nationally and
internationally acclaimed artists (including
Nina Levy’s popular and striking oversized
sculpture Big Baby) while strolling 35 acres
of grassy woodlands. “It’s a wonderful place
to bring the family,” says Corey Cronin,
DeCordova’s director of public relations.
“Children love the Sculpture Park because
it’s a museum they can run around in.”
—Arielle Altman
Museum of African American History
46 Joy St., 617-725-0022
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: Not to be forgotten amidst
Boston’s overt celebration of its role as
“the cradle of liberty” is Boston’s rich
African-American history. This museum
celebrates the role Boston’s heroic black
community played in shaping the abolitionist
movement of the 19th century, and includes
The Abiel Smith School—the nation’s oldest
public school for black children which now
contains galleries exhibiting significant
African-American artifacts—and the adjacent
African Meeting House, built in 1806, which
is the nation’s oldest standing black church
structure.
WHAT’S NEW?: The newest exhibit
A Gathering
Place for Freedom—commemorating the Meeting
House’s bicentennial celebration—displays
more than a hundred 19th-century
African-American books, portraits,
government documents and other artifacts
that document and celebrate the astounding
feats of the abolitionist movement’s
monumental figures.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: More than merely the sum
of its historical artifacts, the Museum of
African American History is most impressive
simply for the history that happened on the
premises. Visitors can stand in the spot
where William Lloyd Garrison founded the New
England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832, where
Frederick Douglass’ powerful voice spoke
about abolition, and where Civil War Colonel
Robert Gould Shaw recruited the North’s
first black regiment, immortalized in the
feature film Glory.
—Katie Veillette
Animal Attraction
Meanwhile, the Franklin Park Zoo is the Hub’s top spot to see those marvelous mammals, birds and reptiles that live on the land. Founded in 1913, the zoo sits in the center of picturesque Franklin Park, and houses (on its 72 acres) everything from tigers and zebras, to ostriches, wallabies and kangaroos, to a family of Masai giraffes (Beau, Jana and their calf, Autumn), all under the auspices of Franklin Park’s resident King of the Jungle, Christopher the Lion (pictured above). New at the zoo is an expanded exhibit area for Franklin Park’s collection of western lowland gorillas, which allows visitors to get right up close to these amazing creatures. Combining a message of conservation with an opportunity to marvel at our amazing animal brethren, Franklin Park Zoo is so much fun your little ones won’t even realize they’re learning while they’re laughing. —Josh Wardrop |
Institute of Contemporary Art
100 Northern Ave., 617-478-3100
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: To be the first art museum
built in Boston in close to a century, it’s
obvious you have to bring something new to
the table. And that’s always been precisely
the mission of the Institute of Contemporary
Art since it was founded in 1936 as the
Boston Museum of Modern Art. Though humble
in size and financial endowment, this
upstart museum quickly built a reputation
for identifying the most important new
artists—exhibiting works from such
visionaries as Georges Braque, Edvard Munch
and Andy Warhol at the beginning of their
careers—and was renamed the Institute of
Contemporary Art in 1948. Housed in a small
converted firehouse in the Back Bay for
decades, the ICA moved into a new
state-of-the-art 65,000-square-foot building
in the emerging Seaport District in
December.
WHAT’S NEW?: What isn’t? The new ICA
features galleries with movable walls,
adjustable skylights, and 15 1/2 ft.
ceilings, showcasing all types of media from
paintings and drawings to animation, video,
and sculpture, as well as a 325-seat
theater, which has already hosted
cutting-edge dance performances and
spoken-word presentations by punk poet Patti
Smith and choreographer Mark Morris.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: For the first time in its
history, the ICA has space for a permanent
collection, featuring artists envisioned to
be among the next generation’s defining
talents. Among the collection of over two
dozen works are pieces of “street”
photography of Philip-Lorca diCorcia and
thought-provoking video installations by
Christian Jankowski.
—Erica Coray
Boston Athenaeum
10½ Beacon St.,
617-227-0270
WHAT’S THE DEAL?: The Boston
Athenaeum doesn’t draw nearly the crowds
that bigger museums throughout the city
do—which is as should be, frankly, for the
Athenaeum is not only a library (shhhh!),
but a membership library. Since 1807, men
and women of letters have paid a yearly
membership fee to have access to take out
books from this startlingly diverse library,
and to make use of the top four levels for
private reading, reflection and writing.
However, the bottom floor is always open to
the public, and that’s where a smattering of
one-of-a-kind items from all over the world
can be found and enjoyed.
WHAT’S NEW?: This
year, the Athenaeum celebrates its
bicentennial, and it’s rolled out a new
“best-of” exhibit titled
Acquired Tastes:
200 Years of Collecting for the Boston
Athenaeum. It’s the largest exhibit the
library has mounted in the past 150 years,
and includes samplings of every facet of the
Athenaeum’s collections—from maps and
manuscripts to paintings, sculpture and rare
books.
WHAT NOT TO MISS: Since the
Athenaeum’s collections are so diverse, it’s
hard to pick one or two unifying
attractions, but Acquired Tastes does
include books straight from the personal
library of the Father of our Country, George
Washington, as well as Los Caprichos, an
engraving by legendary artist Francisco Jose
de Goya. Additionally, fans of American art
will be intrigued by the sketchbook from
1863 containing work by the great Winslow
Homer.
—Josh Wardrop
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For special exhibits and events, refer to Museums listings.