Dear Members and Friends,
As we approach a new year and decade, we also approach a milestone for the MFA—the 150th anniversary of the Museum’s founding. 2020 will be a year of celebration, of inclusion, generosity, and community. The strength and the legacy of the MFA is its collections, formed over many years. Our purpose is to interpret these works in ways that resonate with today’s audiences.
This fall’s exhibitions “Ancient Nubia Now” and “Women Take the Floor” show how art from past decades and millennia, speaks to us and can be a bridge to the future. “Black Histories, Black Futures,” an exhibition opening in January curated by paid teen interns, puts this exploration front and center, with selections of 20th-century work by artists of color meaningful to young people from Boston’s high schools. And in the spring, an opportunity to delight in the works of a 19th-century master reminds us of the wonderful gifts Bostonians of the past gave toward building this Museum. More to come on this and other anniversary surprises!
To share in the MFA today, as a member, is to forge deeper connections. This anniversary year, we are launching a free first-year membership program and increasing benefits for all members. It is an invitation to everyone to make the MFA their own—and to encourage members new and old to bring additional family and friends as their guests at no cost.
A major part of our work comes alive this summer when the new Conservation Center opens. A newly designed, dynamic space brings together our expertise in care and preservation of irreplaceable objects and paintings in six new laboratory spaces in a collaborative, up-to-date environment. With access for public viewing, the Conservation Center will be the MFA’s new destination for learning, engagement, and discovery.
We have a full schedule of projects planned for inside the Museum, and outside too, to engage our community and create platforms for local artists. This anniversary is a time to celebrate, but also a reminder to act. For us, it is a call to continue to seek to be relevant, to involve and listen to visitors—everyone who wants to share in and engage with great works of art.
I hope you will join us; it promises to be an exciting shared journey.
Wishing you peace in this season and with best wishes for 2020!
Matthew Teitelbaum
Ann and Graham Gund Director
The MFA's 150th Anniversary Celebration is sponsored by Bank of America.