Hear from MFA staff, artists, and members of the wider community, in their own words, as they highlight works on view in our reimagined galleries of 18th-century art and reflect on both the personal and historical meanings they carry.
Haiti: The Dual Revolution—Reimagined
Anthony Bogues
Art practice in Haiti has been called a “vocation” of refusal. The Caribbean thinker Edouard Glissant wrote that Haitian art was a practice of visual…
Rudolph Robinson’s Bench
Michelle Millar Fisher
Rudolph R. Robinson (1937–1988) may not be widely recognized today, but he contributed significantly to Boston’s cultural institutions in the second…
Isaac and Jemima Debuke Winslow
Erica E. Hirshler
How much must happen—in the world and community, to our neighbors, within our families—before we act? When things get dangerous, do we stay or leave…
Desk and Bookcase
Lucía Abramovich Sánchez
This summer, upon taking your first steps into the reimagined 18th-century galleries in the MFA’s Art of the Americas Wing, you’ll find yourself…
Bicentennial Indian
Marina Tyquiengco
As we reimagine the MFA’s 18th-century Art of the Americas galleries to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, I…
Punch Bowl
Nanase Shirokawa
We often make presumptions about where objects come from, or what lives they’ve lived, based on their appearance. It’s an easy trap to fall into in…
Libertas Americana
Patrick McMahon
A medal can commemorate an event, honor a set of values, recognize an achievement, or simply stand alone as a work of art, like a small sculpture. And…
The Jar
Charmaine Wilkerson
I heard the jar before I saw it, and it led me to the Museum. The antique stoneware jar had tumbled off a table in the home of a New England family…
Goddess of Liberty Weather Vane
Nonie Gadsden
Originally designed as functional scientific objects, American weather vanes are now considered valuable examples of sculpture from early in the…
Sons of Liberty Bowl
Ethan Lasser
In 2026 our country will turn 250 years old. To mark this milestone, the MFA is embarking on a monumental project: we are reimagining and reinstalling…