As thanks for contributing at the highest level, Museum Council Patrons are offered a behind-the-scenes look at departments and exhibitions at the MFA. In November, Council Patrons and their guests attended “Up Close: Inuit Art.” The event was an opportunity to meet the people behind the making of the exhibition “Follow the North Star: Inuit Art from the Collection of Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh,” and to learn more about the art created by the Inuit people.

The evening began with guests gathering outside the gallery, where they were joined by Mrs. Estrellita Karsh and her guests from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. David Silbersweig and Mr. Andrew Shinn. Mrs. Karsh spoke to the group about how her collection began and the history behind Inuit art making. Patrick Murphy, Lia and William Poorvu Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings, and Supervisor, discussed two Inuit prints not currently on view, and Dr. Silbersweig spoke about how he uses the prints as teaching aids for his neuroscience students.

Head designer Keith Crippen then accompanied the group into the gallery, where Council Patrons learned about the design of the space and the challenges that the design team had to overcome, from finding the right wall color to creating enough hanging space on the walls to providing a natural path through the exhibition.

After Keith’s design overview, Patrick Murphy and Dennis Carr, Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of the Americas, spoke to the group about select objects in the exhibition and how they point to the larger implications of a changing society impacted by climate change.

After the gallery talk, Council Patrons, curators, and Mrs. Karsh enjoyed a seated dinner in Bravo.