Art Bridges Initiative
Thomas Cole, Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, 1828. Oil on canvas. Gift of Martha C. Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865.
Frederic Edwin Church, Icebergs (detail), 1863. Oil on canvas. Emily L. Ainsley Fund.
Thomas Hart Benton, New England Editor (detail), 1946. Oil and tempera on gessoed panel. The Hayden Collection—Charles Henry Hayden Fund. Art © T. H. Benton and R. P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/UMB Bank Trustee/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
Elihu Vedder, The Questioner of the Sphinx (detail), 1863. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Mrs. Martin Brimmer.
Thomas Cole, Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, 1828. Oil on canvas. Gift of Martha C. Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865.
Frederic Edwin Church, Icebergs (detail), 1863. Oil on canvas. Emily L. Ainsley Fund.
Thomas Hart Benton, New England Editor (detail), 1946. Oil and tempera on gessoed panel. The Hayden Collection—Charles Henry Hayden Fund. Art © T. H. Benton and R. P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/UMB Bank Trustee/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
Elihu Vedder, The Questioner of the Sphinx (detail), 1863. Oil on canvas. Bequest of Mrs. Martin Brimmer.
Supporting an innovative program to engage communities across the region
The MFA is sharing works from its Art of the Americas collection with four partner museums across the Northeast as part of the Art Bridges Initiative. This program by the Art Bridges Foundation builds on its mission to expand access to American art across the US.
Curators and museum professionals from the MFA are collaborating with colleagues from the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts; the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York; the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut; and Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York, to co-organize a series of American art exhibitions over several years, drawing on the combined breadth and depth of the museums’ holdings and encouraging deep engagement with local communities.
This innovative program began in 2018 and involves multiple phases of exhibitions. Phase one, completed between 2018 and 2019, focused on single-work loans to the MFA’s partner museums. Work is currently ongoing for phases two and three, which consist of larger-scale projects. The initiative also supports professional development exchange and opportunities for dynamic programming.
Phase One Exhibitions
Thomas Hart Benton: A Visiting Masterpiece from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts
June 19–December 30, 2018
Thomas Cole and the Garden of Eden
Fenimore Art Museum
May 25–September 30, 2018
Icebergs!
Mattatuck Museum
June 24–September 2, 2018
Mysterious, Marvelous, Malevolent: The Art of Elihu Vedder
Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute
April 5–December 29, 2019
Phase Two Exhibitions
A Face Like Mine
Mattatuck Museum
May 2–September 12, 2021
The Body Adorned: Artistry and Legacy in the Ancient Americas
D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts
December 4, 2021–February 27, 2022
Unchained: Allan Rohan Crite, Spirituality, and Black Activism
Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute
February 19–May 8, 2022
Unmasking Venice: American Artists and the City of Water
Fenimore Art Museum
May 28–September 5,2022
