This was the first full year of our Strategic Plan implementation. At its center, it encourages us to be outward facing, and to do so in partnership with others, focusing on Invitation, Welcome, and Engagement.
Our visitors are more aware, more connected than ever before. They want to help create meaning in their communities and with each other. Art helps us frame issues for discussion, the choices we make, and the definitions we negotiate as the structures of our lives (and the names we give them) shift in relation to increasing globalism, cross-cultural exchange, and the new languages of social media.
The exhibitions we presented this year expressed our increased commitment to engaging others in acts of interpretation and connection, allowing the addition of new voices to extend the reach and understanding of our projects. Created for present-day audiences, our exhibitions engaged with the key questions an inquiring visitor might ask.
“Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics” was a collaboration between the MFA, Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, and Tokyo-based art history professor Nobuo Tsuji, revealing how Murakami’s contemporary vision is powered by a dynamic conversation with history—embodied by Japanese masterpieces from the MFA’s collection.
“(un)expected families” explored the definition of the changing American family through photographs—redefining our notions of families we are born into and those we choose for ourselves.
Partnerships and loans gave the MFA new opportunities to share unique artistic viewpoints with our audiences. “Mark Rothko: Reflection” was an immersive exhibition of Rothko paintings from Washington’s National Gallery of Art. Drawings from Vienna’s Albertina Museum in “Klimt and Schiele: Drawn” powerfully reflected the spirit of each artist’s investigation of humanity at the turn of the last century.
Acquisitions affirmed our dedication to purposefully collecting the diversity of lived experience and communal identity through visual representation.
In October of 2017 we announced the largest gift of European paintings in MFA history: Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, and Matthew and Susan Weatherbie have given and pledged their exceptional collections of Dutch and Flemish art to the MFA. In addition to their collections, the Van Otterloos and Weatherbies have generously committed foundational funding to establish a Center for Netherlandish Art—the first of its kind in the US. The goal of the Center will be to share Dutch and Flemish art with wide audiences; to stimulate multi-disciplinary research; to nurture future generations of scholars and curators; to expand public appreciation for Netherlandish art; and to encourage a new generation to think about ways to bring 17th-century art alive. It is remarkable to contemplate, and it is made possible by visionary donors.
Two other major collections came to the MFA this year. The acquisition of Native American art from the Collection of David and Peggy Rockefeller presents an opportunity to add depth and breadth to our holdings—an important step in our renewed commitment to the collection, interpretation, and display of Native American art, allowing us to diversify the narratives we tell about the art of the Americas.
The Howard Greenberg Collection of Photographs, funded by a generous gift from the Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Charitable Trust, with Jacques Preis, Trustee, creates new possibilities to celebrate photography as an art form and in a social, cultural, and political context.
The acquisition of these three collections helps us to deepen the engagement of our visitors with art through diversification of both art form and narrative, allowing us to tell stories of interest to today’s audience—an audience that we are actively working to expand to ensure that all have the opportunity to learn through our collections. From launching free admission to K–12 teachers across New England, to extending admission and benefits to University partners and Pozen Community College Access Program students and faculty, we extended our commitment to boldly inviting our audience to engage deeply with our collections.
As we plan for the future, we will continue to strengthen our commitments to creating and encouraging engaged citizenship. The platforms we have created for this future work range from lively City Talks (free forums for convening and connecting on civic issues at the MFA) to MFA Citizens, our initiative to make the Museum a place for new Americans to make community connections and create bridges across cultures. We underlined our bold invitation with a May naturalization ceremony for more than 200 new US citizens at the MFA.
We are grateful to all of our supporters, donors, and advocates for helping us achieve our goals this year and plan for the future. Our Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors understand the need for the responsible embrace of new ideas, and the push for greater engagement with Boston and its many communities. Staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to create Invitation, Welcome, and Engagement in ways that declare the value of generosity. Our visitors and our community engage enthusiastically with us and challenge us to do more. We are poised and ready to respond to these challenges.
With anticipation for the future,