Inclusion at the MFA

Four visitors looking at contemporary ceramic vessels seemingly made from broken ceramic fragments
Four visitors looking at contemporary ceramic vessels seemingly made from broken ceramic fragments

From our exhibitions and galleries to our programming and our visitor welcome, every aspect of the MFA experience is designed to foster a sense of belonging. We are committed to ensuring that all visitors see themselves reflected at the MFA.

Leading with art, we envision moving forward as a museum that models an ecosystem and culture of empathy, kindness, curiosity, creativity, and respect. The MFA values our community of employees, volunteers, leaders, and audiences, bringing a collective responsibility to embrace and leverage the beauty and strength that grows from our differences. We pledge to remain in a mode of inquiry and open and transparent dialogue about our challenges and successes.

Grounded in a holistic view of inclusion, we seek to ensure that staff and volunteers create a visitor experience characterized by a strong sense of belonging. We consider always our language, choices, and practices to ensure they reflect the MFA’s commitment to an inclusive and accessible environment for all—visitors, staff, artists, and volunteers.

We are eager to learn from the communities we serve and welcome feedback at any time. With humility, we aspire to be a culturally competent, inclusive, and accessible institution that reflects the city of Boston, and celebrates a diversity of perspectives and lived experiences.

Land Acknowledgment

“The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (the MFA) is in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, stands on the historic homelands of the Massachusett people, a site which has long served as a place of meeting and exchange among different nations. ​As a museum, we acknowledge the long history of the land we occupy today and seek ways to make Indigenous narratives more prominent in our galleries and programming. We can all learn more about the Massachusett people, who continue to be the stewards of this land, by visiting massachusetttribe.org.”

Audio Tours on MFA Mobile

With tours including Latin American and Latinx Artists, Jewish Stories, Art by Women, Black Arts and Artists, and much more, MFA Mobile on Bloomberg Connects highlights the breadth and variety of our collections. The popular platform is free, text-translatable into dozens of languages, and features exceptional accessibility content like text transcripts and audio descriptions of the art.

Conclusion of Memorandum of Understanding with the Attorney General’s Office

Following allegations of discrimination after a 2019 student visit from the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Academy (DLA), the MFA developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in 2020. This MOU committed the Museum to revising internal policies, engaging in reconciliation efforts, developing community initiatives, and establishing a $500,000 implementation fund to facilitate those efforts. In partnership with the DLA, and with the approval of the Attorney General, the fund was transformed into the Helen Y. Davis Leadership Endowment, supporting MFA programs for DLA alumni and professional development for Massachusetts teachers. This marked the completion of the Museum's commitments under the MOU. The Museum’s initiatives during the period of the MOU can be found in the Reports listed below.