Free MFA Admission on Indigenous Peoples' Day 2024: Museum of Fine Arts Open House
When:
Monday, Oct 14, 2024 10:00a -
5:00p
Monday, Oct 14, 2024 10:00a -
5:00p
Where:
Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Art, Date Idea, History
Event website:
https://www.mfa.org/event/open-house/indigenous-peoples-day
Join us to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the MFA. This year, we’re offering free admission—including access to “Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore”—for Massachusetts residents. Enjoy gallery tours, engaging family art-making activities, and more! Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes and honors the heritage of Native Americans and Indigenous peoples and the histories of their many nations and communities.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the MFA is part of the Fenway Alliance’s Opening Our Doors festival, a celebration of the Fenway Cultural District.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (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 that 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.
Events and Activities:
Meet Local Partners
10 am–3 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Stop by to talk with representatives from the North American Indian Center of Boston, United American Indians of New England, Indigenous Peoples’ Day Massachusetts, and Italian Americans for Indigenous Peoples’ Day about their organizations and the work they do.
Drop-In Art Making: Pottery
10 am–4 pm (last entry 3:45 pm)
Druker Family Pavilion
Create your own pottery inspired by the many traditions of Native North America! Activity created in consultation with Mashpee Wampanoag artist Haley Peters.
Guided Tours
11 am, Noon, 1 pm, and 2 pm
Meet at Sharf Visitor Center
Wondering where to start your visit to the MFA? Experience the Museum on a free 60-minute guided tour. Led by knowledgeable guides, look closely at artwork across the MFA’s collections. Learn more about old favorites and discover something new! Participants of all ages and experiences are welcome.
Zenni Optical Vision Screenings
10 am–3 pm
Riley Seminar Room
Come by for free vision screenings and pick up some exclusive Zenni swag. Zenni Optical believes that clear vision is a right, not a privilege, and is committed to making high-quality eye care accessible to every individual, especially the youngest members of our community.
First Light Foundation
11 am and 1 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Meet Annawon Weeden, a proud member of the Mashpee Wampanoag, Pequot, and Narragansett tribes and a cultural instructor for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Cultural Resource Department. Born and raised in Charlestown, Rhode Island, Weeden passionately shares his tribal culture with the public. Alongside his cultural work, Weeden is an artist and environmental educator, promoting Indigenous art and education through the First Light Foundation.
Art-Making Demo by Haley Peters
Noon and 3pm
Gallery 168
Haley Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag) utilizes traditional techniques of pinching and coiling clay and traditional tools of bone and shell to create forms that reference historic Eastern Woodland vessels. While being inspired by the making of historical vessels, they often find joy in exaggerating and pushing these forms and methods to extremes.
Community Perspective: Nipmuc Baskets
12:30 pm
Gallery LG34
Gather with Kim Toney (Nipmuc), coordinating curator for Native American and Indigenous collections at the John Carter Brown Library, to learn more about the MFA’s Nipmuc collection.
Community Perspective: Ancestors and Place
1 pm
Gallery LG26
Join Elizabeth Solomon and Jenny Oliver (both Massachusett at Ponkapoag) as they share their experiences working on the exhibition “Ancestors and Place: Indigenous North American Prints,” which features more than 30 works—most of them recent acquisitions—by Indigenous artists from the United States and Canada
Community Perspective: Art of Attire
2 pm
Gallery 234
Join Layla Bermeo, Kristin and Roger Servison Curator of American Paintings, and Marina Tyquiengco (CHamoru), Ellyn McColgan Associate Curator of Native American Art, as they discuss “Art of Attire,” a recent installation centering Indigenous clothing and cultural exchanges.
Hawk Henries
2 and 3:15 pm
Shapiro Family Courtyard
Hawk Henries is an artist, composer, and flute musician of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuc. He expertly crafts Eastern Woodlands flutes through ancestral and contemporary techniques. His transformative performances create contemplative spaces for unity and meaningful reflection on how we each have the capacity to make change in the world. Through music, discussion, and a note of humor, he weaves a calm, engaging, and thought-provoking experience.
