In The Company Of Artists: 25 Years Of Artists
Wednesday, October 16, 11 am – 4:30 pm Hostetter Gallery
Before In the Company of Artists opens to the public, experience a dynamic group of female artists from around the world who have been inspired by Isabellas art collection over the past 25 years through self-guided exploration or at our informal in-gallery spotlight talks at 12, 1, and 2 pm.
Introductory Talk: Who Was Isabella Stewart Gardner
20 minutesMonday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday12:30 pm and 2:30 pm
This 20-minute slide talk provides an overview of the life and legacy of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Our friendly and knowledgeable Museum Volunteers lead these talks, which are included with Museum admission. These talks take place in the New Wing.
You can watch our Intro Talk in the video below.
Learn more about the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, a radical and free-spirited woman who made it her lifes mission to collect art from around the worldand build this museum to share it with the public.
Access To The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Instructions to access free online passes for the Gardner Museum:
Please make sure you bring your Emmanuel College ID for your museum visit and see the ISGM website for information about planning a visit .
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Findings And Actions Taken
Group participants emphasized that the event should be highly social. When they went out on weeknights, they wanted an atmosphere that was markedly different from work. It was thanks to those discussions that Crites came to understand the importance of offering not just live music and DJs, but beer and wine as wellsomething of concern to the museums CFO, who worried that guests would spill drinks on works of art or expose the Gardner to other liabilities.
For Crites, however, serving alcohol was non-negotiable. After a series of discussions, she convinced museum staff to have a cash bar in the courtyard away from the collection. Security guards would ensure guests kept their drinks in designated areas.
More important to Crites and the museum staff, however, was designing a program that ensured visitors engaged with the collection and exchanged ideas in a welcoming atmosphere. Several programming elements were designed to meet that goal.
Viewfinder Talks. A cornerstone of the programming, these are informal 15-minute talks for groups of 15 gallery capacity would not allow for anymore. Led by young adult museum volunteers, they provided a low-pressure introduction to the museum by focusing on one piece in the collection and encouraging visitors to share their observations. Due to their short length, the talks were less likely to break up the flow of the evening.
Monthly Summer Events Offer Free Admission Live Performances

Neighborhood Nights at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are free to residents of nearby neighborhoods and the general public. The first of this summers Neighborhood Nights is tonight. Photo by Matt Teuten
Tonight, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is offering free admission, live music and dance performances, gallery games, and a chance to create some art of your own as part of its popular Neighborhood Nights series. Starting tonight and running through August 9, on three Thursday nights from 5 to 9 pm the Gardner invites guests to experience its world-class galleries free. The evenings are designed especially for residents of the surrounding neighborhoods of the Fenway, Mission Hill, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Dorchester.
The theme of this summers Neighborhood Nights takes its cue from a special exhibition at the museum, Life, Death & Revelry, which traces the journey of one of its most important works, the Farnese Sarcophagus, over two millennia, from ancient Rome through the modern era. Tonights event is titled Life Cycles.
The evening also features a cash bar and food trucks as well as gallery games.
The Gardners other Neighborhood Nights are Thursday, July 12, and Thursday, August 9, when the themes will be Creative Cycles and Cosmic Cycles.
Sarah Wells can be reached at .
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Tips For Visiting Like A Local:
- The Isabella Stewart Gardner museum is located in the Fenway/Kenmore area of Boston, near the Back Bay Fens. Its less than a 5 minute walk from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. And its easy to view both museums in one day.
- If you bring your MFA ticket stub to the Gardner museum within two days of purchase, you can save $2 on adult/senior general admission at the Gardner.
- MFA members can also show their membership card at the Gardner for a $2 discount on admission.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum25 Evans Way
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Extension And Preservation Project
In 2002, after a two-year master planning process, the museum’s board of trustees determined that a new wing was necessary to preserve the historic building and to provide improved spaces for programs that continue Isabella Gardner’s legacy. In 2004, Pritzker Prizewinning architect Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop were selected to design the new wing. In 2009, the final approval for the expansion project was given, but there was much debate about the carriage house. The carriage house, originally built in 1907, was argued to be important for the intent of the first owners, yet the building was torn down in hopes of having the museum preserve the main building. In 2016, the new wing was praised for its appearance by the Boston Society of Architects and awarded a medal for its beauty. The design for the new wing is conceived as a respectful complement to the historic Museum building in scale, form, and materials.
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Museum Access Request Form
The Council for the Arts at MIT provides free general admission to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , the Institute of Contemporary Art , and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for MIT students, faculty, and staff. Tickets for the MFA are available in person, day of a promo code is no longer required.
For more information or questions, please contact
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
The ICA is open and timed entry tickets are required for university members. Use the form below to receive information about reserving a free ticket through MITs ICA University Membership.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Gardner Museum is open and timed entry tickets are required. Use the form below to receive information about reserving a free ticket through MITs Gardner Museum Membership.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: The New Wing
In 2012, a new contemporary wing was added to the museum, designed by Renzo Piano. With floor to ceiling glass windows, the new wing overlooks the outdoor gardens. Its connected to the original Palace through a glass-enclosed walkway. It contains a living room area where guests can read, sit and relax or charge their phones. As well as a restaurant, a music hall and gallery space for temporary exhibitions. Right now, the museums Botticelli: Heroines + Heroes exhibition is on view in the new wing through May 19, 2019.
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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Interior Courtyard
The overall design of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum itself was heavily influenced by the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice, and was meant to resemble a 15th century palace. And nearly all of the original galleries in the Palace open up onto the museums interior Courtyard, which is kept in bloom year round.
While flowering plants can always be found in the Courtyard, a few seasons are especially spectacular. Each April, the museum installs 20 hanging nasturtiums from the 3rd floor windows, bringing a burst of bright orange to the Courtyard walls. In the summer, the garden is filled with flowering Hydrangea and hues of blue. In the fall, the garden features chrysanthemums of all different varieties and colors. The holiday garden in December features hues of red, green and silver with amaryllis, poinsettias, flowering jade and dusty miller. The majority of the plants are cultivated at the museums greenhouse in Hingham, MA. And are then painstakingly installed in the courtyard on a regular basis.
In addition to plants, the Courtyard contains many examples of medieval architecture and classical and Renaissance sculpture. Youll notice that only women are depicted in the works that inhabit the Courtyard, with no men to be found. .
While museum visitors are not permitted into the garden itself, there are ledges around the courtyard on which to sit and admire the beauty of Bostons secret garden.
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Special Opportunities To Share The Museum With Friends And Family
- Two membership cards, each admitting up to four adults
- Opportunity to book a private, docent-led tour for up to four people
- Reduced-price concert tickets and free admission to lectures
- Reciprocal membership benefits at more than 35 art museums nationwide
- Complimentary individual-level gift membership
- Personalized assistance with questions or special requests by calling the Patron line: 617-264-6045
- Assistance with booking timed entry tickets or reserving a table at Café G
- Reserved seating at concerts
If you are looking for opportunities to personally connect with and support the artsboth historical and contemporarywhile satisfying your sense of adventure and intellectual curiosity, it would be our pleasure to welcome you to this vibrant community of the Museums most loyal and valued supporters.
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In addition to the benefits listed above, Benefactors receive:
- Invitations to select post-program receptions with musicians and speakers
- Six single-use guest passes
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Art Museum Reciprocal Network
Free admission and discounts on purchases at over 30 participating museums, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Peabody Essex Museum. MAM Members at the Friends & Family level and above enjoy this benefit.
Upon presentation of a membership card designating AMRN reciprocity, members are entitled to the following privileges at participating museums:
- Free admission to the permanent collection during normal museum hours. A fee may be charged for access to ticketed exhibitions and special events.
- A discount on bookshop or museum store purchases.
- Participating museums are subject to change. Please confirm hours, admission fees, and discounts prior to your visit.
Participating museums include:
Free Admission To The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

In the spirit of beating the winter blues, admission to the Gardner is free this Thursday 2/26/2015!
Free admission will be available at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum entrance on Thursday, February 26 starting at 11 am, on a first-come, first-served basis.Entry is timed every 30 minutes beginning at 11 am, with the last entry at 8 pm.Due to capacity regulations, the Museum may only admit a specific number of visitors at once. For your safety and the safety of the collection, visitors may be asked to wait in line to enter.Admission includes access to the entire Museum, including special exhibitions.
The museum hosts exhibitions of historic and contemporary art, as well as concerts, lectures, family and community programs, and changing courtyard displays. In accordance with the will of Isabella Stewart Gardner, admittance is free to anyone named Isabella .
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Tickets & Timed Entry
To ensure a safe and enjoyable visitor experience, tickets are available for timed entry in time slots every half hour during open hours. Same-day reservations and specific time slots may not be available on popular days of the week or times of day.
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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: First Free Thursdays
Image Credit:Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
TheIsabella Stewart Gardner Museumis open!
Monday | 11 am5 pmTuesday | ClosedWednesday | 11 am5 pmThursday | 11am5pm, except for the first Thursday of the month, which will be 11am9pmFriday | 11 am5 pmSaturday | 10 am5 pmSunday | 10 am5 pm
Link for tickets:
Exhibitions & Daily events at the Gardener:
Continue to connect with us through our virtual and digital offerings, including the Inside the Collection blog, at-home programs like our Luminary Lens and In the Studio series, and our dynamic , , and feeds.
Hydrangeas Courtyard Display
On view: May-June
With the coming of warmer weather, the Courtyard features a variety of Hydrangea specimens including Hydrangea macrophylla, Hydrangea quercifolia, and Hydrangea paniculata. Both the mophead and lacecap hydrangea varieties are often grown from cuttings taken the previous year. The violets, deep blues, and whites of the hydrangeas complement the delicate yellow oncidium orchids.
First Free Thursdays!
Thursday, June 2, 2022, 3 9 PM, throughout the museum.
Join us on the first Thursday of every month for a restorative evening of discovery and community. Explore art, architecture, and seasonal horticulture displays in the Palace. The Café is open late for dinner and drinks.
Admission is free, but reservations are required.
Take a virtual tour:
Presented by Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston MA
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What Is Not There
But the Gardner is also renowned for what is not there.
The largest art heist in history took place there the night of St Patricks Day, 1990. It remains unsolved and is an active and ongoing investigation to this day. The reward for information leading to the recovery of all thirteen pieces has grown to ten million dollars. Among the works stolen were Vermeers The Concert, and three Rembrandts, including his only seascape, Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, Public Domain
A large replica of the seascape hangs on my art studio wall, and every day I look at the face of Rembrandt who grips the rigging and, hand on head, stares out at me. Surely it is his most unusual self-portrait: the artist included himself in the boat with the twelve disciples who struggle against the storm.
Isabella cleverly hung this work opposite a somewhat cocky self-portrait of Rembrandt at age twenty-three.
Self-portrait with plumed beret, 1629, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
The younger Rembrandt was the turning point in collecting that convinced Mrs. Gardener she should start a museum.
The two Rembrandts, one confident and the other storm-tossed, had to look at each eternally across the space of the Museums Dutch Room until thieves took one, and almost the other.
It was one of the only pieces of good news in the midst of a stunning crime.
Museum Pass Program Benefits
- A set of dated passes includes one pass for each day the Museum is open, covering 12 months
- Each pass provides up to four adults with $5 admission per person, redeemable at the admission desk
- Children under the age of 18 are always admitted free
Contact the Membership Office at or to learn more about the Museum Pass Program.
Or download and return this form with payment.
Please allow 2 to 3 weeks for processing.
Contact the Membership Office at or if you have questions about the Museum Pass Program.
Learn more about other general admission discounts for visitors.
25 Evans Way
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Free Admission At Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Garden Party Aug 15
MIT students will be admitted for free by showing ID at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for Third Thursdays and for the August 15 Garden Party. Third Thursdays will be from 5:30pm 9 pm. Soak up the enchanting atmosphere of the Museum after hours and enjoy a sparkling night of music, conversation, art-making, and more. Get creative, make connections, linger over drinks. Enjoy moonlit gardens, enchanting landscapes, and colorful conversations, as of August, Jazz at the Garnder, concerts are included in the price of admission to Third Thursdays. For non-members, tickets are for sale at a price range of five to fifteen dollars. Museum members are also granted free admission. For information on how to become a member visit the membership page of the museum website. Photo by KevinDerrick.