At Gardner After Hours, it’s crowded, but it’s not too crowded. Lighting is dim, cozy, and flattering. Music thumps but doesn’t drown out conversation. In the museum’s many rooms, guests chat and laugh unguardedly; the rules governing their elementary school field trips are forgotten.
Many old, collection-holding institutions now seek to offer a greater variety of museum experiences. Events with a festive atmosphere are a big part of this trend, and at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum they also reflect the spirit of it founder, a bold woman who enjoyed being the life of the party.
Past the Velvet Ropes
A pastiche palazzo, standing stately but incongruously on a reedy New England rivulet, is an interesting place to gather. One evening a month, on the third Thursday, velvet ropes on the Fenway direct a crowd inside its doors. The admission is free for members and just $5 with a college ID, the latter assuring a healthy infusion of young blood. Art majors and international students are well-represented.
Other party-goers are grown-ups here after work, and generations are brought together in a cheerful atmosphere. There’s a sense of people dressing for the occasion, even among those looking casual, but bits of whimsy keep things light. There are bold feathers in a young lady’s hair. A man’s expression hints that his pied sports coat isn’t to be taken seriously.
You’ll find a bartender station stops you from getting close to El Jaleo, and your cocktails can’t come along as you wander upstairs to really start yammering about art, but certain things are understandable. Even with such restrictions, it’s easy to relax. With so much to engage the senses, boredom’s a challenge.
The Gardner Café is open for After Hours; you can either grab a snack or sit down for a full meal. The food here is superb (it’s one of my favorite places to eat in Boston) but one might more frugally find sustenance in the $1 “bites” sold at several stations around the courtyard.
At After Hours, some attendees linger downstairs with glasses of wine. Others spend more time upstairs, pointing and chatting. Guests seem happy. The latest soirée at Isabella’s house is a successful museum experience.
For Everything, a Season
There’s also a trend for museums to have more seasonal events. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum follows this trend in some cool ways, such as the café’s “edible nasturtiums menu” referencing the dramatic display of hanging nasturtiums that blooms in April.
Along a similar vine, each monthly After Hours is given a name, but these don’t fully bloom into themes for the evening. Though folks were in a palazzo drinking bellinis, February’s After Hours didn’t have much Carnevale di Venezia flavor. The upcoming March 18th “Equinox” After Hours might similarly be mostly a name. This mightn’t bother you; don’t expect much theme and you won’t miss it.
But each third Thursday here is indeed different, especially in the performance you can see with an “After Hours PLUS” ticket. Last month, it was Cirkestra , a gypsy-jazz-klezmer band assembled by former circus clown Peter Bufano. In March, Christian Wolff presents Songs from Brecht, a world premiere written for the Callithumpian Consort. The artists perform upstairs, in a cordoned area, to an attentive sit-down crowd.
After Hours Concert in the Tapestry Room (Courtesy of the Gardner Museum)
In addition to notable entertainers, Gardner After Hour offers creative diversions that change from month to month. There are games, opportunities to sketch, and informal gallery talks that take place at different locations. If you want to get involved with any of this, be proactive and ask the helpful volunteers on hand for info. Unlike an inelegant cruiseship, the museum has no big signs or loud announcements about what is where, when.
People, music, refreshments, activities–all of these add to the festive atmosphere. But for many, the emotional highpoints of the evening will come from gazing at the precious art stuffed into room after room. It’s tough to compete against the likes of John Singer Sargent and a squadron of Italian Renaissance masters.
Fun at Fenway Court
Isabella Stewart Gardner might have enjoyed seeing us clink glasses in the house she bequeathed to the public. In Boston, our ears grow so accustomed to the elegant name of the museum’s eponymous foundress, we can forget what a pistol she was.
Married to Jack Gardner, one of Boston’s wealthiest sons, NYC-born Isabella was too ostentatious for the taste of certain Beacon Hill matrons. Their rejection didn’t much faze her. Isabella surrounded herself with a coterie of artistic bachelors who appreciated her more diva-like qualities. They all had a fabulous time in her big fancy house.
That house, “Fenway Court,” was built to look like it had been shipped in one piece from Europe. She filled it with beautiful things, including some that might be literally considered the pillages of the Old World. Although her home was purposely built to become a museum, she still entertained guests. Talented noteworthies were sometimes invited to perform, but Mrs. Gardner remained the center of attention. The press called her “Donna Isabella.”
Once, Fenway Court was a party spot for invited guests only, though the public was allowed to file through and gape at the astounding collection twice a year. Then it became the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a charming museum where the public could gape at her astonishing collection year round.
After Hours Education in the Gothic Room (Bethany Versoy, Courtesy of the Gardner Museum)
Per Isabella’s stringent stipulations, The Gardner is a museum that changed little when it stopped being a private home. The highly-personal arrangement of the collection, the lack of identifying labels, the subdued illumination, and the idiosyncratic nature of the collection itself–all of these keep this museum in a class with very few others.
Isabella’s mandate on the preservation of Fenway Court is an attempt to freeze a bit of time and space. Reconciling both the spirit and the letter of her wishes with the desire to create better museum experiences has been a particular challenge facing this institution from the start.
They generally do this well, and the After Hours is a fine example. They’re putting the established space to new use without making any changes that aren’t undone by morning. They’re also honoring one of original uses of the property: a place for friends to relax, get animated, and socialize amid glorious objects.
The Gardner’s $118 million expansion, scheduled to be open in 2012, should allow this historic institution–so long cramped inside its original footprint–many new options for engaging the public.
Time to Go
After Hours closes at 9:30 pm, three hours after doors opened. Yeah, it would be great if it went until 2 in the morning, but do we really want tipsy shenanigans around a billionty-zillion dollars worth of our art?
If you have nowhere to be Friday morning, think of Gardner After Hours as a distinctive cocktail party to start a night on the town. Whether you grab a taxi to somewhere posh, or seek out a barstool within walking distance at Brigham Circle, the joy of having begun your evening with Botticelli and Vermeer might linger.
Gardner after Hours takes place on the third Thursday of each month; the next one is March 18th and people named Isabella really do get in free.
