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This was the home of Rose Standish Nichols – a landscape gardener, pacifist, suffragist, a member of the Cornish Art Colony, and one of the founders of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. The four-story house preserves the lifestyle of a typical Beacon Hill family during the 19th and early 20th century. The rooms, converted to galleries, showcase the original furnishing and art pieces the Nichols’ collected over the years, such as 17th and 19th centuries American and European wooden furniture, Flemish tapestries, family portraits, oriental rugs, Italian paintings, and a sculpture made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Hear the story of Rose and her family, and enjoy special events, including ‘Nichols after Dark’, gallery talks, and the Traditional Beacon Hill Eggnog Party. Read more...

The Museum of the National Center of Afro American is dedicated to the heritage of black art and culture worldwide, including African, African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Latin. The exhibits reveal the personal as well as the collective narratives of the African diaspora throughout the years. Explore the diverse collection of historical and contemporary art – from sculpture and painting to photography and decorative arts. Enjoy the changing exhibitions and the permanent exhibit of the Aspelta tomb – a burial chamber of a Nubian King. Visitors are welcome to participate in education programs, both for adults and children, and attend special events such as lectures, conversation with the curator, and the annual Black Nativity Performance. The National Center of Afro-American Artists, and later the museum, was established in 1968 by Dr. Elma Lewis, an arts educator. Her goal was to create an artistic and cultural center that celebrates black art and empower black intellectual and creative development. Read more...

The museum is named after its founder Isabella Stewart Gardner, an art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. The museum, opened in 1903, housed in a building designed like a Venetian Renaissance palace with an interior garden courtyard covered by a glass roof. The first art pieces displayed in the museum were from Gardner’s private collection. After realizing that their house is not a proper place to display their growing art collection, Isabella Stewart Gardner and her husband decided to build a museum. When her husband passed away, Gardner purchased the land and helped to design the structure of the museum. She moved into the museum and personally arranged the works of art in the galleries. Her vision was to create a place of joy and education for the public forever. The site of her former home, at 152 Beacon Street, is a stop on the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail. The museum became world famous as the victim to the biggest unsolved art theft in world history, when in 1990 two men dressed as police stole 13 works of art by masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas. Today their empty frames are hanging in the museum, as symbols of hope. Inspired by the unfortunate happening, French Conceptual artist Sophie Calle has created her famous series “Last Seen” – replacing the stolen artworks with texts describing them. The series has been exhibited around the world. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum consists more than 7,500 artworks, including painting, sculptures, ceramics, textile, furniture, rare books, and archival objects from ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, Medieval and Renaissance Europe, Asia, 19th-century America, and the Islamic world. One of its iconic cultural offerings was a performance by Ruth St. Denis and singing by Australian opera star Nellie Melba. Among its diverse collection of fine art, there are works by Vermeer, Botticelli, and Rembrandt, as well as a contemporary art collection and works by Bunker, Whistler, and Sargent. The museum is also an Artist-in-Residence program, where artists live and create. Visitors are welcome to stroll the courtyard and the greenhouse, enjoy the display of flowers and plants, and participate in special events, such as lectures, concerts, performances, and open studios. Read more...