Museums and our communities are interconnected; museums become more alive through their audiences. In the year just ended, we welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播, our greatest number of visitors in the past 20 years.
It is our obligation and our privilege to serve these audiences. To link them to one another and create ways of understanding that lead to new truths. And to listen. In a moment of seismic shifts, we can embrace change in how we learn, how we share, and how we gather with others.
The strength and popularity of the past year鈥檚 exhibitions and gifts of art were a tribute to the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 unique history, the depth of our collections, and the energy of our staff to create dialogue and new partnerships.
鈥淎nsel Adams in Our Time鈥� (December 13, 2018鈥揊ebruary 24, 2019) allowed us to imagine the artist as advocate, pointing to new possibilities for living ethically and with determination. The iconic visual legacy of Ansel Adams continues to inspire and provoke. Through photographs by Adams and others, 鈥淎nsel Adams in Our Time鈥� offered a new perspective connecting his passion for the environment and the land鈥攂ack to his 19th-century predecessors and forward to contemporary photographers who engage with these issues today. His works point to a way of committing to thought and action, to create change.
On rare occasions, gifts to museums have the ability to create change, to transform collections. In December 2018 the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 received the largest, most significant gift of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in its history: the Wan-go H. C. Weng Collection. Representing a range of artworks acquired by and passed down through six generations of a single family, this remarkable gift beautifully complements the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播鈥檚 existing masterpieces. Wan-go Weng has said, 鈥淢y whole life is connected to Chinese paintings and calligraphy. The first museum I ever visited in the US was the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. . . . I am so happy that both collections are together now鈥攊t鈥檚 almost like destiny.鈥� We are exceptionally grateful, and are committed to sharing his extraordinary collection with future generations.
"Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular" (February 27鈥揓une 19, 2019), the Museum's first exhibition about the artist, was revelatory, showing the influence of Mexican folk art on her now iconic paintings. The exhibition illuminated the dialogue between Kahlo鈥檚 art, her political views, and her role as a collector and champion of arte popular and its makers鈥攁nd of Mexican national culture. It also broadened discussions about the influences of unidentified folk artists on famed modern painters.
鈥淕ender Bending Fashion鈥� (March 21鈥揂ugust 25, 2019) explored the last 100 years of fashion that challenges鈥攁nd transcends鈥攂inary definitions of dress. It was an exhibition of the history of self-expression and hidden histories. In order to create inclusive yet declarative content that would draw and engage audiences, we gathered insights from roundtables of diverse voices from our community. The result was an exhibition woven through with new narratives of struggle, defiance, empowerment, comfort, freedom, individuality, and nonconformity.
鈥淭oulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris鈥� (April 7鈥揂ugust 4, 2019) featured more than 200 evocative works by Lautrec and his contemporaries drawing from the Museum鈥檚 collection and that of the Boston Public Library, a true collaboration in every way鈥攆rom curatorial and conservation decisions to coordinated public programs鈥攁 civic partnership that included a range of public programs at the 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 and BPL with benefits to members of both.
Our work as a public institution in this moment is important. Our communities need us. We have the opportunity to gather with purpose, and to share our collections and the many interpretations of them. We can bring meaning and pleasure into people鈥檚 lives, extend an invitation to come together, and give voice to a range of ideas.
As we anticipate our 150th year, we will honor our past, remember our founders and their principles, while we reimagine our 澳门六合彩开奖现场直播 for our 21st-century audiences. We will reaffirm our commitment to excellence in all that we do鈥攊ncluding exhibitions with international partnership, and community partnerships that help develop audiences. We will recommit to enhancing the power of art and artists, with a renewed focus on the community in which we live.
With anticipation for the future,