Museum Exhibits in Boston to Check Out Before They Disappear

From the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

My Mothers by May Stevens
My Mothers by May Stevens | Photo by Mel Taing, courtesy of MassArt Art Museum
My Mothers by May Stevens | Photo by Mel Taing, courtesy of MassArt Art Museum

Boston is home to some of the most famous museums in the country—from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. While the establishments themselves draw crowds and plenty of attention, it’s the world-renowned works that bring about enthusiasts.

With the new season comes a bevy of fun things to do around the city, so make sure to pencil in spending an afternoon checking out one of Boston's many world-class museums. Curators across art, science, and other disciplines have crafted some truly exceptional exhibits across the city, so plan a date night or round up some friends and head to the coolest museum exhibits in Boston right now—but hurry before it’s too late.

Art of the Brick Boston
Photo courtesy of Art of the Brick Boston

343 Newbury St

Copley
Exhibition: Art of the Brick Boston
The world’s most popular LEGO art display, Art of the Brick, is back in Boston after welcoming sold-out crowds back in 2014. Brought to you by artist Nathan Sawaya, this critically-acclaimed exhibit features more than 70 original sculptures (like a 20-foot T-rex!) and re-imaged versions of some of the most famous works of art including Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, all built solely out of LEGOS.
Dates: Now through April 23
How to buy tickets: Standard tickets are available online for $28 per adult

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Fellow Wanderer: Isabella’s Travel Albums | Photo courtesy of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Fenway
Exhibition: Fellow Wanderer: Isabella’s Travel Albums
For a solid two decades, Isabella Stewart Gardener traveled the world with her husband Jack, touching down in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. Throughout the course of their explorations, Isabella captured a number of photos, jotted down notes, collected a variety of papers, and tucked away pressed botanicals in her collaged albums, which are currently on display at the museum for a limited time. To catch a glimpse of these albums, which contain artifacts from her time in Egypt, China, India, Venice, and more, you can take a peek at the museum’s gallery guide.
Dates: Now through May 21
How to buy tickets: General admission tickets are available online for $20 per adult ticket

Fenway
Exhibition: Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence
Known for his iconic landscape prints, like the Great Wave and Red Fiji, 19th century painter and printmaker Katsushika Hokusai has inspired the likes of artists both during his time and still to this day. To pay homage to his work, and reflect on his impact, the major exhibit, Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence, showcases more than 100 woodblock prints, paintings and illustrated books by Hokusai in addition to over 200 Hokusai-inspired works created by the talented artists that followed him.
Dates: March 26 to July 16
Cost: General admission tickets are available online for $27 per adult ticket
How to visit: Museum is open Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm; Thursday and Friday from 10 am to 10 pm

My Mothers by May Stevens
My Mothers by May Stevens | Photo by Mel Taing, courtesy of MassArt Art Museum

Fenway
Exhibition: My Mothers by May Stevens
Born in Dorchester in 1924, artist, poet and teacher May Stevens was committed to using her voice and artistic talents to make a political stance, often criticizing the American patriarchy and championing the Civils Rights movement. In a celebration of women’s rights, Stevens’ My Mothers juxtaposes her mother’s ideals by pairing her birth mother with her “spiritual mother,” Marxist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg.
Dates: Now until July 30
How to buy tickets: No entry tickets required

Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina
Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina | Photo courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Fenway
Exhibition: Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina
With historic vessels that have yet to been seen outside of the South, the MFA’s Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina exhibit showcases 60 ceramic objects from the Old Edgefield District, South Carolina, a center of stoneware production that existed decades before the Civil War. The objects, which include monumental storage jars by the enslaved potter and poet David Drake, are also accompanied by the works of leading Black contemporary artists.
Dates: Now until July 9
How to buy tickets: General admission tickets are available online for $27 per adult ticket

Fenway
Exhibition: Something Old, Something New
For those that are not inundated with wedding plans this year (or for those that can’t get enough), the MFA’s Something Old, Something New exhibit explores the origins of American wedding customs from the 19th century to present day. Items on display range from MFA’s fashion collection–including gowns, shoes, jewelry and more–to a gold wedding band made by Paul Revere, yes, the Paul Revere. You’ll just have to save the date as the exhibit doesn’t come around until the end of May.
Dates: May 27 to October 1
How to buy tickets: Tickets not yet on sale. Stay tuned on the MFA's website.

Spirits: Tsherin Sherpa with Robert Beer
Spirits: Tsherin Sherpa with Robert Beer | Photo courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum

Salem
Exhibition: Spirits: Tsherin Sherpa with Robert Beer
Presented in the form of a narrative, Himalayan artist Tsherin Sherpa captures loss, struggle, and re-empowerment as Tibetan Buddhist deities navigate the modern world in his thought-provoking Spirits series. As Dr. John Henry Rice, exhibition organization at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, said about the 36 works, “they contain the artist’s contemplation of struggles faced by Tibetans and other displaced peoples while inviting viewers to examine their own experiences with loss and re-empowerment.” The exhibit also weaves in line drawings by British artist Robert Beer, known as one of the first Westerners to study thangka painting.
Dates: Now until May 29
How to buy tickets: General admission tickets are available online for $20 per adult ticket

María Berrío: The Children’s Crusade
María Berrío: The Children’s Crusade | Photo courtesy of Institute of Contemporary Art Boston

Seaport
Exhibition: María Berrío: The Children’s Crusade
Through a meticulous process of collaging delicate pieces of Japanese paper with watercolors, Colombian-born artist María Berrío’s large-scale works are greatly inspired by present-day realities faced by migrants, particularly women and children. In The Children’s Crusade, Berrío reflects on the contemporary mass movement of unaccompanied children across borders by finely intertwining these contemporary realities with a sense of innocence, nature, and magic.
Dates: Now until August 6
How to buy tickets: General admission tickets are available online for $15 per adult ticket

Seaport
Exhibition: The Stories that Make Us
Organized by the ICA’s Teen Exhibitions Program, which is a group of creative teens that plan and install work within the museum’s Teen Gallery, The Stories that Make Us explores the personal stories of migration, belonging, and overcoming adversity as told by high school students.
Dates: Now until May 25
How to buy tickets: No entry tickets required

McMullen Museum
The House My Father Built by Sadik Kwaish Alfraji in the Landscape of Memory exhibit | Photo courtesy of McMullen Museum

Brighton
Exhibition: Landscape of Memory
Dates: Now until June 4
Brought to you by the United Arab Emirates-based initiative Barjeel Art Foundation, which focuses on highlighting artists with Arab heritage internationally, Landscape of Memory presents a collection of installations from 1998 to 2011 that represent the causes and effects of war, personal and national identity, exile and belonging, and memory and commemoration across a multitude of media from film to sculptures.
How to buy tickets: No entry tickets required

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Jillian Hammell is a contributor for Thrillist. You can follow her on Instagram.