MLK Day Open House: Free Admission to the Museum of Fine Arts

Tickets available in person on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free with a valid Massachusetts zip code.

Join us for our annual MLK Day Open House, presented in partnership with Citizens. This year, MFA Boston offers free admission—including access to “Life Magazine and the Power of Photography”—for Massachusetts residents.

Celebrate the legacy of Dr. King by surrounding yourself with art making, performances, and talks with members of our community!

For 21 consecutive years, Citizens has sponsored MFA Boston’s MLK Day Open House—allowing the Museum to welcome more than 120,000 visitors into our galleries to enjoy free performances, tours, talks, art-making activities, and more.

Events and Activities

Drop-In Art Making: Monoprints

10 am–4 pm

Druker Studios, Linde Family Wing

Create one-of-a-kind works of art inspired by “Frank Bowling’s Americas” using a Gelli printing plate and ink.

MFA Boston Job Fair

11 am–2 pm

Shapiro Family Courtyard

Learn about engaging, dynamic, and fun career opportunities at MFA Boston, and take part in open interviews for security officer positions. Learn more about job openings at the Museum and find out how you can apply.

Music from DJ WhySham

11 am–3:30 pm

Shapiro Family Courtyard

Enjoy music from Dorchester native DJ WhySham, a visionary, activist, traveler, sister, godparent, and Boston’s “community DJ.” She is a three-time nominee for DJ of the Year at the Boston Music Awards and was the only woman nominated for Producer of the Year at the the 2021 New England Music Awards. In 2021, she was named to WBUR’s Artery 25 list of artists of color transforming Greater Boston’s cultural landscape.

An ‘Embrace’ Conversation: Legacy and Community in Public Art

Noon–1 pm

Remis Auditorium

Join artist Hank Willis Thomas and public art project manager Sam Giarratani as they discuss the making of The Embrace, Boston’s newest public art project celebrating the work and lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

Free ticket required. Available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Remis Auditorium box office beginning 60 minutes before the program. Please note this event has limited availability.

Touching Roots

1–1:20 and 2:30–2:50 pm

Gallery 332

Enjoy a short talk and performance by artist Stephen Hamilton and poet Amanda Shea in the exhibition “Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas.”

Interactive Painting with Artists For Humanity

1–4 pm

Shapiro Family Courtyard

Join teens from Artists For Humanity (AFH) by adding your creative touch to a painting celebrating themes of social justice, equality, and unity. AFH is a local organization working to bridge economic, racial, and social divisions by providing under-resourced urban youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in art and design. Learn more about Artists for Humanity.

Welcome Remarks

1:15 pm

Shapiro Family Courtyard

Hear from Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director; Lisa Murray, Massachusetts president, Citizens Bank; and Jason Talbot, cofounder of Artists for Humanity, as they welcome you to the MLK Day Open House.

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