Free First Thursdays at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

When:
Thursday, Jul 02, 2026 3:00p -
9:00p
Repeats monthly

Where:
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
25 Evans Way
Boston, MA

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Categories:
Art, Date Idea, History, Party

Event website:
https://www.gardnermuseum.org/calendar/free-first-thursday-202608

Meeting Esther: A Cross-Cultural Night of Art and Music


The story of Queen Esther has inspired people of a variety of religious and cultural traditions for generations—from her birthplace in ancient Persia to Amsterdam in the 1600s. Join us as we bring some of those cultural traditions to life on September’s first Free Thursday Night.


With complimentary admission offered from 5 to 9 pm, Free Thursday Nights are a chance to connect with fellow art lovers and embrace possibility. Whether you're new to the city or a local Gardner devotee, join us as often as you like as each visit becomes a new opportunity to meet others and get creative space of belonging and exploration. Bring a date, bring a friend, or come by yourself—let the Gardner Museum be your respite, art studio, and home away from home on Thursday nights.


Tickets for Free Thursday Nights are available 2 days in advance. GET TICKETS.

 

Program


Stories Within: Scroll Making with Polly Thayer Starr Studio Visiting Artist Becky Behar

5 – 8 pm, Bertucci Education Studio 

Inspired by the story of Esther and the creative potential of an unfurling story, we invite you to use one of the oldest forms of bookmaking to create a personal scroll. Reflect upon the many layers of identity and experience we carry within us through collage, drawing, and stitching in the Studio.


Music by Ira Klein

5:30 and 7 pm, Courtyard

Guitarist and composer Ira Klein will present a program of traditional Ladino, North African, and Middle Eastern Jewish music, highlighting the diversity and richness of musical traditions seldom known in the US. Additionally, Klein will share selections of his original musical project inspired by The Catalan Mahzor, a medieval illuminated Judeo-Spanish manuscript.


The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt Spotlight Talks

5 pm, 6 pm, and 7 pm, Hostetter Gallery 

Learn from a Museum Teacher about the story of the Jewish heroine and how her bravery has inspired people across time and place. 

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07/02/2026 15:00:00 07/02/2026 21:00:00 America/New_York Free First Thursdays at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum <p><strong>Meeting Esther: A Cross-Cultural Night of Art and Music</strong></p><p><br></p><p>The story of Queen Esther has inspired people of a variety of religious and cultural traditions for gene...

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