MFA Boston: America at 250 Exhibit
When:
Friday, Jun 19, 2026 10:00a -
Sunday, Aug 30, 2026 5:00p
Friday, Jun 19, 2026 10:00a -
Sunday, Aug 30, 2026 5:00p
Where:
Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Ave,
Boston, MA
Admission:
Unknown
Categories:
Art, History, Photoworthy
Event website:
https://www.mfa.org/collections/americas/america-at-250
See these new galleries for free at MFA's Juneteenth 2026 day, or at the MFA's June Open House on Sat Jun 20, 2026.
Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of American Independence, the MFA is reimagining its 18th-century galleries on level one of the Art of the Americas Wing for the first time since they opened in 2010. The new display, which opens in June 2026, brings together works from across the Americas—integrating Native and non-native, North, South, and Central American, and Caribbean art—and explores how artists have contributed to, or in some cases resisted, ideas of nationhood and identity. Visitors can immerse themselves in a range of stories and experiences, discovering the interconnectedness of the Americas and its history, institutions, and people.
- Gilbert Stuart’s unfinished portrait of George Washington (1796)—the foundational image of the nation’s first president in the public imagination—offers viewers a prescient reminder that democracy is constant work in progress.
- An early piece of American protest art, Paul Revere’s Sons of Liberty Bowl (1768) honors a group of Massachusetts rebels who paved the way for the Revolution.
- A ceramic jar (1857) by the enslaved potter and poet David Drake exemplifies literacy as an act of resistance in the decades before the Civil War.
- Thomas Sully drew on artistic traditions of heroism for The Passage of the Delaware (1819), which portrays George Washington in a dramatic scene of bravery.
- Meanwhile, a recently acquired work by Alan Michelson, a Mohawk member of Six Nations of the Grand River, offers a contemporary critique of Washington, who was known to the Mohawk Nation as “Town Destroyer.”
These and the many other works on view reveal a past in dialogue with the present and propose endless possibilities for assessing history as we look ahead to the future.
Opening Celebration, Programs, and More
Celebrate the new galleries with free admission to the MFA over two days, beginning on June 19, 2026, at the Museum’s annual Juneteenth open house, and continuing with a community celebration on June 20. Engage further with the galleries and their themes of resistance, liberty, and revolution through a slate of public programs, including lectures, a multisession course, City Talks, and more.
A number of other initiatives, developed in collaboration with community members and institutional partners, complement the galleries upon opening in 2026, including a multimedia tour, offered for free on the MFA Mobile on Bloomberg Connects app; a family guide centered around themes and artworks in the galleries; a forthcoming publication; and redeveloped teacher resources.
Museums 250
To celebrate the various American Revolution event anniversaries in 2025 prior to the reinstallation—from the firing of the first shots at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 to the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775—the MFA is partnering with the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism on their Museums 250 program.
The initiative brings the state’s revolutionary story to life by highlighting objects in the Museum’s collection that are from the period or speak to the spirit of American independence. Beginning in May 2025, look for special “MA250” stickers near certain works.
