The new venue, originally built in 1927 in the Roman Renaissance Revival style, now includes 30,000 gross square feet of space and triples the museum's exhibition areas. (Photographs by Gary Wayne Gilbert)
The McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College, which has presented critically acclaimed exhibitions for more than two decades, this month reveals its new, world-class space at 2101 Commonwealth Avenue.
An important cultural resource for the University, as well as for visitors from Boston and around the world, the McMullen's exhibitions rival those of far larger, more comprehensive museums and provide an intimate, and often exclusive, view of diverse and outstanding work. The Museum has been recognized nationally and internationally for groundbreaking interdisciplinary exhibitions on artists such as Edvard Munch, Paul Klee, Georges Rouault, Wifredo Lam and Gustave Courbet; and for exhibitions that feature classical archaeology and material culture and showcase decorative arts. In keeping with the University鈥檚 central teaching mission, exhibitions are accompanied by scholarly catalogues and related public programs.
Funded in part by a gift to Boston College from the McMullen Family Foundation, the new venue, built in 1927 in the Roman Renaissance Revival style, now includes 30,000 gross square feet of space and triples the Museum's exhibition areas.
鈥淭he renovation and expansion of this landmark Renaissance Revival building has created a state-of-the-art facility that will enhance the McMullen鈥檚 role as a leading presenter of exhibitions of international importance and multi-use spaces for displaying Old Master and American paintings from the Museum鈥檚 collection,鈥� said McMullen Museum Director and Professor of Art History Nancy Netzer. 鈥淲ith this building, the McMullen joins the ranks of this country鈥檚 finest university museum facilities.
鈥淲e are grateful for the leadership of Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J.; to the Patrons of the McMullen, led by C. Michael Daley; and to faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of Boston College who contributed to the vision for the project and supported it from its inception," Netzer said. "I particularly thank the McMullen Family Foundation for their generous lead gift to the project, and Jacqueline McMullen in particular, for being the most wise, informed, engaged, and gracious benefactor with whom a director could hope to collaborate.鈥�
鈥淭he McMullen Museum of Art has a well-earned reputation for organizing and hosting world-class exhibitions that bring scholars from around campus and across the globe into conversation about the visual arts and the humanities more broadly,鈥� said Boston College Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley.
"The McMullen has over the last two decades enriched our campus culture and attracted audiences from around the Boston area and well beyond," he said. "The Museum鈥檚 marvelous new home on the Brighton Campus is cause for campus-wide celebration as it affords expanded and glorious new space for future exhibitions."
The new venue features main galleries on the second floor, a smaller gallery and support space on the third, and a large rooftop terrace. A University conference center with reception rooms on the first floor displays Old Master and nineteenth-century American paintings from the Museum鈥檚 permanent collection.
鈥淭he journey to establish a permanent home for the McMullen Museum of Art has culminated with great excitement, producing a magnificent new and expanded state-of-the-art facility which will afford the McMullen the opportunity to attract world-class exhibitions and programs to our campus, to better serve and inform our students, faculty, and the Greater Boston community,鈥� said 1958 alumnus C. Michael Daley, chair of the Museum's Patrons鈥� Committee and a parent of 1980 and 1988 51茶馆 graduates.
Beginning in 2014, architectural planning and design firm DiMella Shaffer reconfigured the existing 23,000-square-foot space and designed a three-story, 7,000-square-foot glass addition. The renovation preserved the exterior fa莽ade, and complements the architecture of the original building, which was designed by architectural firm Maginnis and Walsh in 1927.
The two main exhibition galleries greatly enlarge the Museum鈥檚 previous temporary exhibition space. The Daley Family Gallery on the second floor鈥攏amed through a gift from C. Michael and Janet Daley鈥攊s 4,800 square feet. An open-plan sculpture gallery on the third floor leads to the 925-square-foot Monan Gallery, named through a gift from 1978 51茶馆 alumnus Christopher Toomey in honor of 51茶馆 Chancellor and former President J. Donald Monan, S.J. Movable gallery walls allow the spaces to be tailored to the needs of each exhibition.
The glass atrium offers generous natural light and views of the formal lawn and grounds. It also showcases a 127-year-old triptych by American stained glass artist John La Farge (1835鈥�1910), a recent gift to the University from McMullen Museum Patrons William Vareika, a 1974 alumnus, and his wife, Alison, who are the parents of 2009 and 2015 51茶馆 graduates. The gift was made in honor of 51茶馆 President William P. Leahy, S.J., Chancellor J. Donald Monan, S.J., the late William B. Neenan, S.J., who was vice president and special assistant to the president, and John La Farge, S.J., the artist鈥檚 son.
The triptych features a preaching Christ, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Paul. The three panels鈥攅ach of which weighs approximately 150 pounds鈥攗nderwent fifteen months of restoration in 2013鈥�15 and were the centerpiece of an exhibition on La Farge presented last fall at the McMullen Museum. ().
In addition, a temporary exhibition of eight recent paintings by Boston College Professor of Art Andrew Tavarelli, titled Global Convergences, has been installed in the McMullen鈥檚 new atrium.
The new museum is made possible through the support of longtime benefactors and namesakes, including the late John McMullen, who served on the Boston College Board of Trustees, and his wife, Jacqueline, who shared a deep interest in art and collecting. Mr. McMullen was a naval architect, businessman, marine engineer, and a former owner of the New Jersey Devils and Houston Astros.
鈥淭he new facility provides a more welcoming and accessible venue with expanded features for members of the community,鈥� said Jacqueline McMullen, whose family鈥檚 connection to Boston College spans three generations. 鈥淲e hope to share the Museum鈥檚 groundbreaking exhibitions with an even wider audience.
鈥淥ur hopes are for a university museum that focuses on scholarly research and on educating the next generation of museum goers, curators, and trustees. The McMullen Family Foundation has always had the education of students and the public at large as one of its primary goals. Through this new museum we endeavor to foster a heightened appreciation and enthusiasm for art among 51茶馆 and other Boston-area students.鈥�
The inaugural exhibition at the McMullen's new venue, , is the first to showcase highlights of medieval and Renaissance illumination in the Boston area, through collections that comprise one of the most important ensembles of illuminated manuscripts anywhere in North America. Beyond Words, which is the continent鈥檚 largest exhibition of these works, will be on view from September 12鈥揇ecember 11, 2016.
In another first, the exhibition will be displayed at three concurrent Boston venues: the McMullen, Harvard University鈥檚 Houghton Library, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Each venue will highlight one of the three principal contexts for the production of books in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and related developments in design, script, and decoration.
An opening celebration at the McMullen Museum鈥攚hich will preview Beyond Words and welcome local community members, friends of the museum, and 51茶馆 alumni will be held on September 10 and 11 from noon to 5 p.m., with lectures at 2 p.m. each day by McMullen director Nancy Netzer (鈥淭he McMullen: Building a University Museum outside the Box鈥�) on Saturday and Jeffrey F. Hamburger, a curator of the Beyond Words exhibition, (鈥淒evotion and Invention in a Mass of St. Gregory by the Master of the Houghton Miniatures (a.k.a. Hugo van der Goes?)鈥�) on Sunday.
The inaugural exhibition will be accompanied by a range of free public programming throughout its run, as well as a three-day, multi-venue international conference.
In addition, the McMullen is launching a student ambassador program at the new venue that employs Boston College undergraduates in capacities ranging 鈥渇rom greeters to tweeters,鈥� Netzer noted, and a variety of new programming for 51茶馆 students as well as for children and adults of all ages.
Formerly housed in Devlin Hall, the McMullen Museum is located on 51茶馆鈥檚 65-acre Brighton Campus. It continues to be free and open to the public seven days a week, with newly expanded opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday鈥揝unday from noon to 5 p.m. Docent tours are offered at 2 p.m. on Sundays, and are also arranged upon request.
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鈥擱osanne Pellegrini | News & Public Affairs