by Ashley Thomas
Based upon social media popularity (over 11,000 interested attendees on Facebook for the March 15, 2019 event), you might suspect the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)’s Late Nite program was a well-established staple in Boston’s cultural scene.[1] Surprisingly, the crowds that party from eight o’clock to two in the morning, are a new addition to the MFA’s events calendar. I loudly replied with a curious, “Really?!” when a staff member at the Gender Bending Fashion edition mentioned that the event was only about three years old. Scanning the hundreds of milling bodies inside the open sections of the museum, and the long line of those waiting to join the fête, I had to know the details behind such a supremely successful outreach. I was met with a shrug of her shoulders – the employee didn’t know the details.
Apparently, neither did the MFA’s website.
A quick Google search was just as fruitless.
Cue a frustrating forty-five-minute Google sleuthing session that finally gave up enough clues to piece together the how and the why of MFA’s Late Nites.
Late Nites as we now know it evolved out of a Fall 2016 program series titled, “#mfaNOW,” which was part of an initiative set out in the MFA’s 2020 Strategic Plan to expand audiences.[2] This first iteration was a bit less structured than what is planned and presented today. Kicking off on September 17, 2016, “#mfaNOW Overnight: Launch Party,” was one of four, literally all-night, sessions hosted over the fall and winter months of 2016. The thought behind the multi-part event was to establish “…a season celebrating contemporary art and artists… [and] …engaging visitors with art, culture and community in new and unexpected ways.”[3] Each session accomplished that vision based around one of four themes – Launch Party, College Edition, State of the Party, and Last Call. Additionally, the event was free to the public and featured new museum exhibitions, as well as local musicians/DJs, artists, and chefs/restaurants. It was a wonderful intersection of international and local that welcomed over 23,000 visitors in total.[4]
The Museum definitely succeed in their “…most ambitious project … undertaken in recent memory… [and] …attempt to make the museum a community gathering space and to engage a younger generation of art enthusiasts.”[5] Hence, MFA Late Nites, the current evolution that continues this unique and celebratory method of outreach. The first Late Nite launched October 13, 2017, netting over 4,000 visitors.[6] And the series has moved forward, with at least two episodes planned for this year – the first just weeks ago on March 15, and the second slated for May. The March event, “Gender 
Bending Fashion,” was a rousing celebration of gender and sexuality of all forms, through the lens of fashion. Attendees embraced the ability to openly express and put on display their gender and sexual identity. According to Luis Ardila, a friend I attended the event with, such open spaces are a rare occurrence in Boston, in comparison to other cosmopolitan cities like New York. His statement explained why the Museum was so packed with eager visitors – it was a celebration of their icons, their clothing, their identity, their self-image, in a way that is not widely provided.
According to the MFA’s mission statement: “It [the Museum] celebrates diverse cultures and welcomes new and broader constituencies. The Museum is a place in which to see and learn. It stimulates in its visitors a sense of pleasure, pride and discovery which provides aesthetic challenge and leads to greater cultural awareness and discernment.”[7] Indeed, the Late Nites program series is evidence that the Museum takes their mission seriously and intentionally seeks out new audiences.
All are welcomed. Period.
So, hurry up and get your ticket for the May Late Nite, you don’t want to miss out on the most interesting party in Boston.
[1]. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Billy Dean Thomas, “MFA Late Nites: Gender Bending Fashion” event page, https://www.facebook.com/events/569765813539115/.
[2]. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MFA 2020: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Strategic Plan,” (2016), 5. http://mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com/MFA-2020_Strategic-Plan.pdf.
[3]. “#mfaNOW, a Season Celebrating Contemporary Art and Artists at MFA Boston, Will Feature Exhibitions, Overnight Parties and Programs,” mfa.org. https://www.mfa.org/news/mfanow.
[4]. Matthew Teitelbaum, “The Museum Year 2017 Annual Report – Director’s Message,” mfa.org. https://www.mfa.org/annual-report-2017/director.html.
[5]. Carly Sitrin, “MFA then is about to meet #mfaNOW,” Boston Globe (Boston, MA), September 14, 2016.
[6]. Dorene McCourt, “Patron Program Committee – MFA 2020: The Museum Plans for the Future,” mfa.org, published January 25, 2018, https://www.mfa.org/membership/patron-program/news/2018/winter/mfa-2020.
[7]. “Mission Statement – Adopted by the Board of Trustees, February 28, 1991,” mfa.org, https://www.mfa.org/about/mission-statement.