Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Analysis

Wrapped outside the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a crowd of sharply-dressed, young Bostonians. As the summer winds to an end, these new professionals are spending one of our final hot days standing in the sun. They aren’t waiting for a concert or a party. It’s the third Thursday of the month, and they’ve come for some live jazz and art.

As I step inside the eclectic and modern building, and you come upon one of the first events of the night. A curator for the museum is discussing the history of Roxbury, speaking over the jazz music coming from outside. After this, I step into the glass tunnel that connects the administrative building to the 103 year-old museum.

“You really need to experience the transition. This entrance into the magical kingdom that Mrs. Gardner created,” says Dr. Milda Richardson, a lecturer at

Inside, an African American woman tells her story. Born into an interracial family, she bore witness to the desegregation of Boston and the pains that came with it.

Her story tells of public ridicule, oppressive violence, and a never-ending fear. Though far different than the experiences Mrs. Garner sought to convey, this continues the mission of exposing people to a new world view.

The courtyard, which houses the cash wine bar, houses the other essential part of Third Thursdays. Every month, they have a different live art and live music event. Today, it’s Jazz and oil painting.

“It’s nice to be around people who appreciate art, who appreciate my work. It’s a great way to get my work out there” Percy Forting-Wright, a freelance painter hired for the occasion, said as he continued splashing paint on a massive canvas on the lawn.

Events like this take place on the Third Thursday of every month. The specifics change, but there is always live music, live art, and some activity to get people active within the museum, such as the scavenger hunt that took place