MFA hosts Thelma Golden as part of 150th-anniversary kickoff

Susan Saccoccia

A recipient of NEA Arts Journalism fellowships in dance, theater and music, Susan reviews visual and performing arts in the U.S. and overseas.

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On Feb. 5, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston kicked off its year-long 150th-anniversary celebration with great spirit, generosity and style. Welcoming all with free admission, a host of inviting programs, and free one-year memberships available to attendees of its community and Late Nite events, the MFA was the liveliest place in town.

Its galleries were full of visitors of every age and color, gazing at works spanning millennia, continents and cultural traditions. They sat in circles, sketching works under the guidance of volunteers, or mingled as they took in such vibrant works as Richard Yarde’s 1989 watercolor of Lindy Hop dancers at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem featured in the marvelous “Black Histories, Black Futures” exhibition running through the central core of the museum from Huntington Avenue to the Fenway. Curated by local high school students, the exhibition presents 20th-century works by American artists of color.

Meanwhile, before a capacity audience in the museum’s Remis Auditorium, MFA Director Matthew Teitelbaum hosted Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, for a conversation entitled “Museums: Our History and Our Future.”

An authority on contemporary artists of African descent, Golden holds a BA in art history and African American studies from Smith College. Before assuming leadership of the Studio Museum, Golden was an influential curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where she organized numerous groundbreaking exhibitions, including “Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in American Art,” in 1994.

Directed by Golden since 2005, the Studio Museum is the world’s leading institution devoted to visual art by artists of African descent and a cultural anchor in the Harlem community. New York Times art critic Holland Cotter describes the museum as “one of New York City’s most consistently stimulating and innovative art institutions.” Golden’s vision for the museum extends beyond its galleries. Under her leadership, the Studio Museum is replacing its current building with a purpose-built facility designed by Adjaye Associates, which developed the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

In a widely viewed five-minute TED talk, Golden speaks of the potential role of a museum as a living laboratory that creates space for artists to make and show works that advance dialogue about race, culture and community. These values inform the design of the Studio Museum’s new facility, which also takes cues from Harlem’s brownstone buildings, churches and sidewalk social life. Planned features include a 199-seat “inverted stoop” for outdoor performances, and indoors, a four-story atrium that evokes the elevating space of a church sanctuary.

Conducting his conversation with Golden as a Q&A, Teitelbaum began by asking her to talk about her journey. Golden spoke of her father, a World War II veteran who earned a law degree under the GI Bill and opened his own insurance business, which exists today just around the corner from the museum; and her mother, who had her own career and then joined him in his practice.

Her parents were well pleased, she said, to see that after an elite education in private schools and Smith College, she became the Whitney’s first African American curator. When Golden decided to become director of the Studio Museum, her conservative father was proud that she was bringing her talents into the community. Her mother, ostensibly the more liberal of the two, at first had mixed feelings about a career move that returned her daughter to Harlem. “But that passed,” said Golden. “Both of my parents have a deep belief in the community. And they believe in New York City.”

When Teitelbaum asked, “What drives you?” Golden responded, “My deep belief in more space for black artists.” He then asked, “What do you want to change?” She replied, “Everything,” adding, “I want to change our cultural institutions so that they are as richly diverse as our culture.”

Visitors who are not already members of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston can attend any of its Community Celebrations or MFA Late Nites in 2020 and sign up for a free, one-year membership.

Listen to Thelma Golden’s TED Talk: “How Art Gives Shape to Cultural Change”