Free First Thursdays

Join us on the first Thursday of every month for a restorative evening of discovery and community. Museum admission is free from 3 pm through 9 pm. Explore art, architecture, art-making activities, and seasonal horticulture displays in the Palace. The Café is open late for dinner and drinks.

Special program this month

Visiting Curator of Performing Arts Helga Davis hosts SEEDS, a celebration of the plants in the Gardner collection, and explores how these living works of art plant seeds of inspiration in all of us and our communities. The first plant reading is at 4:30 pm and the second begins at 5:30 pm. A tribute to the Museum's many plant species will take place in the lush Courtyard, featuring live music by jazz harpist Charles Overton and his ensemble. At 7:15 pm, Tariq Al-Sabir and his 12-piece band will perform new arrangements compositions of Stevie Wonder's seminal soundtrack Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants in Calderwood Hall.  Seating for the performance in Calderwood Hall is first come, first served for general admission ticket holders. 

Art-making activities in the Bertucci Education Studio are inspired by SEEDS and by the Gardner's iconic annual hanging nasturtiums display. Join Polly Thayer Starr Studio Artist Rayna Lo in the Bertucci Education Studio to explore and draw plants from the courtyard. Decorate and take home your own nasturtium seed packet along with drawing plants from life.

Advance registration is required for free timed entry tickets. Reserve your ticket online by clicking the RESERVE YOUR TICKETS button above.

COVID-19 POLICY

The Gardner maintains its mask requirement for free and ticketed events in Calderwood Hall. Masks must be worn over the mouth and nose while in Calderwood Hall. Please contact the Box Office at 617 278 5156 for further information.