Saturday Open Studios
Marks of Attention: Ink Drawing at the Gardner
Free with Museum Admission
Saturday
July 11, 2026
1 - 4 pm
Bertucci Education Studio
Have you ever fallen in love with a painting because of a brushmark? Do you remember a certain work of art because of its patterned border? Polly Thayer Starr Visiting Studio Artist Christine Chiang asks us to slow down and find the smaller moments present in the Gardner collection, whether that is a tree on a painted screen or the flow of color inside a Courtyard blossom.
Photo courtesy of Christine Chiang
This Open Studio encourages visitors to engage with the art of slow looking and art making using the fluid medium of ink. Through various demonstrated approaches, visitors are invited to play with mark making, leaving with a renewed sense of attention, curiosity and artistic experimentation.
About the Artist
Photo courtesy of Christine Chiang
Christine Chiang is an artist whose work brings together craft traditions, cultural inheritance, and close material observation. Having grown up between Taiwan and Europe, she brings a cross-cultural perspective to her engagement with material traditions. Her relationship to ink is rooted in watching her grandfather practice calligraphy and shanshui painting—traditions that approach mark making as an act of attention. That understanding carries into her ceramic work, where glaze is treated with the same quality of looking—present to what settles and remains.
Chiang holds an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her background spans film production and the broader arts sector, informing an interdisciplinary approach to making, research, and presentation.
TICKETS I MUSEUM ADMISSION
Open Studios are free with Museum admission, and participation is drop-in on a first-come, first-served basis. Advance registration for general admission is encouraged.
Purchase your ticket by clicking on the GET TICKETS button above.
Questions about accessibility? Please call the Box Office at 617 278 5156 to request accessible or companion seating, or to inquire about other accommodations in advance of the program.
Studio activities are made possible by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust. The Museum is also supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the State of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Polly Thayer Starr (1904-2006) was an accomplished artist who captured the culture and whimsy of her native Boston with a unique combination of detail, emotion, and curiosity. For more, visit the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust online at www.pollythayerstarr.org.
