GARDNER GALA 2026

Support the development of cutting-edge exhibitions and dynamic public programming that will forge connections with new audiences and expand the Gardner’s role as a cultural hub in Greater Boston.

Help the Gardner Museum engage the next generation of museum professionals with your support of the Gardner Ambassadors Program, which welcomes up to 20 student interns from Bunker Hill Community College and UMass Boston at the Museum each year. This innovative program offers students a unique opportunity and an entry point into the museum field.

Expand the number of students engaged and teachers trained through the Gardner’s Thinking Through Art program in partnership with the Boston Public Schools. Boston’s only arts-based intensive professional development program for K–12 teachers, this program uses a student-centered discussion method called Visual Thinking Strategies which fosters students’ critical thinking, collaboration, and confidence and helps create a community of true learners.

Nurture the Museum’s extraordinary living collection, which dates back to Isabella’s time, with a gift to help fund the ten breathtaking horticultural displays in the Courtyard. Your support ensures this ever-changing centerpiece continues to delight and inspire visitors in every season.

Support the Gardner’s most popular nights by helping make the Museum and its exciting public programs free and accessible. Each Free First Thursday welcomes more than 1,500 visitors to experience the Museum and its vibrant offerings in a single evening.

Make a contribution to support the Museum’s full range of arts programming and more throughout the year.  

Starting Bid:  $70,000                        (24 Guests)

Treat your friends to an exceptional private evening at the Museum. Begin the night with custom-designed cocktails around the lush Palace Courtyard and embark on a fascinating, curator-led tour of the collection. Then delight in an exquisite three-course dinner with wine pairings by Chef Peter Crowley in the magnificent Tapestry Room, surrounded by Isabella’s collection of 16th-century Flemish wall hangings, which represent the pinnacle of Gilded Age art collecting. Select a live musical serenade throughout the feast–or a post-dinner concert in the genre of your choice–just as Isabella would have it!

Starting bid:  $40,000                         (40 guests)

Party at the Palazzo like Isabella and her friends as you take over Fenway Court! You and your guests will enjoy cocktails and cicchetti (Italian tapas) against the stunning backdrop of the Gardner Museum’s Courtyard as a live DJ or jazz combo plays your favorite tunes. Captivate your guests with engaging spotlight talks of the historic collection or the current contemporary exhibition. It will be una notte memorabile at the Palazzo!
 

Starting Bid:  $30,000                          (10 Guests)

Get ready for a fascinating private tour of the Gardner Museum’s extensive greenhouse complex in Hingham, MA. This is where the magic happens to create the 10 luxuriant annual Courtyard installations. Led by Erika Rumbley, Stanley P. Kozak Director of Horticulture, explore the “whys” and “hows” of Horticulture’s cultivation of the show-stopping stars, including the renowned nasturtiums, bellflowers, the vast array of orchids from around the world, and many more. A plant-lover’s dream!

Guests provide their own transportation. Casual lunch will be served. 
Tour includes stairs.
 

Starting Bid: $15,000                         (2 guests)

Experience Napa through the lens of art, connection, and craftsmanship. Join Alicia Towns Franken, Gardner Museum Advisor and acclaimed wine expert, for a personally curated, two-night escape for two. Your weekend will include the stay, intimate tastings at some of the region’s most inspiring vineyards, conversations over meals with wine industry leaders, and a rare insider’s view of the places where creativity and viticulture meet. 

Air and ground transportation not included. 
 

Starting Bid: $10,000                        (10 guests)

Mrs. Gardner often visited her friend, Henry Davis Sleeper, at Beauport, his stunning 40-room home overlooking Gloucester Harbor (now a Historic New England property). Take a close look at the furnishings and art that remain to this day, and hear tales of friends and parties as you tour this designer’s dream home with Diana Greenwald, the Gardner’s William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection, and Nora Carleson, Curator of Fashion and Decorative Arts at Historic New England. Then enjoy Eastern Point hospitality at the nearby home of Gardner Trustee Greg Beecher and his wife Rose following the tour.