Free First Thursday

March 2026

Thursday
March 5, 2026
3 - 9 pm
Throughout the Museum

Who would you like to embody for an evening at the Gardner? Take a cue from current exhibitions Persona: Photography and the Re-Imagined Self, Picturing Isabella, and Jamie Diamond: Monstra Te Esse Matrem, 2026 and fashion yourself as the persona you’d like to inhabit for a night. Impromptu photo studios and a wandering street-style photographer will memorialize your most creative, daring, or romantic side. Let the Gardner Museum reveal who you really are.

Program

Persona: Through Their Lens
5–8 pm, Calderwood Hall, Living Room, and throughout the Palace
Style yourself to come face to face with award-winning Boston photographers who will use their own unique portraiture skills to capture the persona you present to them.

Artist-in-Residence Olivia Slaughter welcomes you to join them in the Living Room, surrounded by plants and props, as they work to craft a lush new image of you through their lens.
Step into Mari Saxon’s studio in Calderwood Hall as she beckons you into a fairytale, making magic with you to create a dream-like image.
Salon Luminary KNSZWRTH, aka Kenny Mascary, will capture you at your best: enjoying the evening with friends as he snaps your new favorite street-style candid in the Palace.

Crafted Self-Portraits
5–8 pm, Bertucci Education Studio
After viewing Persona: Photography and the Re-Imagined Self (Hostetter Gallery), drop by the Bertucci Education Studio and use the exhibition as inspiration to craft your own self-portraits as the persona of your dreams through instant photography, drawing, and collage.

DJ LDER
6–8 pm, Courtyard
Let DJ LDER soundtrack your evening with his playful, electronic blend of upbeat percussion and melodic sounds.

About the Artists

woman with red glove, red lipstick, black lace hat with bubble wrap over her face

Photo courtesy of the artist

LDER is a Haitian-American music producer from Boston. Drawing inspiration from the electronic drum-and-bass beats of Cartoon Network's anime block Toonami, LDER blends upbeat percussion and melodic sounds with samples of beeps and blips.

He was formerly the organizer of the East Meets Beats electronic music showcase at EMW Bookstore in Cambridge, MA, and currently organizes the Beats on the Beach program for Save the Harbor, Save the Bay. LDER released his first album in 2021, Channel 3, a culmination of hip-hop and electronic music inspired by the analog input channels of consumer electronics like VHS players and early video game systems, which served as a major source of influence for him.

LDER has been featured in several music producer showcases, such as 'PIECES' curated by EveryDeJa Vu and 'Knobs' presented by State Park, and can regularly be found spinning vinyl at Vinyl Index in Somerville, MA.

Social media: @respectyourlder

Photo courtesy of the artist

Mari Saxon is a Russian-born conceptual photographer based in the USA. Rooted in academic art education and long-term architectural practice, her visual language unfolds through staged tableaux. Her imagery is conceived scenographically, using irony and references to classical painting as key visual strategies. Saxon explores motherhood, femininity, and identity through performative self-portraits, staged narratives, and constructed characters, addressing themes of transformation and unconventional beauty through a visual language shaped by absurdity and conceptual depth.

Since beginning her practice as a lens-based artist in 2023, she has received grant support, and her work has been featured in over 50 exhibitions and recognized with numerous awards, including Critical Mass Top 50, IPA 1st Place Winner, Photo Vogue Women by Women Shortlist, Colors Awards 1st Place Winner, Hamburg Portfolio Review, and others. In addition to her practice, she leads workshops and artist talks, fostering dialogue on diversity, self exploration, and personal myth-making.

Social media: @marisaxon.art

Photo by Sam Williams from Nine Acre Photography

Olivia Slaughter is a Virginia-born, New Jersey-raised, Boston-based artist exploring light, movement, and color to capture today’s living history. Through photography and interdisciplinary collaboration, they create images that honor presence, community, and the urgency of lived experience.

Their work has been featured in Vogue Italia, Time Magazine, and Boston Art Review, and they have received recognition from the Harvard University Committee on the Arts for their commitment to racial justice. Slaughter has served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Harvard ArtLab, and Windy Films, and has collaborated with the ICA Boston and Virgil Abloh.

In 2022, they co-created the Future Archive Project with the Gardner Museum and Arielle Grey, documenting Black, queer and trans individuals in Boston through portraiture and interview. Slaughter currently serves as Creative Director + Curator at Black Market in Nubian Square, Gallery Manager of Kingston Gallery, and adjunct professor at Lasell University.

Social media: @oj.slaughter

Photo by Kayla Simone

Kenny Mascary (aka KNSZWRTH) is a Haitian-American, Boston-based multihyphenate creative whose work spans street photography, cultural production, and curatorial practice. His interdisciplinary approach is grounded in a commitment to community-centered storytelling and the cultivation of spaces that honor the artistic and cultural contributions of Black and Brown communities.

Through his photographic work, Kenny documents the textures, intimacies, and everyday poetics of contemporary life, using visual narrative as a tool for preservation and reflection. As a cultural producer and curator, he develops programs, exhibitions, and collaborative initiatives that foreground equity, creative experimentation, and collective engagement.

Across all facets of his practice, Kenny is dedicated to shaping environments that reflect the richness of Boston’s evolving cultural landscape and to fostering connections that support the growth, visibility, and empowerment of the communities he serves.

Social media: @KNSZWRTH

Tickets

Advance registration is encouraged for free timed entry tickets for Museum general admission.

Registration opens two weeks before the event for the general public and four weeks in advance for members. Reserve your tickets online by clicking the button above.

Limited tickets will be available in-person at the Museum’s main entrance starting at 3 pm the day of the event. Please note that day-of tickets are not guaranteed.

Questions about accessibility? Please call the box office at 617 278 5156.

Free days are supported in part by the Wallace Minot Leonard Foundation, the Board of Advisors 2022 Fund for Access, and Thomas G. Stemberg Charitable Foundation.

Education and community programs receive support from the Vertex Foundation, the Rowland Foundation, Liberty Mutual Foundation, The Beker Foundation, The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation, Thomas Anthony Pappas Charitable Foundation, and Janet Burke Mann Foundation.

Studio activities are generously sponsored by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust.

The Neighborhood Salon is supported in part by the Anne Hawley Fund for Programs, the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

The Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which is supported by the state of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.