Absolut®
has announced its mission to help those in need this holiday this
winter and to inspire others to gift a giving spirit all season long
– with the unique help of national non-profit organization One
Warm Coat and partnership with Sofar Sounds.
“For
Absolut, being Planet Earth’s Favorite Vodka isn’t just a tagline –
it’s in the fabric of our brand’s DNA and guides the actions we take
in the world toward the betterment of our planet – and its people,”
said Regan Clarke, Vice President, Absolut. “That’s why we’re
doubling-down on partying with a purpose this holiday season by both
donating – and facilitating local donation concert drives – to
provide warmth to 100,000 people in need.“
Gift
a Giving Spirit – Small Gifts, Big Impact
Absolut
has brought together partners One Warm Coat and Sofar
Sounds to reimagine the traditional coat drive during the
holidays. As a brand that has always done things differently, the
company hopes to illustrate the big impact one simple act can have
on the community around us – especially for those in need.
“One
coat may not seem life-altering to some – but for one of the
hundreds of thousands of people in peril during extremely cold
weather conditions each year,it could be lifesaving,”
said Beth W. Amodio, President & CEO of One Warm Coat. “We
are grateful to Absolut for providing warmth to 100,000 people in
need. It is inspiring to see brands partner with organizations to
make real change in the world.“
With
Absolut’s donation to warm 100,000 people through One Warm
Coat, the brand is helping everyone, everywhere sparkle a bit
brighter every time you gift, sip or serve Absolut this season.
One
Coat, One Concert – Absolut x Sofar Sounds
With
the help of Sofar Sounds, a company that brings local communities and
artists together in unique and intimate locations, Absolut is hosting
four concerts in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia
– each with a simple suggestion: bring a coat, see the concert.
The
Absolut X Sofar Sounds concerts will provide an opportunity
for locals to support their community in need by accepting gently
worn coats in exchange for the intimate concert experience. The brand
is also hoping to inspire a ripple effect by rewarding the simple act
of giving back in the hopes of concertgoers continuing to pay it
forward with their friends and families throughout the holiday season
and beyond.
Mix.
Mingle. Drink & Jingle.
From
celebrating Friendsgiving, to New Year’s Eve bashes, to hosting
friends for a cozy night in – add a little purpose to your party
with a festive favorite or soon-to-be holiday staple cocktail, like:
Absolut
Jingle Buck
Absolut Jingle Buck
Ingredients:
1
Part Absolut Vodka
¾
Part Cranberry Juice
¾
Part Lime Juice
2
Parts Ginger Ale
How
to Mix: Add ingredients to glass with ice. Stir briefly. Garnish
with two fresh cranberries and rosemary sprig.
Absolut
Juice Edition Apple Sangria
Absolut Juice Edition Apple Sangria
Ingredients:
1
½ Parts Absolut Juice Edition Apple
2
Parts Red Wine
4
Dashes Angostura Bitters
½
Part Triple Sec or Orange Liqueur
How
to Mix: Mix all ingredients in a glass with ice. Garnish with
orange slides, apple slices and grapes.
One
Warm Coat is a national nonprofit organization that provides free,
warm coats to people in need. The Coat Drive Program supports
individuals, groups, companies and organizations across the country
by providing the tools and resources needed to hold a successful coat
drive. Coats are distributed in the communities where they were
collected, to children and adults in need, without charge,
discrimination or obligation. Since One Warm Coat began in 1992,
volunteers have hosted more than 35,000 coat drives and more than 6
million coats have been distributed to people in need.
Sofar
Sounds is a global community creating space where music matters.
Sofar reimagines the live music experience through curated, secret
performances in more than 400 cities around the world. Founded
in Londonin
2009, Sofar brings guests and artists together in unique locations,
without the distractions that plague other live events. Sofar shows
begin as a secret: guests sign on for three unnamed performances at
undisclosed locations, hosted by community members in everyday spaces
— from living rooms and rooftops, to retail stores. Through the
transformation of these spaces into captivating venues, Sofar serves
as a platform for artists to connect with engaged audiences in cities
around the world. Sofar invites guests to discover new artists,
spaces, people, neighborhoods and cities, whether at home or abroad,
creating an inclusive and accessible global community where people
make genuine connections. To learn more about Sofar Sounds, check us
out at www.sofarsounds.com.
Enhancing the Power of Art and Artists with a Renewed Focus on the Community in Which We Live
The
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), has announced a slate
of initiatives for its 150th anniversary in
2020, driven by a deepened commitment to inclusion,
community and generosity. The yearlong celebration aims to bring more
people closer to art and the MFA—signaling aspirations for the
Museum’s future.
“The
MFA’s 150th anniversary is a moment to honor our past and, more
critically, anticipate our future. The Museum was founded with a
spirit of generosity and belief in the power of art and
artists—values that remain among the pillars of today’s MFA,”
said Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director. “As we
look ahead, we must also address the changing role of museums in
society, amplifying our efforts toward becoming a truly inclusive
institution and committing to a new sense of urgency in engaging with
the issues of our time.”
A
group of Boston’s civic leaders created the Museum in 1870 as a
public place for discovery, the enjoyment of art and celebration of
artists. Since then, the MFA has grown to house a global collection,
which will be highlighted during the 150th anniversary year in
exhibitions ranging from Ancient Nubia Now, shining a
light on the powerful, yet historically misinterpreted kingdoms on
the Nile, to the Weng Family Collection of Chinese Painting:
Family and Friends, featuring works by some of the greatest
masters from the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911)
dynasties, to Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits,
organized in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts in
London. In its 150th year, the Museum will also forge deeper
connections with the local community, launching a free first-year
membership program—an invitation to everyone to make the MFA their
own. Throughout 2020, the Museum will engage community members and
local artists as co-creators on various opportunities for convening
and celebration, from a teen-curated exhibition of 20th-century art
by artists of color from the Americas to a community mural
project—initiatives that lay foundations for future ambitions.
The
150th Anniversary Celebration is sponsored by Bank of America.
Free
Memberships for Community Members and Artists
The
MFA will introduce a variety of membership initiatives during its
anniversary year, in an effort to invite and engage a wide range of
audiences to build deeper relationships with the Museum:
Signup
opportunities for free first-year memberships will be
offered to visitors at 11 annual community celebrations and three
seasonal MFA Late Nites taking place in 2020. These
memberships will allow access to the Museum for a full year.
The
MFA will inaugurate an ongoing program of lifetime admission
benefits for all living artists represented in its collection,
as well as gift one-year memberships to artists who partner with the
Museum on exhibitions, programs and events during the anniversary
year.
Additional
benefits will be offered throughout the year to existing members in
appreciation of their ongoing support—such as
allowing them to bring more friends and family to the MFA—further
empowering these longtime supporters as ambassadors for the Museum
in their own communities.
For
nearly two decades, the MFA’s annual community
celebrations—expanded in the fall of 2019 to include Latinx
Heritage Night and Indigenous Peoples’ Day—have
featured activities and performances that represent the art, history
and global influences throughout Greater Boston. All of the community
celebrations, as well as the MFA Late Nites—seasonal
after-hours celebrations introduced in the fall of 2017—are
co-created with valued community partners, artists and performers,
highlighting external perspectives and local expertise. The free
first-year membership initiative will invite all attendees of these
popular events to return to the MFA often and with others, with the
goal of fostering a sense of belonging at the Museum year-round.
The
full schedule of signup opportunities in 2020 includes:
Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, January 20, 2020
Lunar
New Year Celebration, February 1, 2020
Nowruz,
March 21, 2020
MFA
Late Nites, April 3, 2020
Memorial
Day, May 25, 2020
Juneteenth,
June 17, 2020
MFA
Late Nites, June 2020
Highland
Street Foundation Free Fun Friday, Summer 2020
ASL
Night, September 2020
Latinx
Heritage Night, September 2020
Indigenous
Peoples’ Day, October 12, 2020
MFA
Late Nites, October 2020
Diwali,
November 2020
Hanukkah,
December 2020
More
Celebrations
There
will be other occasions to celebrate the MFA’s 150th anniversary in
2020:
The
Museum will mark the actual anniversary day of the signing of the
Act of Incorporation that founded the MFA in 1870 on February
4. Details will be announced in early 2020.
A
summertime block party will
enliven the MFA’s outdoor spaces with performances by local
artists, art-making activities, food and beverages. The
family-friendly event will also provide an opportunity to enjoy a
new interactive play space, located on the Museum’s campus and
designed to encourage curiosity among visitors of all ages. The MFA
will commission an artist to partner on the design; more information
will be unveiled by the spring.
In
late 2020, the Museum will host a fundraiser with proceeds
designated to support future diversity and inclusion efforts at the
MFA.
Exhibitions
and Gallery Reinstallations
The
Museum’s exhibition program during its 150th year will focus on
honoring a diverse range of artists and perspectives and highlighting
untold narratives, as well as engaging the expertise and viewpoints
of the Boston community:
Women
Take the Floor will
be on view in the MFA’s Art of the Americas Wing throughout 2020
and offer a revolutionary seven-gallery “takeover” of
approximately 200 artworks by more than 100 women, advocating for
diversity, inclusion and gender equity in museums, the art world and
beyond. Marking the centennial of the women’s suffrage amendment
in the U.S., the exhibition will celebrate well-known female
pioneers and innovators while also emphasizing the work and stories
of overlooked and underrepresented artists. Women
Take the Floor will
feature paintings, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics and furniture, as
well as several rotations of textiles, prints and photographs
throughout the 18-month run. To ensure that the exhibition
represented a broad range of perspectives, the MFA convened a
roundtable discussion with local women community leaders to provide
feedback on the project. As a result, outside voices are a key
feature of the exhibition’s central gallery, dedicated to
portraits of women created by women. Porsha
Olayiwola,
the current poet laureate for the city of Boston, will write a new
poem and perform it on video, and the local feminist collective The
Cauldron has identified quotes from feminist voices, which will be
featured in the entry space.
Opening
in 2019 and continuing into early 2020, Ancient
Nubia Nowwill
re-examine the series of powerful kingdoms that flourished in the
present-day Sudanese Nile Valley for almost 3,000 years between 2400
B.C.E. and 300 C.E. The exhibition will explore how existing
narratives about Nubia have changed over time—influenced by new
discoveries, ways of thinking and broadened perspectives—and how
they resonate with contemporary audiences.
On
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 20), the MFA will open an
exhibition of 20th-century art by artists of color from the
Americas, curated by paid teen fellows from local organizations
Becoming a Man (BAM) and The BASE, the Museum’s Teen
Arts Council (TAC) and STEAM Team, and participants from
the Bloomberg Arts Internship Boston program managed by
EdVestors. The exhibition will be the culmination of the teen
scholars’ mentorship under Layla Bermeo, the MFA’s
Kristin and Roger Servison Associate Curator of Paintings, Art of
the Americas, involving workshops for building curatorial skills
such as research, label writing and gallery design.
In
April, the Museum will open an exhibition celebrating the
post-graffiti movement of 1980s New York City through the work of
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his peers, which will be accompanied
by a community mural project led by local artists
Rob “Problak” Gibbs and Rob
Stull.
The
opening of four reinstalled galleries for Dutch and Flemish art in
the fall of 2020 will celebrate the launch of the Center
of Netherlandish Art (CNA), an innovative center for
scholarship housed at the MFA and the first resource of its kind in
the U.S. The new thematic and interdisciplinary displays will
feature masterworks by artists such as Rembrandt Harmensz. van
Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens and Gerrit Dou alongside
silver, Delft ceramics and other objects that represent the visual
culture of the Netherlands in the 17th century.
More
information about 2020 exhibitions will be forthcoming.
Conservation
Center
In
the summer of 2020, the MFA will open a state-of-the-art Conservation
Center, strengthening the Museum’s commitment to the
care and preservation of its collection at the highest level. The new
22,000-square-foot space will comprise six laboratories and feature
advanced technology, completing a transformational 18-month
renovation process that was supported by the largest fundraising
effort for conservation in the Museum’s history. The Conservation
Center’s open floor plan will foster a more interdisciplinary and
collaborative approach among the MFA’s staff of more than 50
conservators, as well as increase their capacity to provide training
for colleagues in the field and future museum professionals. A
dedicated learning space for public programs and educational
initiatives will invite visitors of all ages to engage with
conservators and connect with art and science in new and dynamic
ways.
New
Perspectives on the Past and Looking to the Future
Throughout
2020, the MFA will highlight key moments from its history, engaging
audiences on-site and on social media with untold or little-known
stories centered on works of art from the collection. A self-guided
tour of 15 objects—one from each decade since the Museum’s
founding—will be available for visitors throughout the year. The
tour will share the history of how staff and donors have worked
together to build a global collection drawn from across cultures and
time, fulfilling the vision of the MFA’s first president Martin
Brimmer for the Museum to open its doors to art from all over the
world. This fresh look at the MFA’s collection will provide new
perspectives—for example, the key role that women such as Harriet
White Bradbury and Saundra Lane
have played in gifting important works of art and providing financial
support for the Museum since its founding. The theme of “Women
within Our History,” from artists to donors to collectors, will
also be further explored and celebrated during Art in Bloom, the
MFA’s annual festival of fine art and flowers, in April 2020.
Looking
toward the future, the MFA will introduce a range of initiatives
during its anniversary year that will make a lasting impact beyond
2020. In an effort to increase the diversity of perspectives
represented in exhibitions and gallery displays, the Museum will
launch the “Table of Voices,”
a new program designed to involve community voices in the MFA’s
interpretation program on a deeper level. The program will formalize
interpretive strategies used for recent exhibitions and gallery
re-installations such as Gender Bending Fashion and the Arts
of Islamic Cultures Gallery, which engaged community members and
partner organizations in the decision-making processes. The “Table
of Voices” will also feature a paid fellowship component that will
create a pipeline for new talent to enter the rapidly expanding field
of museum interpretation.
Over
the past several years, the Museum has implemented a variety of
systems to reduce its carbon footprint. In 2020, the MFA will further
its evolution into a “green” museum, introducing new
environmental initiatives aligned with the recommendations of
Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission,
a group of business, institutional and civic leaders throughout the
city working to develop strategies for fighting climate change. These
initiatives will demonstrate the MFA’s commitment to future
generations and engagement with issues affecting today’s world.
One
of the nation’s oldest art museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(MFA), was founded on February 4, 1870. The Museum opened its doors
to the public on July 4, 1876—the nation’s centennial—at its
original location in Copley Square. Over the next several decades,
the MFA’s collection and visitation grew exponentially, and in
1909, the Museum moved to its current home on Huntington Avenue.
Today, the MFA houses a global collection encompassing nearly 500,000
works of art, from ancient to contemporary, and welcomes
approximately 1.2 million visitors each year to celebrate the human
experience through art as well as innovative exhibitions and
programs. In 2017, Matthew Teitelbaum, the 11th director in the
Museum’s history, unveiled MFA 2020, a three-year Strategic Plan
that articulated a forward-looking vision for the Museum to become an
institution of the moment and more connected to the community. The
spirit of collaboration and engagement at the core of MFA 2020 has
been brought to life over the past three years through the
implementation of more than 50 initiatives, the full slate of which
will be realized during the Museum’s 150th anniversary year.
Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 am–5 pm; and Wednesday through Friday, 10 am–10 pm. Admission is free for MFA Members, University Members and youths age 17 and younger. Wednesday nights after 4 pm admission is by voluntary contribution (suggested donation $25) and is free to all visitors during Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Lunar New Year Celebration, Memorial Day, Free Fun Friday and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Admission (which includes one repeat visit within 10 days) is $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and includes entry to all galleries and special exhibitions. The Museum’s mobile MFA Guide is available at ticket desks and the Sharf Visitor Center for $5, members; $6, non-members; and $4, youths. The Museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Patriots’ Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The MFA is located on the Avenue of the Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. For more information, call 617.267.9300, visit mfa.org or follow the MFA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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