It feels like just yesterday that we were invited to the reopening of the Huntington Avenue entrance of the Museum of Fine Arts, after decades of it being shut up. But that was, what, three or four years ago? The entrance, which was once the museum's front door, has actually been under construction again as part of the giant Building the New MFA project, featuring a $500 million expansion/renovation. And now, on April 23, the Huntington entrance will be re-opened again, this time with a new plaza, lighting and accessibility, all designed by Foster + Partners of London.
Along with the new/old entrance, the MFA will be opening several renovated or repurposed permanent galleries on April 23: the Rabb Gallery, for 20th century paintings and sculpture; the Italian Renaissance Gallery; and the Sargent Rotunda, with an installation of John Singer Sargent’s preparatory works for murals.
There's actually a game of revolving doors afoot at the MFA. The museum's West Wing entrance, which has actually been the museum's front door for the last few decades, closed in early March for its own renovations. So between now and April 23, if you're planning on going to the MFA, be prepared to hike around to the Fenway Entrance, which was actually the first part of the New MFA to open, last summer. Got that?




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