In Isabella’s tradition, we invite artists to live and work in the Museum as part of our Artist-in-Residence program, which hosts artists from around the world, offering them a dedicated, on-site residential and studio space, unlimited access to the collection, and inspiration to create new visual and performance works for the public.

The Visiting Curator of Performing Arts helps the Museum provide a dynamic, engaging artistic incubator for new and contemporary expressions through dance, music, theater, and spoken word, and builds on Isabella's desire to host multi-disciplinary cultural experiences.

The Neighborhood Salon is a gathering of Boston’s select cultural producers and taste-makers whose work and agency impacts and inspires the Gardner Museum and its communities.

The Museum upholds the high value Isabella Stewart Gardner and Polly Thayer Starr placed on artists’ contributions to the larger community. With support from the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust, Visiting Studio Artists consider their work within the rich cultural context of the Gardner Museum and create drop-in art-making and public studio projects inspired by our collection and exhibitions.

The Choreographer-in-Residence program is part of a bold new initiative to animate the galleries with contemporary performances and integrate dance into exhibitions and programs.