The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, Boston

Interior rotunda at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston with historic artwork

The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art is an inspiring museum destination where Fenway-Kenmore's artistic legacy, experimental creativity, architectural innovation, and global perspectives bring contemporary art vividly to life.

Set within Museum of Fine Arts, Boston near Shapiro Family Courtyard and just steps from Modern Art Galleries, this expansive wing presents thought-provoking installations, grand sculpture, multimedia works, contemporary craft, photography, and immersive exhibitions within I. M. Pei's celebrated modernist architecture. Flexible gallery spaces, abundant natural light, and continually evolving displays encourage visitors to engage with the ideas, technologies, and artistic voices shaping the present day. Every gallery reveals how contemporary artists continue expanding the boundaries of creative expression. The result is a museum experience defined by innovation, intellectual curiosity, and one of New England's leading destinations for contemporary art.

The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art is best known for reopening in 2011 within I. M. Pei's landmark 1981 West Wing after an extensive transformation that established a dedicated home for the Museum of Fine Arts' growing contemporary collection while creating seven galleries designed to foster discussion between art of the present and the museum's encyclopedic holdings. Originally conceived as Pei's modernist expansion to the museum, the renovated wing introduced dramatically reconfigured galleries, education spaces, performance venues, classrooms, gathering areas, and flexible exhibition environments capable of accommodating painting, sculpture, installation, video, performance, and contemporary craft. The Museum of Fine Arts has exhibited and collected work by living artists since the nineteenth century, formally establishing its Department of Contemporary Art in 1971, and today the wing serves as the principal venue for presenting more than 2,000 contemporary works by artists representing diverse global perspectives and media. Continually refreshed installations ensure that every visit offers new artistic discoveries while reinforcing the museum's commitment to collecting, researching, and exhibiting the evolving story of contemporary art. Together, visionary architecture, innovative curatorial practice, continually changing exhibitions, and interdisciplinary programming establish The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art as one of the defining centers for contemporary art in the northeastern United States.

The wing demonstrates how adaptable museum architecture can support continually evolving artistic practices while encouraging meaningful connections between contemporary works and centuries of art history. Dynamic installations, educational programming, performances, and community engagement continue reinforcing The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art as the Museum of Fine Arts' most forward-looking cultural environment.

The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art works as the culminating chapter of an exploration through the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Begin at Shapiro Family Courtyard, where Foster + Partners' luminous architectural centerpiece introduces the museum's contemporary vision before entering The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art. Continue to Modern Art Galleries, whose remarkable survey of twentieth-century innovation provides the perfect bridge into the newest artistic movements on display throughout the wing. Conclude at Art of the Americas, where three millennia of artistic achievement across the Western Hemisphere provide a memorable finale illustrating the enduring discussion between historical masterpieces and contemporary creative practice. The progression moves naturally from the museum's architectural heart to groundbreaking modernism before concluding with one of the world's finest collections of American art, revealing why The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art represents the Museum of Fine Arts' boldest vision for the future.

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