Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, opens Foster + Partners designed entrance
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) opened its State Street Corporation Fenway Entrance today following a $10 million redesign by Foster + Partners. The classic design marks the first time in three decades that the entrance will be used and was only possible following a generous donation of the funds by the State Street Corporation.
The Fenway entrance, now renamed as The State Street Corporation Fenway Entrance, is a dramatic, columned portico on the north side of the MFA, one of two original grand entrances (the other faces Huntington Avenue) envisaged by architect Guy Lowell in his 1907 master plan for the Museum.
Recent renovations to the entrance include widening the grand staircase and adding
ramps on either side, using Deer Isle granite that matches the color and texture of the existing
façade, which is from the site where the granite was quarried for the original building.
Complementing the landscaping is Day and Night (completed in 2008), a pair of monumental
bronze baby head sculptures - one with eyes open and one with eyes closed - created by
renowned Spanish contemporary artist Antonio López García. These newly acquired sculptures,
each approximately 8 feet tall and 1.6 tons in weight, represent a Museum purchase with funds
donated by Gail and Ernst von Metzsch. (The two sculptures were recently relocated from the
Huntington Avenue entrance.)
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