In 1996, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum received a four-year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to extend the scope and reach of museum programming for visitors of all ages. Major project initiatives included:

• Expanding the artist-in-residence and school programs
• Initiating new ways for general visitors to learn at the Gardner

The Eye of the Beholder project has transformed the Gardner Museum into a dynamic cultural center serving nearly 200,000 visitors each year. Over the past four years, the project has supported twenty-two artist residencies, expanded programs for teachers, and broadened activities for general visitors, including special exhibitions, lectures, guides to the galleries, and family programs. These programs have welcomed new voices and faces to the Gardner and created strong ties to the neighborhood and the greater Boston community.

Interested in learning more about this project? Download The Eye of the Beholder: Contemporary Artists and the Public at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in full form (5MB PDF) or as text only. This publication outlines the growth of the Artist-in-Residence and School Partnership programs from 1996–2000, and focuses on the questions and challenges that will guide our future work. We invite you to join us in thinking about these questions and the various ways they apply to your community.

The Eye of the Beholder was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts. We are also grateful to The Boston Foundation and the Stratford Foundation for major support of this work.