The McMullen Museum of Art - Boston College

The McMullen Museum of Art

108 Devlin Hall

Boston College, Chestnut Hill MA

                Since 1993, the McMullen Museum of Art has offered students, faculty, and the public a chance to view unique and original works by both classical and little-known artists. The best part? It’s totally free! Their core mission is to “cultivate learning, celebrate artistic excellence, explore the visual traditions of diverse cultures, and inspire faculty and student research based on the visual arts” [citation here]. The Museum is small, slightly confusing to navigate, and basically a nightmare to find if you’re unfamiliar with BC’s campus [flashing arrow above my head]. The GPS directions drop you at the bottom of about 200 stairs and say "Your destination is on the right". There is another way to get to the museum that takes you up the road and around the other side of the library, I believe. I realized this after climbing the stairs and then remembering something about 'wheelchair accessibility' on the museum's webpage. While the museum has not been accredited, it has been written up both nationally and internationally, receiving high praise for its exhibitions that “reach far beyond traditional art history” [New York Times article written by Stephen Kinzer]. The pieces are broken up according to theme, and often work in feminism, revolution, religion, and politics into one exhibit. This year, the museum will be moving from 140 Commonwealth Avenue to 2101, and will be located in BC’s Brighton campus. The new space will be roughly 26,000 square feet and will also feature two floors of exhibition space and a large glass atrium at the front, which will provide plenty of natural light during the day.

The Baptism of St. Patrick 
Stained Glass in Steel Frame
Harry Clarke

                Past exhibitions, like the 1999 Saints and Sinners: Caravaggio and the Baroque Image and Edvard Munch: Psyche, Symbol, and Expression have drawn thousands of visitors from the Boston area and beyond. Since 1995, the museum has consistently put together between two and five exhibitions every year. All of the past exhibition information is included here. It is worth noting too that the museum publishes an in-depth exhibition catalog for every exhibit they host, and they are available through BC’s bookstore and Amazon. McMullen’s current exhibition is entitled The Arts and Crafts Movement: Making it Irish. Co-curated by Vera Kreilkamp and Diana Larsen, the exhibit features over 150 objects, many of ecclesiastical nature, which were shaped by the arts and crafts movement’s manifestation in Ireland. Items include hand-carved boxes, stained glass panels in steel frames, silver utensils, and processional crosses. There is also an incredible virtual reality experience [again, totally free!] where a user can strap on an  Oculus Rift, and immediately be transported to five different scenes: the round tower at Ardmore, Cormac’s Chapel, St. Declan’s Cathedral, the Honan Chapel, and the Oratory of the Sacred Heart. The headset responds to the movement of your head and body, so whoever is wearing it can look up and down, and turn 360 degrees to see the full scope of the location.  This was my first experience with virtual reality, and I found myself bumping into the wall several times; the scenes were so realistic, I felt like I could wander freely and explore. Throughout the Irish exhibition, users can also learn more via the Digital Guide, which provides background on 24 different objects in the collection. Next to these items are iPads where users can swipe through screens containing information, provenance, the item in situ, etc. 

                The museum also holds permanent collections, which are available to view online. The digital viewer includes a “Learn More” feature which will bring up a new window with extensive information on the particular work.