Museum Of Fine Arts

MUSEUM ADDRESS 280 The Fenway, Boston (Entrance on Evans Way) PUBLIC OPENING Jan. 19, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Ribbon-cutting: Jan. 19, 9 a.m. Entrance to the museum free Jan. 19-22. MEMBER PREVIEW DAYS Jan. 16-Jan. 18, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., museum open free to members. Jan. 17, 5-8 p.m., members reception. Tickets $25. Basic annual membership $70. Information: www.gardnermuseum.org/about/membership PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Green Line E train or No. 39 bus to the Museum of Fine Arts stop on Huntington Avenue.

PICK OF THE DAY Gotta dance It's been more than 25 years since "Dance at Bougival" (pictured), "Dance in the Country," and "Dance in the City" were together in Boston. The first is owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, the other two are on loan from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The 1883 full-length, approximately 6-foot-tall dancing couples reunite for "Dancing With Renoir," an exhibit of Impressionist paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Wednesday hours are 10 a.m.-9:45 p.m. (through Sept.

The bands Lost in the Trees (led by former Berklee student Ari Picker) and Poor Moon packed the Remis Auditorium - including the stage - at the Museum of Fine Arts. The Friday-night performances were part of the MFA's spring concert series.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent The 14th annual Roxbury International Film Festival will screen more than 50 films between June 14 and 17. The festival will include the world premiere of the documentary "Paul Goodnight: The Prime Time Image Maker," organizers said. The 40-minute film by Dennis Salumu focuses on African-American artist Paul Goodnight. The former foster child battled through post-traumatic stress, drug abuse and a speech impediment after fighting in the Vietnam War, before eventually attending art school in Boston and taking...

Stuffy? Conservative? Reactionary? Whichever word you choose to describe Boston, it's fair to say the city has not been known for friendliness to living artists over the past 100 years. But when, in 2007, amid much fanfare, the Institute of Contemporary Art opened its sleek new building on Boston's waterfront, many people hoped it might act as a catalyst, increasing enthusiasm for contemporary art across the city and region. The evidence that it has done just that has been mounting, and is by now undeniable.

The people picketing at the Museum of Fine Arts this morning are members of the Museum Independent Security Union, which represents the MFA's security guards. The protest came after the union's contract expired on Saturday. The MFA, in a statement, said that it has proposed a new contract and is waiting for a response. For now, the security guards are working under an extention of the previous contract.

Saundra Baker was 25 when she met her husband to be, William Lane. He was 50. She was standing in line for last-minute "rush" tickets at Boston's Metropolitan Theater, and ready to give up. "I was just starting to go when a gentleman came up and offered me a spare ticket," said Mrs. Lane, 73, sitting at a table at the Museum of Fine Arts. " ‘My compliments,' he said when I asked him the price. ‘I wasn't straight off the turnip truck, so I knew that I would have to sit with him. " The opera, incredibly, was Verdi's "La forza del destino" - "the force of destiny.

By Jose Martinez, Globe Correspondent Long before B.J. Novak brought his wit to the little screen as a writer and actor on the hit comedy "The Office," he and his high school buddies pulled a prank for the ages at the Museum of Fine Arts. "I love pranks," Novak told a sold out audience at a fundraiser Tuesday night at his alma mater Newton South High School. "I don't think I have spoken publicly about this before. " It was 1997 and the big exhibit at the MFA that summer was "Tales From the Land of Dragons.

Young artists on the cusp of their careers come out of Boston-area art schools every spring, an event marked by thesis exhibitions around the city. Now is the time for viewers to discover emerging talents. In the past, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Boston University have introduced such art stars as Doug and Mike Starn, N.C. Wyeth, and Brice Marden. Maybe one of this year's grads will hit it big, as well.

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent The 14th annual Roxbury International Film Festival will screen more than 50 films between June 14 and 17. The festival will include the world premiere of the documentary "Paul Goodnight: The Prime Time Image Maker," organizers said. The 40-minute film by Dennis Salumu focuses on African-American artist Paul Goodnight. The former foster child battled through post-traumatic stress, drug abuse and a speech impediment after fighting in the Vietnam War, before eventually attending art school in...

Saundra Baker was 25 when she met her husband to be, William Lane. He was 50. She was standing in line for last-minute "rush" tickets at Boston's Metropolitan Theater, and ready to give up. "I was just starting to go when a gentleman came up and offered me a spare ticket," said Mrs. Lane, 73, sitting at a table at the Museum of Fine Arts. " ‘My compliments,' he said when I asked him the price. ‘I wasn't straight off the turnip truck, so I knew that I would have to sit with him. " The opera, incredibly, was Verdi's "La forza del destino" - "the force of destiny.

Duchess in Newton Centre hosts a trunk show of spring and summer dresses from New York-based line Karina on Saturday, with purchases marked down 10 percent. Designer Karina Cousineau will be on hand to help folks pick out the perfect style. Ten percent of sales will benefit Best Buddies Massachusetts. If you can't make it on Saturday, the store will be previewing the trunk show collection and offering the 10 percent discount on Friday. Duchess is at 77 Union St., Newton, 617-964-0054.

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston holds its annual Spring Sidewalk Sale Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hundreds of pieces including ceramics, photographs, screen prints, jewelry, handmade cards, and more will be on offer at prices starting at around $5. A portion of the proceeds will go to Mobius, a Cambridge nonprofit supporting experimental art. The sale happens on the sidewalk along Museum Road, between the...

ALEX KATZ PRINTS One hundred-and-twenty-five prints from the 1960s until recently, in a show that surveys the graphic career of this beloved Pop artist. Through July 29. Museum of Fine Arts. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org NINA BOHLEN: MY WOODS Charged and atmospheric monotypes depicting the trees and woods of Lubec, Maine, by this esteemed artist. Through May 20. Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham. 508-620-0050, www.danforthmuseum.org LESLEY VANCE Twenty-one vivid paintings and watercolors in the first solo museum show by this Los Angeles-based painter.

Pop go the prints ALEX KATZ PRINTS One hundred and twenty-five prints from the 1960s until recently, in a show that surveys the graphic career of this beloved Pop artist. Through July 29. Museum of Fine Arts. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org SEBASTIAN SMEE Theater MAESTRO: LEONARD BERNSTEIN In a poignant, finely wrought portrait, Hershey Felder explores the inner conflicts of a musical genius who packed several careers into one lifetime, but wished he had devoted more time to composing the masterwork of which he was capable.

May 10 | Regina Spektor at the Orpheum Theatre. www.livenation.com Author Augusten Burroughs at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. www.brooklinebooksmith.com May 13 | Melissa Manchester at Scullers Jazz Club. www.scullersjazz.com May 15 and 16 | Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops welcome Ann Hampton Callaway to pay tribute to Barbra Streisand at Symphony Hall. www.bostonpops.org May 16 | Nantucket Wine Festival opens at the White Elephant Hotel and other Nantucket venues.

By Carol Stocker This is my favorite annual weekend at the Museum of Fine Arts, whose galleries are transformed through Monday by almost 70 extraordinary arrangements inspired by specific works of art in the museum collection. Volunteer arrangers in many local garden clubs have been assigned wildly differing works of art works to interpret, ranging from mid-century jewelry to early American furniture and ancient Egyptian tombs. The fun of Art in Bloom is to judge for yourself how cleverly or deftly each flower arrangement echoes the art it is paired with.

More than 600 guests recently attended the Boston Hot Pink Party held at the Museum of Fine Arts. The event, which raised more than $1 million, benefited the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Late Arlington artist Cyrus Dallin's equestrian Paul Revere sculpture outside the Old North Church will be the subject of events in Boston's North End Sunday and next month. Arlington's Cyrus Dallin Art Museum is co-sponsoring both events, including a Community Celebration Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. in the Paul Revere Mall in the North End. The Community Celebration will commemorate Dallin's monument and the mall, designed by landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff and architect Henry Shepley.