While many modern museums are designed to maximize natural light for daytime visits, museums are also increasingly offering after-hours programming to allow visitors to see the collection in a different light. During these weekly or monthly events, visitors can experience not only the museum’s collection, but also local food and musicians; and often, they get the opportunity to get hands-on and make their own pieces of art, like a sip-and-paint among the masters.
de Young Museum
San Francisco
In the heart of Golden Gate Park, across from the California of Arts and Sciences, the de Young Museum has turned the Fine Arts Building of the International Expo of 1894 into a hot spot of modern and Asian art where it’s not unusual to spot crowds with platinum Andy Warhol wigs roaming the galleries on festive Friday evenings.
Art and music lovers have a permanent appointment here April through November, when the de Young opens its doors until 8 p.m. for free every Friday and pulls out all the stops for a bustling extravaganza. Though the main stage entertainment often takes the form of a musical guest, every corner of the museum that is open has something in store for visitors. Sample California wines in the lobby, set up kids of all ages with a hands-on art project, or chat with fellow artists and artists-in-residence while the sun sets over the gardens.
Museum of Life and Science
Durham, North Carolina
For its after-hours events, the Museum of Life and Science mingles adults-only beverages with science — and often food — to create a unique brand of edutainment. Evenings such as “__ tinker” and “Cocktails and Cosmonauts” also include informal design competitions and trivia.
Among the most popular events is “The Science of Wine,” where wine, cheese and chocolate companies share tastes of their products as researchers explain why certain wines taste perfect with certain cheeses and chocolates. This and other programs sell out well in advance, so call for group reservations.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Boston
In the heart of Boston’s Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum brings a slice of Italy to the Northeast. Completed in 1901, the museum was inspired by 15th-century Venice, as Italian art and decorative items formed an important part of the collection the Gardners acquired during their nearly four decades of traveling Europe, the Middle East, East and Southeast Asia, and Northern Africa.
Every third Thursday of the month, the museum remains open late into the evening for visitors to see the collection in a different light — literally, as the low-lamp and candlelike light replicates how Mrs. Gardner would have experienced the collection. Resident artists mingle with visitors, who can make art in the studio, while classical musicians play in the courtyard.
