Connecting through art
Pandemic hasn’t changed Hoskins’ goals for MFA
If you don’t care for Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe or Jackson Pollock but still love Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, it might be because of Kristen Hoskins’ work. Hoskins, the MFA’s head and curator of public programs, is responsible for bringing dancers, DJs and Boston’s brightest hip-hop artists (and lots more) into the museum’s halls.
But, while the MFA makes plans to reopen in the fall with rescheduled dates for exhibitions “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation” and “Monet and Boston: Lasting Impression,” Hoskins has remained busy. She’s booking an online version of the Sound Bites concert series and virtual DJ residencies. She’s also taking time for herself and her family, listening to Chicano Batman and reading Ishamel Reed.
As part of our series about what arts leaders are doing now (check bostonherald.com/entertainment to read installments from curators at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art and Lynn Museum), Hoskins talks work and art, art and work.
Lilit Hartunian and Monet, Anjimile and Jess T. Dugan
Hoskins aims to create programs that connect people with the MFA in new ways — a hard sell during a pandemic. “Since our temporary closure, my goals haven’t changed but I have needed to shift tactics and create virtual programming,” she said. “We launched our virtual Sound Bites concert series where I asked a Boston musician to respond to an artist’s work. Violinist Lilit Hartunian responded to our virtual exhibition ‘Monet and Boston: Lasting Impression’ and singer-songwriter Anjimile responded to the work of photographer Jess T. Dugan, whose portraits are in the MFA’s permanent collection. It was amazing to see how these incredible musical artists responded to and interpreted the visual art pieces through sound.”
Playtime set to the turntable
Not surprisingly, Hoskins loves art: movies, TV, novels, music, more. But how she interacts with art has evolved. “My consumption, appreciation and attention has needed to change given that oftentimes I’m with my little kiddos, Percy (5) and Della (2), in our tiny, yet cozy Somerville apartment,” she said. “It means that my children play and eat while they listen to records from our selection of vinyl, which includes such favorites as the ‘Sex Education’ soundtrack by Ezra Furman, who is now local, Barrie’s ‘Happy to Be Here,’ ‘The Very Best of Dolly Parton,’ STL GLD’s ‘The New Normal,’ Vagabon’s self-titled LP, Chicano Batman’s latest album, ‘Invisible People.’”
A well-stocked night table
When the MFA closed temporarily in March, a trusted, literary-minded friend gave Hoskins a stack of books. Two favorites in the pile were the Hungarian novel “Sátántangó” by László Krasznahorkai and the Afrofuturist “Mumbo Jumbo” by Ishmael Reed. “Both were incredibly relatable during this time from the themes of isolation in the former and reclamation of history in the latter,” she said. “Fresh off my shelf, with many more stacked, is ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’ by Ocean Vuong, which has me shaken to the core. The title speaks volumes and the words inside continue to haunt me with its intrinsic beauty and pain.”