# At the MFA: Visiting Boston's Arts of Islamic Cultures Gallery

Gallery 175 at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts gathers calligraphy, Ottoman tiles, Qur'an audio made with local imams, and centuries of Islamic art. Here is how Massachusetts Muslim families can plan a visit, what it costs, and when tickets get cheaper.

By Samir Ourdyl

On a quiet weekend in Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts offers something many Muslim families look for and do not always find: a gallery built with Muslim communities in mind, filled with objects that feel familiar — calligraphy, Ottoman tiles, a minbar door, the sound of Qur'an recitation — and open to anyone who walks through Huntington Avenue.

The Arts of Islamic Cultures Gallery is Gallery 175. According to the MFA, its thematic installation was developed through an eight-year process of engagement with Muslim, artistic and scholarly communities. Sections explore Arabic calligraphy across Islamic cultures, the visual traditions of Ottoman Turkey and Mughal India, and the deep history of singular objects. One example the museum highlights is a door assembled from fragments of medieval Egyptian woodwork for the first American World's Fair.

The MFA says its Islamic art collection covers the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, as well as works from Muslim communities worldwide. The collection was established in 1870, the year the museum was founded, and the MFA calls it one of the most important Islamic art collections in the United States.

What you will see and hear

Three featured objects on the gallery page give a sense of the range. A tile lunette from Turkey, about 1573, shows the kind of Ottoman ceramic work many visitors recognize from mosques and palaces. A minbar (pulpit) door from Egypt, 14th–15th centuries, with later additions, is wood and ivory or bone — a piece that once framed the steps of a pulpit. An illustration from the Great Mongol Shahnama, Iran, 1317–35, brings in the Persian epic tradition in ink, gold and opaque watercolor on paper.

The gallery is not only about looking. Visitors can watch a video interview with artist Wasma'a Chorbachi about her calligraphic ceramic work The Profession of Faith (Al Shahada). They can also listen to audio recordings of Qur'an recitation created in partnership with local imams. The MFA notes that those imams are among many local partners who helped shape the gallery. Hearing the Qur'an in a Boston museum, recorded with Massachusetts imams, is part of what makes Gallery 175 feel rooted in the communities that live here.

For a family outing, that mix matters. Kids can spot the flowing Arabic script, parents can linger on tiles and woodwork, and anyone who wants a quiet moment can put on the audio. It is a practical weekend plan: art, history and a little of the deen's beauty in one room.

Hours, tickets and how to get there

The museum is at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. The main phone number is 617-267-9300. Use the Huntington Avenue Entrance; the Fenway Entrance is currently closed. There is complimentary coat check at the Huntington Avenue Entrance.

Hours (from the MFA visit page): Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m.; Tuesday closed. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. The museum is closed on New Year's Day, Patriots' Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Admission: Members free; adults $30; youths 7–17 $14; youths 0–6 free — but all ages still need a ticket. The MFA recommends buying tickets in advance.

Transit: The MFA's getting-here page says to take the Green Line E train to the Museum of Fine Arts stop, the Orange Line to Ruggles, or the Commuter Rail to Ruggles (Zone 1A). Bus routes 39, 8, 19, 47 and CT2 also serve the area. For many families coming from Greater Boston or the Green Line corridor, the E train drop-off is the simplest.

If you only have an hour, free guided Gallery Highlights tours run daily at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. when the museum is open. No registration is required; meet at the Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Center. Space is first come, first served. The tours are included with general admission and cover works across the MFA's collection — a good orientation before or after you spend time in Gallery 175.

Cheaper and free ways in

Full-price tickets add up for a family of four. The MFA lists several free and discounted options; only use the ones that match your situation, and confirm details on the museum's free-and-discounted page before you go, because dates and rules change.

  • $5 Third Thursdays: After 5 p.m. on every third Thursday of the month, general admission is a $5 minimum, pay-what-you-wish. Tickets are sold in person that day starting at 5 p.m. Listed dates for 2026 have included September 17 and October 15; October 15 has already passed. Check the MFA page for the next third Thursday rather than guessing a November date.
  • Open Houses (Massachusetts residents): Free admission with a valid Massachusetts ZIP code, in person, first come, first served. Upcoming dates the museum lists include Monday, January 18, 2027 (MLK Day); Monday, May 31, 2027 (Memorial Day); and Friday, June 18, 2027 (Juneteenth). The October 12, 2026 Indigenous Peoples' Day open house has already passed.
  • Card to Culture: Massachusetts residents with EBT or ConnectorCare can get up to four $3 adult tickets and four free youth (7–17) tickets in person.
  • Bank of America Museums on Us: Cardholders can get one complimentary ticket on the first full weekend of each month (Saturday and Sunday), in person.
  • College students: Free general admission (and free special exhibition tickets) for students, faculty and staff from participating schools, in person with a valid ID.
  • Boston Family Days: Students who live in Boston and their families get free access on the first and second Sundays of each month, through a City of Boston partnership.

Members get free general admission anytime. If you expect to visit more than once a year, membership can pay for itself; check current rates on the MFA site.

Making it a family day

Arrive with tickets ready on your phone. Bags larger than 11 x 15 inches may need to go to coat check; backpacks should be carried as a handbag or worn on the front. The museum is wheelchair accessible, and gallery stools and wheelchairs are available to borrow first come, first served from the Sharf Visitor Center area.

Plan Gallery 175 as a destination, not a rush-through. Read a label together, listen to a short stretch of Qur'an audio, and talk about what the calligraphy or a tile pattern reminds you of at home or at the masjid. If the kids have energy left, the free Gallery Highlights tour at noon or 2 p.m. is an easy next step.

Thursday and Friday evenings, when the museum stays open until 10 p.m., work well for parents who work daytime hours — and if that Thursday is a Third Thursday, the $5 pay-what-you-wish window after 5 p.m. can make the evening more affordable. Sundays are another natural fit for a family visit, especially Boston residents who qualify for Boston Family Days on the first or second Sunday of the month.

The Arts of Islamic Cultures Gallery will not replace a trip to a museum overseas, and it is not a substitute for learning at the masjid. It is something closer to home: a carefully built room in Boston where Muslim history and craft are on the wall, local imams' voices are in the headphones, and a Massachusetts family can spend an afternoon without inventing the itinerary from scratch. Check mfa.org for current hours, tickets and discount dates before you go — then take the E train to the Museum of Fine Arts stop and walk into Gallery 175.

Header photo: Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Huntington Avenue facade, by Beyond My Ken, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA).

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