ICA Boston

I checked out the Institute of Contemporary Art with my Mom yesterday evening. It is the splendid new modern art museum over in South Boston off Seaport Boulevard. The building is architecturally stunning inside and out; it's right on the water, surrounded by a large deck area that provides a magnificent view of the city from the water (it was really nice to see it all lit up at night, but I imagine if the weather were nice it would be a fantastic place to enjoy a summer sunset). The building itself is very modern and spacious. The fourth and top floor is devoted to the galleries, both permanent and temporary, with the very cool Poss Family Mediatheque, a sort of leveled media center that descends from the 4th floor into a mini stadium-style seating gallery. iMac workstations with headphones are at each seat, and at the front is a huge window, angled to overlook the water. If you walk down in front you can look out at the city. It is as if you're on the bridge of a ship; really an incredible design. Again, it was impressive enough in the dark evening, but I imagine it would be fantastic with sunlight glinting off the waves.

The third floor is a theater and the second is some sort of digital art center. We didn't check them out but we did explore the entirety of the galleries. Now, I'm not the biggest art fan in the world - especially modern art. I don't really get most of it. As my Mom said, a lot of it seems kind of self-indulgent. But there were a few very cool pieces, and once again, a tremendous view of the water is provided by a gigantic glass wall on the 4th floor. We didn't know until we arrived, but you can actually download mp3 audio tours from the ICA Boston website. Overhearing parts of ongoing tours, I thought it would be helpful to have a guide as one makes his way through the galleries.

There's a decent gift shop and a cafe on the ground floor. Overpriced museum food, yes, but this has Wolfgang Puck's name slapped on it. For a $9 reuben, it was pretty good. In the warm weather they have tables outside, which I imagine will be tremendous.

Standard admission is $12. The great thing is, Target sponsors free admission on Thursday nights after 5pm. Yay Target! Go buy something there.

If you live in or around Boston, definitely check this out. I can't wait to go again when the weather gets nice. It's worth it just to check out the building, which is the greatest piece of art there.