MASS MoCA is marvelous!

selfie at Mass MOCA

Hej everyone!  We headed out to MASS MoCA over spring break. If you haven't been yet I highly recommend it for all ages. We love going there.  It's an art space housed in an old mill in North Adams, MA renovated to house contemporary art exhibits with a freewheeling, fun approach to modern art (and a wonderful gift shop and brewery on site to boot!)

This is a smattering of what we saw this time around - a Sol LeWitt retrospective (what a perfect place to view it!); and Alex Da Corte's "Free Roses" show, a provocative exhibit exploring banal items under neon lights.  The museum's website states -

art by Alex Da Corte - very cool

Da Corte is particularly attracted to objects, which, in his words, “he doesn’t understand or doesn’t like.” He tries to strip his work of his own distaste to study how others find pleasure in the form, color, or composition of even the most mundane elements.

Wonder what he thought when he put the fake dog on the AstroTurf, under the pink neon light?  Who knows, but all the random elements made for a cool show.  We also enjoyed Kidspace (such interesting ideas for Start 2 Art) including interactive art, like the piece with the headphones, and various "Walk In My Shoes" pieces (for example the family photo by Jamie Diamond below) that teach empathy through art.  Love that!

interesting interactive art in kids room

this is not my family (tee, hee) - "The Walls", 2008
by Jamie Diamond 

Sol LeWitt

What's next?  Well there's lots to explore, including hallways to run in and corridors to get lost in. We had the hardest time finding one of the floors with a new exhibit.  Turns out it was on floor 2/5!

Back to the hotel after Mass MOCA fun! Porches in N. Adams

socks turned into art displayed at Kidspace

More fun including the sock art by Aaron Johnson.  We were happy though to get back to our hotel room at Porches at 231 River Street after a long day driving and museum visiting.  It's a nice hotel close to MASS MoCA with a heated pool, good breakfast and some fun hipster choices that make you feel "arty" despite any obvious lack of beard and berets. There's always a nice line-up of art, music, events and other performing arts at MASS MoCA. In 2017 it will double in size and we'll be back!