Cycling to the Museum

Last weekend I had some free time, and instead of resting and relaxing at home, I decided to expand my knowledge of art by visiting the museum. The sun was shining on Saturday, a perfect excuse to take our bikes and ride to The Institute Of Contemporary Art in Boston. From Cambridge, across the Charles River, it was about a 5 mile ride to the museum, which is located by the seaport. In fact, part of the building actually overhangs Boston’s inner harbor. Once we arrived, we were treated to beautiful views before we even entered the galleries.

Founded in 1936 as The Boston Museum of Modern Art, it was conceived as a laboratory where innovative approaches to art could be championed. In pursuit of this mission, in its early days, the museum established its reputation for identifying important new artists and changed its name a final time to become the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1948. The museum strives to share the pleasures of reflection, inspiration, provocation, and imagination that contemporary art offers through public access to art, artists, and the creative process.

Any contemporary art museum will have a wide variety of works, some bizarre, some beautiful, almost all of them thought provoking. The ICA is no exception. With one work, we saw what essentially a simple chair, yet it differed from those we usually sit on everyday, and in some way changed the way we view its main components. The viewer is forced to consider the styles in which it was made, the materials used, and the subjects that inspired it.

We learned a lot while examining the works of art there, and fully enjoyed our time there! When we walked outside, we realized it had been raining all day. Luckily it had stopped and the sun was peaking out from behind the clouds. Just enough time for us to play in the puddles as if we were kids again. A leisurely bike ride back home was a perfect end to the day.

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