This program takes place via Zoom. Space is limited; to register, click here.

Until it’s safe to travel together for our popular Art Travels day, overnight, national, and international trips, we’re thrilled to continue virtual trips for armchair travelers each first Thursday evening! This month, we travel to the Museum Of Bad Art in Boston, MA.

The Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA) is a community-based, nonprofit institution dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition, and celebration of “bad art” in all its forms and glory. Its collection ranges from the work of talented artists gone awry to works of exuberant execution by artists barely in control of the brush. What they all have in common is a special quality that sets them apart in one way or another. MOBA was founded in 1993 and presented its first show in 1994. The response was overwhelming. Since then, MOBA’s collection and ambitions have grown exponentially. Initially, MOBA was housed in the basement of a private home in Boston. This exhibition space limited the museum to be a regional cultural resource for the New England area. As the only museum dedicated to bringing the best bad art to the widest audience, MOBA was compelled to explore new, more creative ways to bringing this priceless collection of quality bad art to a global audience. MOBA was given space first in the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre (est. 1917), then in the basement of the Somerville Theater (est. 1912). MOBA has vacated both vintage theaters and is currently seeking new gallery space in the Boston area.

Art has always helped get us through difficult times. For this virtual visit Michael Frank, curator-in-chief, introduces MOBA and presents a selection of works from its collection with the theme “Tough Times: Having a Bad Day to Dystopian Apocalypse.” Frank explores some of the ways artists react to small and large, real and imagined, disasters. Frank is joined for Q&A by Louise Reilly Sacco, MOBA’s permanent acting interim executive director.

About the Speaker

Michael Frank, MOBA’s curator-in-chief, is an acolyte who studied under the strict tutelage of the founding esteemed curator. Frank now heads the entire department. His appointment was due to his record of contributing more art to MOBA than anyone other than the esteemed curator and that he already had a tuxedo. A professional musician and entertainer with enviable balloon-twisting skills, he lives in Boston, MA.