LOCAL ATTRACTIONS
For a complete guide to all the visual and performing arts, literary, dance and music venues and events taking place in Cambridge, check out the Cambridge Arts Council’s listings (and scroll down to ‘Tips and FAQs’.) Note: much of the text below is taken from the organizations’ websites.
MUSEUMS
Harvard University Art Museums, 617-495-9400, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge.
This university museum boosts a gem of a collection and is well-worth a visit. Ever since their founding, the Harvard Art Museums—the Fogg Museum, Busch- Reisinger Museum, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum—have been dedicated to advancing and supporting learning at Harvard University, in the local community, and around the world. The museums have played a leading role in the development of art history, conservation, and conservation science, and in the evolution of the art museum as an institution. Through research, teaching, professional training, and public education, the museums strive to advance the understanding and appreciation of art. Programs encourage close looking at original works of art, collaboration with campus and community partners, and the production of new scholarship.
Amanda Barrow
Sponsored by Speedball Art Products
MIT List Visual Arts Center, 617-253-4680, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge.
The List Visual Arts Center is a creative laboratory that provides artists with a space to freely experiment and push existing boundaries. As the contemporary art museum at MIT, the List Center presents a dynamic program of six to nine special exhibitions in its galleries annually, including a program of evolving site-specific work by emerging artists known as List Projects, as well as a broad range of educational programs, events, and scholarly publications.
MIT Museum, 617-253-5927, 314 Main Street, Cambridge.
The overall purpose of the MIT Museum is to “turn MIT inside out” by making MIT’s work more visible and accessible to the outside world. Along with presenting the history of MIT, the collection includes holographic, robotic, artificial intelligence and technology-related – or so-called STEAM – based artworks, along with a regular program of temporary special exhibitions, often still focused on the intersections of art and technology.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge.
Established in 1866 as one of the first museums of anthropology, the Peabody Museum currently cares for a large and historic collection of anthropological materials from across the globe, including more than 1.2 million individual cultural items, 500,000 photographic images, and associated archival records.
Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 617-495-4631. 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge.
Founded in 1889, the museum was conceived as a teaching tool to study the ancient histories and cultures of people who spoke Semitic languages, among them Israelites, Moabites, Arabs, Babylonians, and Phoenicians. From the beginning, it was the home of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, a departmental library, a repository for research collections, a public educational institute, and a center for archaeological exploration. The collections of Near Eastern archaeological artifacts comprise over 40,000 items, including pottery, cylinder seals, sculpture, coins and cuneiform tablets. Many are from museum-sponsored excavations in Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia. The museum remains dedicated to the use of these collections for the teaching, research, and publication of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture.
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 617-495-3045, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge.
Revered for its world-famous, glass-blown flowers, the Harvard Museum of Natural History was established in 1998 as the public face of three research museums: the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard University Herbaria, and the Mineralogical & Geological Museum. Today’s museum reflects both the history of its affiliate museums and an evolution toward a twenty-first-century institution that presents cutting-edge research, addresses contemporary issues, and offers a creative educational experience in a unique, intimate setting. The Harvard Museum of Natural History is the most-visited attraction at Harvard—for its historical collections, its temporary exhibitions, and its new permanent galleries.
Museum of Science, 617-723-2500, 1 Science Park, Boston (Note: the museum is on the border between two the cities, about a mile from the Foundry)
One of the world’s largest science centers and New England’s most highly attended cultural institution, the Museum of Science is ideally positioned to lead the nationwide effort to promote engineering education awareness, bringing science, technology, and mathematics alive through its exhibits, programs, and more.
Other Suggestions
Harvard Square, 18 Brattle Street, Cambridge
Iconic Harvard Square, a bustling epicenter of Cambridge, is packed with quirky boutiques, bookstores, restaurants, cafes, bars, buskers and, of course, students from Harvard University, which borders one side of the square. No matter the time of day or night, there is always a lively atmosphere. Simply wandering around people-watching can be entertaining by itself. (Text from U.S. News’s article #1 in Best Things To Do in Cambridge, MA.)
JUST OVER THE RIVER, IN BOSTON
MUSEUMS
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 617-267-9300, Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston.
Today the MFA is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the world; the collection encompasses nearly 450,000 works of art . . . from ancient Egyptian to contemporary, special exhibitions, and innovative educational programs. The Museum has undergone significant expansion and change in recent years; 2010 marked the opening of the Art of the Americas Wing, with four levels of American art from ancient to modern. In 2011, the west wing of the Museum was transformed into the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, with new galleries for contemporary art and social and learning spaces. Improved and new galleries for European, Asian, and African art have opened through 2013, with more to come.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 617 566 1401, 25 Evans Way, Boston, MA.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is at once an intimate collection of fine and decorative art and a vibrant, innovative venue for contemporary artists, musicians and scholars. Housed in a stunning 15th-century Venetian-style palace with three stories of galleries surrounding a sun- and flower-filled courtyard, the Museum provides an unusual backdrop for the viewing of art. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s preeminent collection contains more than 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative arts. The galleries house works by some of the most recognized artists in the world, including Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Manet, Degas, Whistler and Sargent. The spirit of the architecture, the personal character of the arrangements and the artistic display of the enchanting courtyard in full bloom all create an atmosphere that distinguishes the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as an intimate and culturally rich treasure.
Institute of Contemporary Art, 617-478-3100, 100 Northern Avenue, Boston.
The Institute of Contemporary Art 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.
Other Suggestions
Boston Common and Boston Public Gardens, 617-635-4505, 4 Charles Street.
Two centuries separate the creation of the Boston Common and the Public Garden, and what a difference that period made. In 1634 the Common was created as America’s first public park; it was practical and pastoral with walkways built for crosstown travel. In contrast, the Public Garden was the first public botanical garden in America. It was decorative and flowery from its inception, featuring meandering pathways for strolling.
Boston Public Library, 617-536-5400, 700 Boylston Street, Boston.
Established in 1848 by an act of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, the Boston Public Library (BPL) was the first large free municipal library in the United States. Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Meade, and White was appointed the principal architect in 1887 for the new building. The present Central Library in Copley Square has been home to the library and has served as its headquarters since 1895 when Charles Follen McKim completed his “palace for the people.” In 1986, the National Park Service designated the McKim building a National Historic Landmark, citing it as “the first outstanding example of Renaissance Beaux-Arts Classicism in America.” Within the McKim Building are exquisite murals series by John Singer Sargent, Edwin Austin Abbey, and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, a peaceful inner courtyard, and additional works of famed sculptors and painters that can be viewed via the library’s daily art and architecture tours.
Faneuil Hall, 1 Faneuil Hall Square, Boston.
Located in downtown Boston, steps away from the waterfront, Faneuil Hall Marketplace is alive today as it was in 1742 when our nation’s fathers proclaimed it “The Cradle of Liberty.” Over 70 retailers and 40 office tenants occupy the 200,000 square feet of retail and 160,000 square feet of space on Boston’s iconic mixed-use festival marketplace. Customers enjoy unique, locally loved, and nationally recognized shops while indulging in the worldwide cuisine at our restaurants, pubs, and in the world-famous Quincy Market Colonnade. The cobblestone promenades are filled with the music and jaw-dropping routines of world-renowned street performers and musicians.”
Freedom Trail, 617-357-8300, 99 Chauncy Street, Suite 401, Boston. Welcome to the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile, red-lined route that leads you to 16 historically significant sites — each one an authentic treasure. Explore museums and meetinghouses, churches, and burying grounds. Learn about the brave people who shaped our nation. Discover the rich history of the American Revolution, as it began in Boston, where every step tells a story.
New England Aquarium, 617-973-5200,1 Central Wharf, Boston.
The New England Aquarium, which opened in 1969, is a global leader in ocean exploration and marine conservation. The Aquarium is one of the premier visitor attractions in Boston, with over 1.3 million visitors a year, and a major public education resource.
More Things to Do in Boston.