the Institute of Contemporary Art

This is from an article at boston.com about the stunning increase in visitors since the museum moved to its stunning new building.

Play Date, City Style

My Boston Baby
How many kids grow up tossing around a football on the very grounds where the game was first devised? Or have daily access to one of only 2 public research libraries? Go to summer camp at the Zoo?
I am often surprised (translation: irritated) when people question the wisdom of raising my child in Boston. I am amazed that they can’t see the innumerable advantages of being so near to so much culture, knowledge, government, history, technology, and natural beauty. I appreciate that we are able to drop by the Museum of Fine Arts after school, canoe on Mother Brook on Sunday afternoon, and hear the cheers of the Fenway crowd on the way get a guitar restrung. We can watch a Broadway show, learn about opera, or watch Shakespeare in the park after an afternoon of shopping.

And for none of these little adventures do I need to load up the car, grab a roadmap, circle a rotary for 10 minutes, decode a train schedule, or pack a change of clothes and emergency gas money.
Because we live here, we are able to appreciate the treasures of this town casually and with exceptional frequency. The advantages of culture are worth the small stresses of city living.

Art for the (Shorter) Masses
One of our new faves is the sleek, hip Institute of Contemporary Art. Many kids will find the ICA to be an easier trip than the MFA or the Garnder (All are excellent, just different.) It’s smaller, easier to navigate, has a gorgeous glass elevator, and to quote a very cute 10 year old: “you don’t just stare at pictures.”
The ICA first drew me in when I noticed their FREE family Saturdays. Two adults per family get in free on the last Saturday of the month. The bonus here is that on these Saturdays the museum offers “play dates” – a performance and art activities for the child or family.

These are not perfunctory projects - no cardboard cartouches or drawings of paintings. On our first playdate Maya learned about architecture and made a great sculpture out of recyclables.. I was amazed at the beauty of the piece, and proud of her pride in it.

Our fave playdate was part of a larger event, Kidsbuild 2009, in which children from across the city were invited to create the ICA-city on the floor of the ICA’s stage. It was an elaborate, enriching process. Maya chose a lot, decide what type of building, pulled a permit, designed, gathered materials, built, and went through the inspection process. I had no idea she’d have any interest in building a fire station out of leftover building and decorating samples, and I doubt she did either, but it was much fun, a great success, and she still tells people about her fire station.

During these visits, We usually take a brief jaunt through the exhibits, and some she likes more than others. She loved Anish Kapoor, grand, surprising, bright, confusing – very appealing to a ten year old, who really doesn’t care about the art’s meaning or the artisit's intentions.

Shepard Fairey, I was surprised she didn’t really react much to – I thought she would like the “prettiness” of some of the work, appreciate its notoriety, or at least think the technique cool. But apparently Kapoor’s ridonkulously large ball of wax is more appealing than Fairey's "Guns and Roses."
But I guess that’s art - everyone sees it differently.

Why I Love to Play
Maya and I agree that a great part of the play dates is the performances. During the day, there are a few shows at the ICA theatre – one was a fun, silly bubble magic show – and another I particularly enjoyed was a dance lesson/show by B-Side and Rainbow Tribe.
I love these play dates because we get to do an art activity together, and I don’t need to find supplies, rack my brain for ideas, or try teach any lesson. (All that is done for me. )

Even more so, I love our play dates because they are free, they can be brief, and they can be followed by a walk along the ever-improving harbor. We can splurge and have a quality meal at the museum's café, or we can munch granola bars on the museum's steps watching sailboats sway and the Codzilla zoom in the harbor.