music academy of the west

After a big snowfall, Fenway neighborhood in Boston turns into a land of ice and snow...

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936, with a mission to exhibit contemporary art.

In 1939 the museum officially cut ties with the Museum of Modern Art and changed its name to the "Institute of Modern Art." After changing its name the museum held a show of German degenerate art, labeled as such by Hitler himself. The museum became an important venue for the Boston Expressionists.

In 1948 the "Institute of Modern Art" changes its name to the "Institute of Contemporary Art" (ICA) to "[distance] itself from the ideological inflections the term 'modern' has accrued in favor of its original meaning: 'that which exists now.'"

In 1966 the museum organized an Andy Warhol exhibition with roughly 40 works including selections from Campbell's Soup Cans and portraits of Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as the first exhibitions in a museum setting of Warhol's films including Eat, Sleep, and Kiss.

In 2006 the ICA moved to its new 65,000 square foot building on Fan Pier containing both galleries and a performance space.

The new building is located between the Courthouse and World Trade Center stations on the MBTA Silver Line. It is adjacent to Anthony’s Pier 4 restaurant. The building's design, which echoes that of nearby waterfront gantry cranes, has been celebrated by many critics for its openness, represented by its exterior grand staircase, and willingness to embrace the surrounding harbor.