Museum of Bad Art – Somerville and Dedham, Massachusetts
If you are tired of going to art museums where you know that your ability to "compete" with the great artists of the world is zilch, then you really should visit the Museum of Bad Art in Dedham. Here you will see things that will have you truly wondering just why they are on display, but then, there are both artists that want their work shown and people that want to see it, and some think it isn’t all that bad!
You won’t see any porn, paint-by-numbers, no 9-11 or Jesus type works, it is dedicated to what the museum decides is bad art. Black velvet paintings? Maybe, they can (and most often are) really bad art!
The museum is in the basement of the theater, right next to the bathrooms. Ironic that both the sights and the smells should blend in such a manner to scream Bad Art! The museum hasn’t much space to show a great number of paintings at one time, which may be a blessing. You can only take so much bad at one time. But, the displays are always rotating and there are many pieces just waiting to be shown so the variety is there for you to visit more than one time.
The displays are in the two galleries in the basements of the Somerville Theater in Davis Square, Somerville, MA and the Dedham Community Theatre in Dedham Square. There are usually 30 to 40 pieces on display at a time.
Founded in the fall of 1993 the success of the museum has proven that people like bad art. It began in the basement of a residential property, but in order to allow the worst art to the widest of audiences it was necessary to find another location. The Dedham Community Theater allowed the museum to be placed in their basement, just outside the men’s room. Now, envision this museum in the basement of a 1927 movie theatre and you have a pretty good idea how the mix works.
Artists sometimes have a piece that just turns out awful so they send it to the museum. Other art is found all over the Boston and surrounding area at garage sales, flea markets or just with people wanting to finally be rid of a piece of bad art they have felt they needed to retain (for whatever reason…maybe an inheritance was tied to the piece and now that the person is dead they don’t need to keep it on display any longer..who knows.) They bring it to the museum or the curator finds it in the shops and it ends up at the museum.
People that tend to try to paint something bad aren’t probably going to succeed in getting the work in the museum. Those that are incompetent artists can make bad art but in most instances it is just boring and that doesn’t qualify.
Come and visit just so you can tell your family and friends that while you were on your Massachusetts vacation you saw some of the worst art on the planet!
Location: 580 High St., Dedham, Massachusetts
Hours: 6:30 – 10:30 PM – Monday through Friday and 1:30 – 10:30 Saturday and Sunday. Probably want to call to verify they are there.
Phone: 781-444-6757
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