Striking contemporary art & performance space with glass-filled walls overlooking the Harbor.
At a glance
#106 of 114 Tourist attractions in Boston #16 of 18 Non-profit organizations in BostonLocalGuideWorld score: 4.40
Rating breakdown
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5 ★62%
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4 ★23%
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3 ★8%
-
2 ★4%
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1 ★3%
Quick facts
- What is the rating of Institute of Contemporary Art?
- Institute of Contemporary Art is rated 4.4 out of 5 based on 11,284 reviews.
- How does Institute of Contemporary Art rank in Boston?
- Institute of Contemporary Art is #106 of 114 Tourist attractions in Boston by LocalGuideWorld score (rating weighted by number of reviews).
- Where is Institute of Contemporary Art located?
- 25 Harbor Shore Dr, Boston, MA 02210, United States — 1.5 km from the center of Boston.
- How can I contact Institute of Contemporary Art?
- Phone: +1 617-478-3100 · Website: icaboston.org
A great diversity of multimedia exhibits. My only complaint is that it didn’t have more exhibits. It was only one floor! And the view of the harbor was beautiful.
Went with my friend on MLK Jr. Day and it was so nice. It was quite a bit of ppl out, but still a great time. I love that most of the exhibits had Caribbean origins.
This is a super small museum. It might be good if you are new to museums or don’t often like them that much (that has been me for a while), but it’s not necessarily the best if you want detailed descriptions of the work. It’s mostly left to interpretation and again it’s 1 floor, so if you want to be free and float around a museum, this might not be the one. I went on MLK day when they had free admission and it was definitely worth it.
I really enjoyed this place, not just because of the art (contemporary art can sometimes be difficult to appreciate and connect with), but also because of the institute's shop and wine/coffee bar. The shop has a fantastic collection of items that you'll immediately want to buy - funny books, art albums, original jewelry, and interesting and meaningful pictures and decorations. I spent an entire hour exploring everything they had to offer and ended up buying some things too. As for the cafe, it offers a fantastic view of the harbor where you can enjoy a glass of Californian Chardonnay while contemplating the sunset. It's a truly wonderful place that is a must-see.
So upon coming on Thursday , at 5pm - 9pm tickets are free. I enjoyed walking around the exhibit. Lots of amazing artworks. 10/10 will come again.
IcA offers free membership for the littles 5-17 years + 1 accompanying them… this is worth it because paying for tickets at this place is not worth it.
There is only one floor of gallery space. They do keep changing it up, so you won’t see the same thing if you go every few months.
Right now they have some Caribbean art which was good, and some Asian artists…
We were there for a workshop on the ground floor, by Lily Xie. It was a stop motion workshop, but the time for the workshop was so less, by the time they taught us what’s needed to know, it was hurry hurry hurry to pack up because they had to set up for the next workshop (which was a drop in from 12-5 pm) we rushed thru our stop motion videos which wasn’t fun. They said we’d have enough time to make our videos or if we wanted we could take our materials home to make a better video…
They had a light puppet workshop after where you could make shadow puppets.
The view of the harbor from the galleries are nice.
The galleries themselves could use some improvement. Some art pieces in the middle of the room have their write ups in random places, and it’s not easy to locate them especially if there is more than 1-3 artwork on the wall; with random art names, and no description for what we are looking at.
I struggled with 2-3 of them before giving up.
And the write ups themselves are very less, doesn’t give a glimpse into what the artist was thinking, why they did what they did, or what we are walking into (if it’s a room art) maybe they want us to do an audio tour, but it’s not clear when you enter where to get the info… a whole lot of employees but looks like they are all there to just protect the art but not really educate the patrons about what we are looking at. (They chided us for having an empty crushed water bottle when we asked them a question about some art) 🤷♀️ overall didn’t feel the vibe at this museum
It was nice to have lockers to stash our stuff at the entrance, felt light without our jackets and bags.
Your local library may have free or discounted passes to go here, I don’t think it’s worth it to buy a ticket for this…
The animation workshop was fun, but it was badly organized, if it wasn’t cheap ($5 a ticket) and the free admission for kids, I wouldn’t be back here.
There is only one floor of gallery space. They do keep changing it up, so you won’t see the same thing if you go every few months.
Right now they have some Caribbean art which was good, and some Asian artists…
We were there for a workshop on the ground floor, by Lily Xie. It was a stop motion workshop, but the time for the workshop was so less, by the time they taught us what’s needed to know, it was hurry hurry hurry to pack up because they had to set up for the next workshop (which was a drop in from 12-5 pm) we rushed thru our stop motion videos which wasn’t fun. They said we’d have enough time to make our videos or if we wanted we could take our materials home to make a better video…
They had a light puppet workshop after where you could make shadow puppets.
The view of the harbor from the galleries are nice.
The galleries themselves could use some improvement. Some art pieces in the middle of the room have their write ups in random places, and it’s not easy to locate them especially if there is more than 1-3 artwork on the wall; with random art names, and no description for what we are looking at.
I struggled with 2-3 of them before giving up.
And the write ups themselves are very less, doesn’t give a glimpse into what the artist was thinking, why they did what they did, or what we are walking into (if it’s a room art) maybe they want us to do an audio tour, but it’s not clear when you enter where to get the info… a whole lot of employees but looks like they are all there to just protect the art but not really educate the patrons about what we are looking at. (They chided us for having an empty crushed water bottle when we asked them a question about some art) 🤷♀️ overall didn’t feel the vibe at this museum
It was nice to have lockers to stash our stuff at the entrance, felt light without our jackets and bags.
Your local library may have free or discounted passes to go here, I don’t think it’s worth it to buy a ticket for this…
The animation workshop was fun, but it was badly organized, if it wasn’t cheap ($5 a ticket) and the free admission for kids, I wouldn’t be back here.
Beautiful art museum, both architecturally and in its exhibits and galleries. With lovely views of the harbor and surrounding Seaport district, the ICA is both elegant and bold in its presence within its glitzy, new neighborhood.
Free entry on Thursday evenings (can book online). A decent art gallery, quite small in size with a few thought provoking installations. I wouldn’t pay full price as you can finish the full gallery in 1h, but some installations were very innovative. Also great views from the 4th floor at the end of the exhibit.
Amazing art! Great place. The gift shop was also so nice. We spent a lot of time wandering through. There is fun seating installation outside. Views of water and city vibes. Splendid place to spend an evening!
The exhibits are only on the fourth floor and encourage contemplation. The location is amazing and one can enjoy beautiful views from the glass walls on the fourth floor. One can sit on the benches out there and enjoy watching the boats go by as well as planes taking off from Logan airport. After visiting the museum, taking a walk along the boardwalk is totally worth it.
I have Cultivist Membership for free entrance. I love the architecture building here designed by John Hancock. There is a beautiful observation deck on 4th Level. However, this museum only have one level of exhibition the rest of the levels are not opened to public. It’s a small museum to relax and get refresh.
Great galleries, but only one floor.. It’s a modern building, great harbour view, nice gift shop, not too much to say really. The tickets are free on Thursdays, but the regular general admission it’s $20 (in that case, not worthy)
The art museum, despite being small, is a very modern building with breathtaking views of the Seaport area. There are currently three exhibits in total, with a particular focus on Simone Leigh's works. I was a bit disappointed as the ICA building is quite large, yet the artworks are only limited to the 4th floor. The rest of the building seems to be dedicated to administration purposes. Quality of the artwork is great so I was hoping to see more.
This place has my attention with it's architectural design rather than the art work inside. Building design has unique features with it's cantilever floor, elevator, seating below cantilever floor so that people can watch the harbor from the best location etc. I have seen better art museums such as Princeton art gallery, NY open sculpture museum. Best exhibition section for me was an exhibition of collages with Japanese craft paper. The section where clay sculptures and videos were not pleasing for me.
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