massachusetts college of art and design

massart art museum

boston, massachusetts

β€œWe have re-imagined the museum-going experience to create an inviting and welcoming place for all our visitors, offering a richer engagement with exhibitions and programming. Our artists will also feel supported to realize their vision, and our students will be invited into the process to learn from the professional artists they aspire to be.”
— Lisa Tung, Executive Director, Massart Art Museum

The MassArt Art Museum, or MAAM, is a teaching museum and a kunsthalleβ€” a non-collecting museum. The project transforms two makeshift galleries in a 100-year old building into a state-of-the-art contemporary art museum. The mission for the project was to create a new museum-quality environment, while giving the museum a clear entry and identity on Huntington Ave, Boston’s Avenue of the Arts. 

The renovation involved a full transformation to the two main gallery spaces and curatorial workshops, as well as a relocation and redesign of staff offices. With a new, dedicated entry way, welcoming plaza, and bold signage, the exterior of the building announces the museum’s arrival to the region’s robust arts scene. Indoors, the renovation creates first-class gallery space, and a new lobby that gives visitors access to all of the museum’s amenities directly from the street.

The history of the building is embedded into the details of this project; ceilings were torn down in the upstairs gallery to reveal the historic building’s original terracotta vaulting and steel trusses. At 36 feet high, the trusses can act as an armature for art, creating unlimited possibilities for display. A staircase leads to a second-level viewing platform, offering a unique perspective on a diverse range of experimental art. Throughout, crisp white textures were used to create a blank canvas for the museum’s rotating exhibits. 

impact

A primary mission of MAAM is to create equitable access to world-class contemporary art installations. The Gallery Education Studio and seminar rooms on the ground floor support classes, school groups, and community programming for the museum. MAAM is the largest free and publicly-owned contemporary art space in New England, fostering a critical dialogue between artists of different disciplines, media, and approaches. It promotes collaboration and interdisciplinary work while forging strong community relationships in the Greater Boston area. The museum holds ongoing programs with the Boston Public Schools through their gallery education department, and supports community programming such as the MassArt Family Day, which exposes children and families to contemporary art in an accessible and approachable way.