(30 Jul 1995) English/Nat
It might not be the Louvre, but it certainly isn't the Art Barn.
An antiques dealer's find in a trash pile has grown into Boston's newest tourist attraction.
"Lucy in the Field with Flowers." Three years ago Boston antiques dealer Scott Wilson found her in somebody's trash pile, and the Museum of Bad Art was born.
The collection is, for now, housed in his partner's basement, but soon it will move to larger digs at the nearby Montserrat College of Art.
The museum boasts 80 original paintings and a few sculptures - all from unconventional sources.
SOUNDBITE:
"Trash piles, a good chunk of them come from the trash, thrift stores, yard sales. We've been getting more and more things sent to us by the Friends of MOBA, which is a growing organization of people dedicated to celebrating bad art."
SUPER CAPTION: Scott Wilson, Curator, Museum of Bad Art
Friends of MOBA, a group of about 80 Boston residents, has been active in promoting the museum.
They put out a weekly newsletter on the Internet, and recently created a "virtual museum" on CD-Rom.
SOUNDBITE:
"We're doing a much better job of fulfilling our mission of bringing the worst of art to the widest of audiences. And so now what we're finding is that people around the country have been contacting us, donating paintings, and joining the Friends of MOBA. So we're very excited about the growth in the institution over the last month or two."
SUPER CAPTION: Jerry Reilly, Executive Director, Museum of Bad Art
And that can only mean worse art for the museum...
It's not difficult to find words to describe the collection.
SOUNDBITE:
"I've heard the word unforgettable used, terrible. I think each one is really bad in a different way, and they're unforgettable. They're remarkably bad, not simply bad, but remarkably bad, which is why the museum was started in the first place."
SUPER CAPTION: Ethan Berry, Associate Professor, Montserrat College of Art.
And for aspiring artists, maybe bad recognition is better than no recognition.
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