We're big fans of "so bad it's good" here at Eccentric Roadside and no one has got that covered better than the Museum of Bad Art (MoBA) in picturesque Dedham, Massachusetts on Boston's southwest border. Started in 1994 by five righteous bad art lovers, the Museum now has 500 pieces in its collection, with a rotating group show on permanent display next to the Mens Room in the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre. The pieces come from a variety of sources, including yard sales, thrift stores and donations. MoBA bills itself as the only museum dedicated to bringing the worst of art to the widest of audiences, but there is a criteria for what can be accepted. "Works must be original and have serious intent, but they must also have significant flaws without being boring; curators are not interested in deliberate displays of kitsch." Kind of like the TV show "Dragnet," which is the most unintentionally hilarious show on television because it tried so hard to be serious. They also exclude works done by children, black velvet art, paint-by-numbers or commercially produced paintings, proving it's as hard to get into a bad art museum as it is to get into a good one.
They support themselves by selling anthology books of the collection and T-shirts, along with donations from bad art lovers everywhere. They also have a terrific website and a sister gallery in another theater basement in nearby Somerville, Massachusetts. They like to say "In our museum, it's not the artists that are tortured, it's the patrons." We say we may not know art, but we know what we like and we love the Museum of Bad Art.
They support themselves by selling anthology books of the collection and T-shirts, along with donations from bad art lovers everywhere. They also have a terrific website and a sister gallery in another theater basement in nearby Somerville, Massachusetts. They like to say "In our museum, it's not the artists that are tortured, it's the patrons." We say we may not know art, but we know what we like and we love the Museum of Bad Art.