Museum of Bad Art

A very cool and amusing set of mishaps behind the easel put on display. Definitely an interesting 20 minutes to spend the night before watching a movie at Somerville Theatre. I would have liked more paintings, but happy with what I saw.
The only flaw is that you must pay to watch a movie. $ 10 for movies after 6pm.

Maybe it’s worth going if it’s free when included with a movie ticket, but my group went specifically to see the museum and it’s definitely not worth $ 7 per person. I’d pay maybe a few dollars. It’s just a somewhat sketchy basement hall area with paintings. It was kinda interesting, but not worth making a drive if you’re not in the area.
Management was not accommodating when we asked for a refund/​tried negotiating the price.

It really is BAD.
Dreadfully so.
But it is a MUSEUM and it is ART.
And it is worth visiting.
While you wait to watch a flick in the theatre.
Or on your tinkle sprinkle break if you’re bored.
And some of the art is even sort of worthwhile.
It is strange.
The artists are local.
And it’s so bad that it’s actually good.
Enjoy and have a beer afterward.

Definitely at least stop by!
4 stars only because I’ve been there 3 times in the last year or so, and not once have they had different art! I assume that there are hundreds of equally-​bad masterpieces that could be showcased, but I haven’t seen any yet.
Overall, very fun!

This is basically a basement that they had no use for so they decided to put some junk on the wall and call it a museum. For some reason, the idea of it comes off as avant garde but it seems to me like the «bad art» is truly just created by people who are not artistically talented. Is that in and of itself a statement? If so, I could open a museum full of random things I’ve made. At least it’s free admission so. there’s that.

Calling this the «Museum of Bad Art» is like calling the movie posters you find in other theaters a «Museum of Hollywood Memorabilia.» It’s not a museum; it’s a few pieces of bad art with snarky captions in the basement of a movie theater.
Admission is only by buying a movie ticket, so you couldn’t make a special trip to see this if you wanted to.
Total con job.

Literally high school art and bad sculpture. Love.

This place is a good 20 minutes worth of a hoot. There are some items in there that really showcase badness, which sort of gives you the whole «this movie is so bad its good» vibe.
That said, the admission is not *really* worth it on its own, but I believe you can get a discount or free admission with the purchase of a ticket to the Someville Theatre as this museum is essentially the basement of the theatre!

A gem and a must-​see

I once heard an interview with the curator of the Museum of Bad Art where she said that bad art needs to be sincere. In other words, you can’t intend to make bad art. The pieces in the Museum underneath the Somerville Theatre were all meant for greatness, but fell a million miles short. The snarky blurbs explaining each piece are hilarious. My visit was truly enjoyable.
Free with movie ticket.

Wow. This museum has it all. Phenomenally ugly paintings. Horrendous sculptures. Even the furniture is cringe worthy.
The only drawback is that occasionally the place is overrun by hipsters who try to look cool or ironic by boldly proclaiming the art isn’t all that bad. Then again, one could pretend that the hipsters are simply bad performance art… Which in turn just heightens the whole experience.

The Museum of Bad Art isn’t so bad at all. Many of the paintings were grotesque, but beautiful. Some were exaggerated, but insightful. I especially like the various paintings of the female body. Boobs everywhere you look!
It’s free. It’s on the bottom level of the Somerville Theater. It’ll take but a few minutes of your precious life, but you’ll gain a new perspective on what constitutes as art.

After all the hype I figured this place would be chalk full of the bad, strange, and uncomfortable. What I found was a single room with maybe 20 or so pieces of art, which while all bad, weren’t bad, bad. Some pieces are interpretations of famous pieces of art (or some approximation I think) while other I can only assume are originals. It is free with admission to the Somerville Theater, so it’s certainly worth it if you happen to have some time before/​after your movie and have never been.
I’m not sure in the man slurping in the middle of the room was an instillation piece, or just reading his book.
If you lack personality and want to convince your date you have a sense of humor and are quirky, take her here. If your date actually has a sense of humor and is quirky, she might call your bluff*.
Bottom Line: Meh, why not?
*In case of irreparable bluff calling, have her send her name, phone number, 5×10 headshot, social security number, sculpture of any/​all pets, and history of present personality to Dan C.

DEFINITELY STOP BY AFTER YOUR MOVIE.
This museum is ingenious. It’s magically curated, and the art descriptions are priceless. I found myself laughing until my stomach hurt, and this collection only left me yearning for more. So I visited their Brookline gallery as well.
More towns need to have collections like this. I’m obsessed.

Aside from a run to the bar, you’ve been sitting for the better part of two hours watching a flick. The lights come on, you freshen up a bit in the back row of the theater. A solid movie experience.
But your night is far from over.
Saunter downstairs and check out local and international art gems. The range of emotions you’ll experience is worth the trip.

Since I had already been to the Dedham branch of the MOBA, I knew what to expect. I made sure to arrive way before the movie (Precious) started so I could get my MOBA fill.
Not only is the art bad, but the way they have the art displayed with all the official artist and captions… well, it’s just perfect. They make those little caption cards like you REALLY are taking this seriously, and that’s what’s so great about it. I see others have uploaded some pics, so if I have taken different ones I will post mine too.
The question is, is the MOBA your cup of tea?
If you share my sense of humor, the MOBA is for you. If you are really into fine art, maybe the MOBA isn’t for you. If you fancy yourself a budding artist but in fact, are really bad at it, the MOBA not be for you. If you are an hour early for your movie or have nothing else to do, the MOBA is for you. If you are super serious, the MOBA isn’t for you.
If you are like me and enjoy the randomess of things, the MOBA is for you.
PS. The giant red couch is really cool and don’t miss the John Malkovich door.
EDIT Feb 1: Eileen and Malcovich pictures are now posted.

The commentary is perfect. The price (free with a movie ticket) is perfect. The examples of «not bad art» are perfect.
This is perfect. The Museum of Bad Art is perfect. If you go see a movie at the Somerville Theatre, which you should, by the way, you owe it to yourself to check out the museum. Absolutely great stuff.

Free with a ticket to a theater.
A quiet hallway decorated with… wait for it… bad art. Yes, its a collection of bad art, literally hid in the basement of a movie theater. I feel a bit bad for the artists who’s stuff ends up here, though a lot of these seem to be dumpster finds.
It would be interesting to have a bit more of a background on the pieces.
The MOBA is fun to walk through, especially while waiting for someone to go to the bathroom (which are around the corner), and an amussing instalation for a movie theater to have. Two stars for its lack of entertainment value, and having to buy a movie ticket to see it, but plus one for its randomness factor.
If you’re at the theater to see a movie, you should go see it… but I wouldn’t buy a movie ticket just to see the art. (Somerville Theater is, however, a GREAT theater)

I stumbled upon this ‘museum’ on wikipedia and knew it would be a must see on our upcoming trip to Boston. We just planned to see the museum since we didn’t have time to enjoy a movie, but had to buy movie tickets to get in anyways. I can say, this tiny basement museum was worth the short trek to Somerville, which happens to be a kick-​ass little town.
I love the descriptions of the unknown artist pieces… whoever wrote those is a trip! Some of the pieces aren’t bad like the naked lady tree with eyeball leaves that I liked a lot. Though, there are more disturbing ones and some just make you think ‘WTF?’

Ever wonder through a goodwill/​yardsale or a student art exhibit and ever wonder why, dear god why?
The answer is this.