Museum of Bad Art
Established | 1993 |
---|---|
Location | 1250 Massachusetts Ave (Dorchester Brewing Company), Boston, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°19′19″N 71°03′45″W / 42.32194°N 71.06250°W |
Type | Art museum |
Director | Louise Reilly Sacco |
Curator | Michael Frank |
Public transit access | MBTA Red Line JFK/UMass station |
Website | www.museumofbadart.org |
The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) is a privately owned museum whose stated aim is "to celebrate the labor of artists whose work would be displayed and appreciated in no other forum".
MOBA was founded in 1993, after antique dealer Scott Wilson showed a painting he had recovered from the trash to some friends, who suggested starting a collection. Within a year, receptions held in Wilson's friends' home were so well-attended that the collection needed its own viewing space. The museum then moved to the basement of a theater in Dedham. Explaining the reasoning behind the museum's establishment, co-founder Jerry Reilly said in 1995: "While every city in the world has at least one museum dedicated to the best of art, MOBA is the only museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the worst."[4] To be included in MOBA's collection, works must be original and have serious intent, but they must also have significant flaws without being boring; curators are not interested in displaying deliberate kitsch.
MOBA has been mentioned in dozens of off-the-beaten-path guides to
History
The Museum of Bad Art was founded by antique dealer Scott Wilson, who discovered what has become the museum's signature piece—Lucy in the Field with Flowers—protruding from between two trash cans on a
Regular showings of the pieces collected by Wilson, Reilly, and Jackson (and those donated by others), became too much for Reilly and Jackson's small home in
The MOBA was officially founded in 1993, and its first exhibition was presented in March 1994.[12]
Word of the museum's collection continued to spread until, according to "Permanent Interim Acting Director" Louise Reilly Sacco, "it got completely out of hand" when a group of senior citizens on a tour bus stopped to see it.[8] In 1995, the display space was moved to the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre, a building with an aesthetic described in 2004 as "ramshackle".[13] The museum in Dedham had no fixed operating hours, instead being open while the theater upstairs was open.[14] As The Boston Globe notes, the art collection was appropriately placed "just outside the men's room",[15] where sounds and smells carry to the collection and the constant flushing of the toilet "supposedly helps maintain a uniform humidity", according to the South China Morning Post.[16]
In MOBA's early days, the museum hosted traveling shows; on one occasion the works were hung from trees in the woods on Cape Cod for the "Art Goes Out the Window—The Gallery in the Woods". Bad music was played during the public viewings to complete the ambiance. In an exhibition titled "Awash in Bad Art", 18 pieces of art were covered in shrink wrap for "the world's first drive-thru museum and car wash". Marie Jackson, formerly the Director of Aesthetic Interpretation noted, "We didn't put any watercolors in there."[6] A 2001 exhibition, "Buck Naked—Nothing But Nudes" featured all of the MOBA nudes hung in a local spa.
MOBA features its works in rotating collections. In 2003, "Freaks of Nature" focused on landscape artwork "gone awry". A 2006 exhibit titled "Hackneyed Portraits" was designed to "pick up some of the slack" when the David Hockney show at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts closed.[17] MOBA unveiled its show "Nature Abhors a Vacuum and All Other Housework" in 2006; this format continues on the museum's website.
A second gallery opened in 2008 at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts, where the collection was placed near both the women's and men's restrooms.[18] Although the original gallery was free and open to the public, the second is free with admission to the theater or with a pass requested from the museum.[19] Exhibitions titled "Bright Colors / Dark Emotions" and "Know What You Like / Paint How You Feel" have been held in the academic gallery at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts.[20] One of MOBA's goals is "to take bad art on the road", according to Sacco.[21] Pieces from MOBA's collection have been on display in museums in New York City, Ottawa, Taipei, and Virginia.[22][23]
In February 2009, MOBA announced a fundraiser to assist the
In 2010, the museum opened a third location in the offices of the Brookline Interactive Group.[25]
In December 2012, the branch at the Dedham Community Theater closed to convert the space into a screening room.
Thefts
The loss of two MOBA works to theft has drawn media attention and enhanced the museum's stature.[6][29][30] In 1996, the painting Eileen, by R. Angelo Le, vanished from MOBA. Eileen was originally acquired from the trash by Wilson and had a rip in the canvas from being slashed with a knife, "adding an additional element of drama to an already powerful work", according to MOBA.[31]
The museum offered a reward of $6.50 for the return of Eileen, and although MOBA donors later increased that reward to $36.73, the work remained unrecovered for many years.[32] The Boston Police listed the crime as "larceny, other",[6] and Sacco was reported saying she was unable to establish a link between the disappearance of Eileen and a notorious heist at Boston's famed Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum that occurred in 1990.[33][34] In 2006, 10 years after Eileen was stolen, MOBA was contacted by the purported thief demanding a $5,000 ransom for the painting; no ransom was paid, but it was returned anyway.[35]
Prompted by the theft of Eileen, MOBA staff installed a fake video camera over a sign at their Dedham branch reading (in Comic Sans): "Warning. This gallery is protected by a fake security camera".[36] In 2004, Rebecca Harris' Self Portrait as a Drainpipe was removed from the wall and replaced with a ransom note demanding $10, although the thief neglected to include any contact information.[37] Soon after its disappearance the painting was returned, with a $10 donation.[38] Curator Michael Frank speculates that the thief had difficulty fencing the portrait because "reputable institutions refuse to negotiate with criminals."[38]
Collection standards
Although the museum's motto is "Art too bad to be ignored", MOBA holds rigorous standards as to what they will accept. According to Marie Jackson, "Nine out of ten pieces don't get in because they're not bad enough. What an artist considers to be bad doesn't always meet our low standards."[39] As stated in the introduction to The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks, the primary attribute of an objet d'art to be acquired by MOBA is that it must have been seriously attempted by someone making an artistic statement. A lack of artistic skill is not essential for a work to be included; a prospective painting or sculpture for the collection ideally should "[result] in a compelling image",[40] or as honorary curator Ollie Hallowell stated, the art must have an "Oh my God" quality.[15]
An important criterion for inclusion is that a painting or sculpture must not be boring. Michael Frank says they are not interested in commercial works like Dogs Playing Poker: "We collect things made in earnest, where people attempted to make art and something went wrong, either in the execution or in the original premise."[15] Montserrat College of Art used MOBA's exhibition as a demonstration to its students that "sincerity is still important, and pureness of intent is valid".[41]
MOBA accepts unsolicited works if they meet its standards. Frequently, curators consider works by artists who display an intensity or emotion in the art that they are unable to reconcile with their level of skill. The museum dedicated a show to "relentless creativity" in an exhibition titled "I Just Can't Stop" that was covered by local news and
MOBA does not collect art created by children, or art traditionally perceived as lesser in quality, such as
The Museum of Bad Art has been accused of being anti-art, or taking works that were sincerely rendered and mocking them. However, Scott Wilson insists that a work of art accepted into MOBA is a celebration of the artist's enthusiasm.
Many of the works in MOBA are donated, often by the artists themselves. Others come from yard sales or
Collection highlights
Each painting or sculpture MOBA exhibits is accompanied by a brief description of the medium, size, name of the artist, as well as how the piece was acquired, and an analysis of the work's possible intention or symbolism.
Lucy in the Field with Flowers
Many of MOBA's works generate extensive discourse from visitors. Lucy in the Field with Flowers (oil on canvas by Unknown; acquired from trash in Boston) remains a favorite with the news media and patrons. As the first work acquired by the museum, Lucy is "a painting so powerful it commands its own preservation for posterity", setting a standard by which all future acquisitions would be compared.[50]
Kate Swoger of The Montreal Gazette called Lucy a "gorgeous mistake", describing her thus: "an elderly woman dancing in a lush spring field, sagging breasts flopping willy-nilly, as she inexplicably seems to hold a red chair to her behind with one hand and a clutch of daisies in the other".[36] Author Cash Peters, using less florid language, summarized it as "the old woman with an armchair glued to her ass".[51]
MOBA's statement about Lucy reads: "The motion, the chair, the sway of her breast, the subtle hues of the sky, the expression on her face—every detail combines to create this transcendent and compelling portrait, every detail cries out 'masterpiece'."
The granddaughter of the painting's subject, a Boston-area nurse named Susan Lawlor, became a fan of MOBA after seeing the portrait in a newspaper.[52] She recognized it as her grandmother, Anna Lally Keane (c. 1890–1968); upon seeing the picture, Lawlor snorted Coca-Cola from her nose in astonishment.[54] The painting was commissioned by her mother, and it hung in her aunt's house for many years, despite the trepidation family members felt at seeing the final composition. Says Lawlor: "The face is hauntingly hers, but everything else is so horribly wrong. It looks like she only has one breast. I'm not sure what happened to her arms and legs, and I don't know where all the flowers and yellow sky came from."[46]
Sunday on the Pot with George
Sunday on the Pot with George (acrylic on canvas by John Gedraitis; donated by Jim Schulman) has been deemed "iconic" by Bella English of The Boston Globe, who assures the work is "100 percent guaranteed to make you burst out laughing".[9] Wilson has pointed to George as an example of a technically well-executed piece of art using a subject not usually seen rendered in paint.[46]
Many admirers of the first work donated to MOBA are hypnotized by the image of a portly man wearing "Y-front" underwear while sitting on a chamber pot, in
A visitor in response to seeing George displayed in the Dedham Community Theatre basement, wrote: "Someone had slipped into the bathroom as I took in this painting and began peeing loudly into a toilet. The reverberating sound of urine splashing while viewing George brought the painting to life, and when the denouement of the flush sounded, I wept."[58] MOBA's accompanying caption introduces questions and observations: "Can the swirling steam melt away the huge weight of George's corporate responsibilities? This pointillist piece is curious for meticulous attention to fine detail, such as the stitching around the edge of the towel, in contrast to the almost careless disregard for the subject's feet."[59]
Bone-Juggling Dog in Hula Skirt
In contrast to the pointillist impressionism of George, the museum also features a "fine example of labor-intensive pointlessism",[60] according to MOBA staff. Mari Newman's Bone-Juggling Dog in Hula Skirt (tempera and acrylic paint on canvas; donated by the artist), inspired this description by MOBA: "We can only wonder what possesses an artist to portray a dog juggling bones while wearing a hula skirt."[60] MOBA enjoys the mystery as much as any other aspect of art, however.[16]
Newman, a professional artist from Minneapolis, responded to the curators' cogitation by describing how the image came into being. She bought used canvases while a poor art student, and was unsure how to use a canvas with these dimensions. Inspired by a cartoon of a dachshund, she chose that as a subject, but was unhappy with the effect until she added a hula skirt she had seen in a magazine, and colored dog bones she spied in a pet store. Newman wrote to them, saying "I almost threw it out until I heard of MOBA. After many years of slashing rejected work, now I wish I had saved them all for you."[61]
Motifs and interpretations
Travel writer Cash Peters identifies six characteristics common to many of the museum's artworks. The first is that MOBA artists are unable to render hands or feet, and mask them by extending figures' arms off the canvas, hiding them with long sleeves, or placing shoes on feet in inappropriate scenarios. Second, Peters compared artists
Since late 2008, MOBA has been experimenting with allowing the public to title and caption some works. According to the curatorial staff, since some of the works are so puzzling, mere artistic interpretation is not sufficient: they must be "interpretated".[49] The "Guest Interpretator's Collection" is an invitation for MOBA's visitors to include their thoughts on compelling artworks; a contest decides the best analysis and these interpretations are added as each contest ends.[63] A professor at Boston University offered his thoughts: "The location of the museum as much as its collection suggests a commitment to the abject and a belief in the power and force of culture's marginalized effects. I was also reminded that I need to pick up some toilet bowl cleaner on my way home!"[9]
Influence
The Museum of Bad Art has been mentioned in hundreds of international publications, as well as in Boston-area travel guides highlighting offbeat attractions. It has inspired similar collections or events in Australia,[64] Ohio,[65] and Seattle.[66]
Responses to bad art
Museum visitors can sign a guest book, and leave comments. One Canadian visitor wrote: "This collection is disturbing, yet I can't seem to look away...Just like a hideous car accident." Another visitor observes: "Her nipples follow you around the room. Creepy!"[70]
Response to MOBA's opening and continued success is, for some, evocative of the way art is treated in society. MOBA works have been described as "unintentionally hilarious", similar to the films of Ed Wood.[71] Visitors—and even MOBA staff—often laugh out loud at displays. In Gullible's Travels, Cash Peters contrasted this behavior with what is expected of patrons at galleries such as Southern California's Getty Museum; though viewers might find the art at the Getty equally hilarious, were they to show it they would almost certainly be thrown out.[72]
In 2006, Louise Reilly Sacco participated in a panel discussion with authorities on art and architecture about standards of beauty and ugliness in art, published in Architecture Boston. She remarked that teachers bring high school art students to MOBA, then to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). Sacco observes, "Somehow MOBA frees kids to laugh and point, to have their own opinions and argue about things. Then they take the experience to the MFA, where they might otherwise feel intimidated... Maybe the ugly ... frees us."[43] Sacco believes that extreme ugliness is more striking than extreme beauty, and it forces people to think more deeply about what is wrong or misplaced. She connects this rigid judgment of what does not conform to beauty with intolerance for physical imperfections in people, noting that such rigidity sometimes causes parents to "fix" the perceived flaws in their children's faces to keep them from suffering later.[43]
Jason Kaufman, a
Deborah Solomon, in The New York Times Magazine, asserted that MOBA's success reflects a trend in modern art among artists and audiences. The arrival of abstraction and modern art in the early 20th century made art appreciation more esoteric and less accessible for the general community, showing that "the American public ... think[s] of museums as intimidating places ruled by a cadre of experts whose taste and rituals [seem] as mysterious as those of Byzantine priests."[5] Bad art is in vogue, as a movement that rejects the anti-sentimentalism that marked earlier disdain for artists such as Norman Rockwell or Gustave Moreau, according to Solomon. Garen Daly, a MOBA fan on several Boston-area art councils, stated in 1995, "I go to a lot of openings, and sometimes they're pretty damn stuffy."[41] Not only does the Museum of Bad Art offer different fare for the eyes, but instead of the wine and cheese that is provided for most museum and art gallery visitors, a MOBA show provides its patrons with Kool-Aid, Fluffernutters and cheese puffs.[74]
Use in academic research
The works in the Museum of Bad Art have been used in academic studies as a standard of reference for low quality art. In one such study, published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, researchers tested the consistency of responses between people asked to make "gut" judgments versus those who gave conscious well-reasoned responses regarding the quality of various pieces of art. The researchers showed respondents images from MOBA and New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and asked them to rate each painting on a scale with two ends representing "Very Attractive" and "Very Unattractive". The study found that those who reasoned in conscious thought were neither more accurate nor as consistent in their ratings.[75] Study participants identified and rated MoMA art higher quality, but those who used conscious reasoning did not find MoMA art more attractive than those who rated with "gut" judgments. Furthermore, the deliberators did not find MOBA art as unattractive as those with quicker response times. The study concluded that people who make quick judgments do so more consistently, with no significant change to accuracy.[76]
In another study that appeared in the
See also
Notes
- ^ Frank & Sacco 2008, p. vii
- ^ Boston Globe.
- OCLC 1765119.
- ^ a b Mutch, David (November 2, 1995). "Art from the Bottom of the Heap: A 'Museum' Devoted to Bad Painting". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 13.
- ^ a b Solomon, Deborah. "In Praise of Bad Art". The New York Times, January 24, 1999
- ^ a b c d e "The Gallery of the Garish Masterpieces of Bad Art Archived 2012-10-13 at the Wayback Machine". The Irish Times, September 18, 1999. 9
- ^ Sunn, "A few words on art"
- ^ a b Gaines, Judith. "Exhibiting Works of Trial and Error: Museum Finds Landscapes Gone Awry". The Boston Globe, May 4, 2003. 9
- ^ a b c English, Bella. [1]. The Boston Globe, April 29, 2007. Reg7[full citation needed]
- ^ Frauenfelder, Mark (July 1995). "Canvas Catastrophes". Wired.
- ^ DeJesus, Edmund X. (January 1996). "CD-ROM Review".
- ^ "Museum Of Bad Art Taste Challenge". Artlyst. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ^ Citro & Foulds 2004, p. 114
- Food & Wine Magazine, October 2008
- ^ a b c d English, Bella. "Doing a Good Deed with Bad Art". The Boston Globe, February 8, 2009. Reg1
- ^ a b Wilson, David, "It May Be Art, But They Sure Ain't No Oil Paintings". South China Morning Post, May 17, 2004. 5
- ^ Johnson, Carolyn. "So Bad It's Good: Dedham Museum Is Proud Home to Unforgettable Art That's Anything But Fine". The Boston Globe, June 25, 2006. 1
- ^ Smykus, Ed. "Museum of Bad Art Will Open Second Branch at the Somerville Theater" Archived 2012-09-17 at archive.today. Wicked Local, May 5, 2008
- ^ "General Info". Somerville Theatre. Retrieved on March 3, 2009.
- ^ Garcia-Fenech, Giovanni. "Bad Art Bonanza". New York City: artnet Worldwide, 2009. Retrieved on March 4, 2009.
- ^ Gray-Blanc, Elena. "The Good, the Bad... and the Very, Very Ugly — The Museum of Bad Art: A Worthwhile Stop on the World Weird Web". Santa Barbara Independent, September 20, 2008
- ^ a b c Goldberg, Carey. "Arts In America: Art So Bad a Museum in Boston Relishes It". The New York Times, October 14, 1998. E2
- ^ Hsiang-yi, Tang (January 5, 2014). "Everything but fine art". Taipei Times.
- ^ Bolton, Morgan Michele. "[2]". The Boston Globe, February 15, 2009[full citation needed]
- ^ "Brookline Gallery". Museum of Bad Art. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ "Museum of Bad Art (Gone)". Roadside America. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ "New England Wildlife Center Gallery". Museum of Bad Art. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ a b Gay, Malcolm (September 1, 2022). "Duds and suds: Museum Of Bad Art lives on at Dorchester Brewing Company". Boston Globe.
- ^ Wulff, Julie "All Things Bad and Beautiful". The Boston Globe, December 13, 2006. SID2
- ^ a b Cobb, Nathan. "In Dedham, This Museum is Exhibiting 'Bad' Taste". The Boston Globe, February 28, 2004. C1
- ^ Portraiture #9 Eileen Archived 2015-02-24 at the Wayback Machine. Museum of Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 8, 2009.
- ^ Belanger, Moran & Sceurman 2008, p. 59
- ^ Wright, Chris. "Framed: Good times for bad art," Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine The Boston Phoenix, April 25 – May 1, 2003
- ^ Kurkjian, Stephen. "The Gardner Heist", The Boston Globe, March 13, 2005
- ^ Frank & Sacco 2008, p. xi
- ^ a b Swoger, Kate. "Art Only a Mother Could Love: No Picture is Too Imperfect for Massachusetts Museum". The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, February 13, 2000. H6
- ^ Frank & Sacco 2008, p. xii
- ^ a b Michael Frank, "Art Theft Hits Home in Dedham", letter to the editor, The Boston Globe, February 11, 2006. 10
- ^ Swoger, Kate. "Bad Art Finds a Good Home at This Anti-Museum". Ottawa Citizen, February 26, 2000. K6
- ^ a b Frank & Sacco 2008, p. x
- ^ a b Hirsch, James "Gosh, That's Awful! It Would Look Great Hanging in a Museum—Painting Failures Are Displayed on Some Walls in Boston Dedication to 'Bad Art'." The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 1995. A1
- ^ The MOBA news: The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) Newsletter, Issue #36 Excerpt Archived 2009-01-23 at the Wayback Machine. Museum of Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 8, 2009.
- ^ a b c Architecture Boston (May 2006), Pretty Ugly (PDF), pp. 18–24, archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2011
- ^ The Museum of Bad Art's Michael Frank Off Center (2009). Accessed, March 31, 2009.
- ^ Frank & Sacco 2008, pp. x–xi
- ^ a b c d e Caro, Mark, "Not a Pretty Picture—Boston-Area Museum a Monument to the Absolute Worst in Art". Chicago Tribune, May 20, 1997. 1
- ^ Belanger, Moran & Sceurman 2008, p. 158
- ^ Lewis, Jamie (May 2006). "Museum of Bad Art, Boston". Museums Journal. 106 (5): 62.
- ^ a b Frank and Sacco, xiv
- ^ Stankowicz & Jackson 1996, p. 82
- ^ Peters 2003, p. 67
- ^ a b Portraiture #1 Lucy In the Field With Flowers Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine. Museum of Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 4, 2009.
- ^ "So Bad It's Good: The Arts Online". The Times, March 25, 2006. 15
- ^ Stankowicz & Jackson 1996, p. 2
- ^ Citro & Foulds 2004, p. 115
- ^ a b Levin, 198
- ^ "The George / John Controversy". Annals of Improbable Research. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
- ^ Stankowicz & Jackson 1996, p. 97
- ^ Portraiture #2 Sunday on the Pot With George Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine. Museum of Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 4, 2009.
- ^ a b "Juggling Dog in Hula Skirt Archived 2009-05-02 at the Wayback Machine". Museum of Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 4, 2009.
- ^ Frank & Sacco 2008, p. 52
- ^ Peters 2003, pp. 71–72
- ^ "The Guest Interpretator's Collection Archived 2009-02-08 at the Wayback Machine". Museum of Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 3, 2009.
- ^ Museum of Particularly Bad Art. Museum of Particularly Bad Art, 2009. Retrieved on March 3, 2009.
- ^ MOBA Newsletter Archived 2009-04-04 at the Wayback Machine. Museum of Bad Art, December 1, 1999. Retrieved on March 4, 2009.
- ^ Ingham, Alison. "Museum Offers Eyeful of Bad Art" Archived 2013-12-28 at the Wayback Machine. North Seattle Herald-Outlook, November 19, 2008. Retrieved on May 30, 2012.
- ^ "THEATER | 'Master Works' at the BLB: Bad art, good plays".
- ^ "Master Works: The Museum of Bad Art Plays @ Gorilla Tango Theatre :: - Theatre Events on Centerstage Chicago. Theatre Venues. Theatrical Performances. Theater Shows. Actors, Plays, Actresses, Box Offices, Ticket Sales and more on Centerstage Chicago. - Chicago City Life in Chicago, Illinois". Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
- ^ English, Bella. "Museum of Bad Art loses space in Dedham to exhibit its stuff", The Boston Globe (Jan. 12, 2013).
- ^ Piepenburg, Erik (September 22, 2010). "Loving the Lowbrow (It Has Its Own Hall of Fame)". The New York Times.
- ^ "Exhibit Preview: The Museum of Bad Art" Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Fast Forward Weekly, September 17, 1998
- ^ Peters 2003, p. 68
- S2CID 60526033.
- ^ a b Lewis, Nicole. "For Badness' Sake". The Washington Post, October 8, 1998. D5
- S2CID 7875280.
- S2CID 144866774.
- PMID 16248938.
References
- Belanger, Jeff; Moran, Mark; Sceurman, Mark (2008). Weird Massachusetts: Your Travel Guide to Massachusetts's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Sterling Publishing. OCLC 179788920.
- Citro, Joseph A.; Foulds, Diane E. (2004). Curious New England: the unconventional traveler's guide to eccentric destinations. University Press of New England. OCLC 55591139.
- Frank, Michael J.; Sacco, Louise Reilly (2008). Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. OCLC 182621558.
- Levin, Amy K. (2007). Defining memory: local museums and the construction of history in America's changing communities. American Association for State and Local History book series. Rowman Altamira. OCLC 301935913.
- OCLC 51534983.
- Stankowicz, Tom; Jackson, Marie (1996). The Museum of Bad Art: art too bad to be ignored. OCLC 34640796.
External links
- Media related to Museum of Bad Art at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Dedham Community Theatre
- Somerville Theater
- Bad Taste Meets Bad Art: coverage of MOBA from Minnesota Public Radio
- Museum Spotlight: Museum of Bad Art: Coverage of MOBA from Museum Bookstore