Mass MOCA is a contemporary art museum, which opened in North Adams, Massachusetts, in 1999.  Taking advantage of the old mill buildings on the site, there are almost four acres of galleries, enormous rooms in which they can show enormous pieces.  I’ve become leery of dragging Greta into too many museums, but this was no problem, as it combined some of her current fascinations – conceptual art and industrial archaeology.  

There are big rooms indoors, and there are spaces in between the buildings outside for art work.  We found the buildings to be as compelling as the art.  The 1947 boiler plant has been left as-is, slowly rusting through the open roof, and Greta said it was her new favorite place in the world.  

big tank in the boiler plant

the view from the top of the boiler plant

a stairwell between two buildings

the art meta-selfie

a take on plastic trailers that is a little different from ours, done by some folks from Seattle. We thought of moving our trailer next to it for a trailer-selfie.

a project with an Airstream. We want this one for our next trip

there’s a theme emerging here

some old ramps, some new

a Francesco Clemente installation

a ramp

a building which houses Anselm Kiefers

three big Kiefer installations

There is a comprehensive Sol Lewitt retrospective which occupies three floors.  I really enjoyed seeing so many in one place, as you can see the progression of ideas.

Greta really liked the earlier ones, driven by explicit concepts/rules.

growing trees and then turning them outside down. Apparently this is controversial with members of PETT.

This was way cooler than we thought it would be.  It’s only 150 miles from New York or Boston.