Portal:Boston
Boston
In 1630, Puritan colonists from England founded the city on the Shawmut Peninsula. During the late eighteenth century, Boston was the location of several major events during the American Revolution, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party. Several early battles of the American Revolution, such as the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston, occurred within the city and surrounding areas. After American independence was attained, Boston became a major shipping port and manufacturing center, and its rich history now attracts 16.3 million visitors annually. The city was the site of several firsts, including America's first public school, Boston Latin School (1635), and first college, Harvard College (1636), in neighboring Cambridge. Boston was also home to the first subway system in the United States, which is currently run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Through land reclamation and municipal annexation, Boston has expanded beyond the peninsula. Numerous colleges and universities in Boston, including Harvard University, Boston University, and Northeastern University, rank among the top colleges in the world. With many colleges and universities within the city and surrounding area, Boston is a center of higher education and a center for health care. The city's economy is also based on research, finance, and technology — principally biotechnology. Boston's Chiantown is one of the most densely populated areas and incorporates one of the largest Asian-American populations in the Western Hemisphere. Hundreds of languages are spoken in Boston, making it among the most diverse in the world. Boston has been experiencing gentrification and has one of the highest costs of living in the United States.
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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". It is located in Dedham, Massachusetts with branches in Somerville, Massachusetts and Brookline, Massachusetts. Its permanent collection includes 500 pieces of "art too bad to be ignored", 25 to 35 of which are on public display at any one time.
MOBA was founded in 1994, 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." 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 Boston, featured in international newspapers and magazines, and has inspired several other collections throughout the world that set out to rival its own visual atrocities. Deborah Solomon of The New York Times Magazine noted that the attention the Museum of Bad Art receives is part of a wider trend of museums displaying "the best bad art". The museum has been criticized for being anti-art, but the founders deny this, responding that its collection is a tribute to the sincerity of the artists who persevered with their art despite something going horribly wrong in the process. According to co-founder Marie Jackson, "We are here to celebrate an artist's right to fail, gloriously.
In the news
- September 10: Investigators blame pilot error for deadly jet crash near Boston
- April 9: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev found guilty in Boston Marathon bombing trial
- January 2: Early reports indicate massive blizzard to strike northeastern portions of US late Thursday
- April 15: Multiple explosions hit Boston Marathon
- April 15: Two people confirmed dead in Boston Marathon bombing
- January 14: Healthcare workers, public officials struggle to address influenza outbreak across much of U.S.
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Selected biography
Paul Revere (bap. December 22, 1734 (OS) / January 1, 1735 (NS) – May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution.
Because he was immortalized after his death for his role as a messenger in the battles of Lexington and Concord, Revere's name and his "midnight ride" are well-known in the United States as a patriotic symbol. In his lifetime, Revere was a prosperous and prominent Boston craftsman, who helped organize an intelligence and alarm system to keep watch on the British military.
Revere later served as an officer in one of the most disastrous campaigns of the American Revolutionary War, a role for which he was later exonerated. After the war, he was early to recognize the potential for large-scale manufacturing of metal.
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WikiProjects
Some Wikipedians have formed Wikipedia:WikiProject Boston to better organize information in articles related to the Hub of the Universe, Boston, and several of the cities surrounding Boston. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, please inquire on the Discussion Page.
