A couple hour drive west of Boston, nearly to the New York state line in Stockbridge, is the Norman Rockwell Museum. 

The site was Rockwell’s home for the last 25 years of his life, and was turned into a museum housing over 700 of his paintings, drawings and studies (the largest collection in the world), along with a huge collection of personal artifacts.

Rockwell is perhaps best known for his 321 Saturday Evening Post covers, with his first in 1916, “Boy with Baby Carriage.”  His inspiring “Rosie the Riveter” and “Four Freedoms” series remain lasting visual tributes to World War II, and his holiday images take us back to a kinder, gentler era.

Although many art critics and historians do not consider Rockwell a “serious” artist, there can be no doubt of his immense public popularity, and he is one of the best-known illustrators in history.  His Americana themes, showcasing the ideas of kindness, tolerance, and freedom, resonated with the public, and viewing his collection is a retrospective of family life over the past century.

The museum is located at 9 Glendale Road, Route 183, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  It is open daily (except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day).  Summer hours (May-October, and holidays) are weekdays 10 am – 4 pm; weekends 10 am – 5 pm.  Daily winter and holiday hours are 10 am – 5 pm.

Admission is $15 for adults, $10 for collect students (with ID), $13.50 for seniors, and youth (18 and under) free with an adult.  Tickets may be purchase onsite, or online.  An audio tour is available for an additional $5 for adults, and $4 for seniors and youth.  Parking is free.

No photography, backpacks, or large packages are permitted inside the museum galleries.

Image credit:  wikimedia (museum); Amazon (Runaway print); Amazon (Doctor & the Doll print)

__________________________________

Post from: The Boston Traveler

You want fascinating? Boston’s got it — in the form of the ever popular Museum of Science, a Boston landmark and member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that is home to the Charles Hayden Planetarium, the Mugar Omni IMAX Theater, and dozens of animals. The museum is situated steps from the Boston-East Cambridge border, right at the Science Park stop on the Green Line subway.

With a stated mission “to stimulate interest in and further understanding of science and technology and their importance for individuals and for society,” the museum hosts a number of intriguing interactive exhibits each year, ranging from IMAX movies to displays of live insects and animals to instructional sessions on diverse science-related topics. It even offers a series of virtual exhibits available to everyone, free of charge and around the clock, conveniently via their computer.

The current Museum of Science began as the Boston Society of Natural History in 1830 and later became the New England Museum of Natural History in 1864 after a move to Back Bay. Land was purchased at what is now called Science Park in 1948, and three years later the museum reopened at its new address as the Museum of Science.

The museum’s lengthy list of longtime draws includes the aforementioned Charles Hayden Planetarium and Mugar Omni IMAX Theater, the Theater of Electricity, the Science Live! Stage, Mathematica, and the Children’s Discovery Center. Present exhibits are equally impressive, such as Beyond the X-ray, Dinosaurs: Modeling the Mesozoic, Earth: Inside Out, and the Live Animal Exhibit.

Take a quick video tour of the Museum of Science after the jump and visit the museum’s official website to learn more about its offerings and prices.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

The Walk This Way exhibit, running through March 23, is a collection of footwear that spans the ages and various nations. Wise curators recognized how the coverings we put on our feet often reflect unique details about the society in which they exist.

To take advantage of this reality, the MFA has arranged Walk This Way collection items throughout the museum in essentially an interactive manner, placing footwear near artwork that is clearly related. Consequently, as the museum states, visitors might encounter “a pair of contemporary wedges with rococo carved heels … alongside eighteenth-century carved and gilt furniture” or “a pair of Venetian chopines next to a painting of the city by Canaletto.” If I were a shoe addict, I imagine that would be pretty close to a heavenly experience for me.

MFA patrons can enjoy the unique Walk This Way exhibit daily during the museum’s regular hours, which are Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10am to 4:45pm, and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10am to 9:45pm. Admission for non-members of the museum ranges from $17 for adults, $15 for seniors and students over 18, and $6.50 for young people aged 7 to 17. Children 6 and under and MFA members are admitted free, as are 7–17-year-olds on weekends, public school holidays, and weekdays after 3pm.

If you’d like a taste of the exhibit before heading over or simply can’t get to the museum, visit the Walk This Way website and click the red TOUR button in the middle of the page for an online sample of the footwear featured, complete with multiple images and a wealth of pertinent details.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

And, these aren’t the run-of-the-mill, humdrum movies already available at the local theater either. The New England Aquarium and Museum of Science are going grand instead, serving up deep-sea footage in larger-than-life 3D style.

Deep Sea 3D

New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium (Central Wharf, Boston, 617-973-5200) bills its Deep Sea 3D film as an “underwater adventure” and correctly so. Presented with breathtaking IMAX 3D technology, the shots beneath the ocean’s surface give viewers the impression of being right there in the middle of the scuba-diving adventure with the explorers and filmmakers.

According to the Aquarium, the film crew traveled to numerous locales to acquire the footage in the movie, including the Bahamas, British Columbia, Hawaii, and North Carolina. So, in addition to seeing an amazing film and witnessing otherwise hidden sea life, attendees get a trip — albeit brief — to some of the most exotic places in the world, too.

Deep Sea 3D runs through April 16 and screens daily at 3pm. The Aquarium is also presently showing the ocean-themed IMAX 3D films Sea Monsters 3D and Sharks 3D. Tickets to all range in price from $6.95 for children aged 3–11 to $23.95 for a combination IMAX and Aquarium adult pass that permits same-day entry to both an IMAX movie and the Aquarium. Attendees should arrive 15 to 30 minutes before showtime because latecomers will not be admitted. Moreover, tickets purchased online cannot be used for screenings on the same day of the transaction. [More Information]

The World of Sharks

Museum of Science

If you’re a little closer to Cambridge, Boston’s Museum of Science (Science Park, Boston, 617-723-2500) has its own underwater offering available in an impressive Digital 3D Cinema. The World of Sharks focuses on the title creature, enabling viewers to figuratively swim with the fearsome fish while getting a closeup glimpse of other marine organisms that share the same ocean habitat.

The museum is screening the 25-minute film daily through March 24 at 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, and 3:30pm, with additional 5pm, 6:30pm, and 8pm showtimes added on Fridays (there’s no 11am screening on March 13). Tickets range in price from $3 for children to $3.50 for seniors and $4 for adults, although members pay $2 less for each type. In addition, 24-hour advance registration is required. [More Information]

Post from: The Boston Traveler

The museum’s Butterfly Garden overlooking the Charles River is unlike any other exhibit and as such, it provides a true respite for visitors seeking some natural relief from the artificial climates we’re subjected to while staying indoors so much. A 1,000-square-foot conservatory featuring 400 free-flying butterflies and moths, the tropical garden filled with exotic plants allows visitors to leisurely experience one of the few species of insects that many individuals actually like due to their colorful beauty and eye-catching forms.

The Butterfly Garden houses butterflies and moths native to New England and other regions worldwide. Various displays permit a firsthand view of butterfly and moth behavior at different stages of their development. For instance, the emergence box contains hanging chrysalids — protective coverings or cocoons that enclose butterflies during their earliest developmental stage — that lucky and observant viewers may be able to see transform into adult butterflies.

Additional displays spotlight the insects’ special ability to protect themselves in the wild through the unique color properties of their wings. And, others clarify the four stages of development that butterflies go through in a life cycle as they advance from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalid and finally to an adult.

Although tickets are required for the Butterfly Garden, the exhibit is one of the most well-priced activities available at the Museum of Science. Full-price admission for non-members to the garden alone (and not the other museum exhibits) is just $4.00 for adults, $3.50 for seniors, and $3.00 for children. If you’re a member, subtract two dollars from the full price that applies.

The Butterfly Garden is open during normal museum hours, with entry granted for 25-minute sessions every 15 minutes from opening to closing time. Take a look at a PDF copy of the Butterfly Garden Take-Home Guide to learn more about what the exhibit entails.

Note: The Museum of Science recommends advance reservations for the Butterfly Garden, and strollers are not permitted inside the exhibit.

Post from: The Boston Traveler