Sun. Dec. 9

We were there at the beginning. Well, not the beginning beginning - the Institute of Contemporary Art was a vital and beloved institution on Boylston street for years - but we were when the new ICA opened on the waterfront a year ago. We were knocked out as was most everybody who sipped cocktails at that opening soiree. (Hit the "read more" for details from that event and comments about the museum). On Sunday Dec. 9, the ICA is celebrating its first year in its new white-and-glass digs with a Free Community Day. That means everyone gets a free pass from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be a screening of a film called "The Making of the New ICA." You'll be able to tour the multi-leveled facility and take in a whirlwind of art. Jill Medvedow, the director, says, "It has been wonderful to see hundreds and thousands of people visit the museum over the  past year, so many of them with smiles on their faces. The art, artists, and architecture all contributed to a rich diverse, and emotionally satisfying experience and sense of civic pride." We saw a lot of stuff there: the Louise Bourgeois exhibit, avant scultupure from a nonagenerion, Patti Smith doing spoken word and song, Mission of Burma not playing "Revolver" and "Academy Fight Song" for the first time ever  ... There's a permanent collection of 21st century art for the first time in its 70 year history. Heck, we enjoyed the cafe and the smooth elevator rides. We were not alone. More than 280,000 folks passed through the portals, surpassing the projections by 30,000, representing an 11-fold increase from the old ICA. Coming next year: Bill T. Jones, DJ Spooky and an exhibition schedule that includes "The World as a Stage," as organized by Tate Modern, Anish Kapoor and Tara Donovan, among others.

100 Northern Ave., 617-478-3100 www.icaboston.org

We weren’t the only ones walking around in awe with a martini in hand at the new Institute of Contemporary Art’s opening bash. First, we checked our coat and noticed five – yes, five – chairs at the admissions desk. This compared to one chair and a guy reading a book at the old ICA on Boylston. Which had its charm, yes, and many excellent exhibits. But this $51 million edifice which juts out into Boston Harbor, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is pretty special. As you approach it rather looks like a large white box. Go inside, and you’re struck by all the silver, black and white, the huge glassed-in elevator, the high ceilings and the inaugural “Super Vision” show of 27 artists working in paint, video, photo and sculpture. The party was like “a coming together of the art world,” as one attendee put it.
The old ICA had 18 employees; this has 64. The old ICA had 20,000 square-feet; this has 65,000 square feet. There are 6000-square feet of exhibition space, compared to 17,000 square feet. It has a 325-seat theater for film or music.

“This is good for art, good for Boston,” said Peter DePalo a real estate agent and supporter. “The ICA has always taken risks and continues to. It does make you realize you’re part of a town which no longer feels like a port town.” (The waterfront on Northern Ave. can feel that way.) DePalo took in Cornelia Parker’s “Hanging Fire (Suspended Arson),” a 1999 piece made of found charred objects hanging from wire mesh: “My favorite piece was the burnt hanging wood – beautiful.’’ said David Damroth, of Martha’s Vineyard and beau of major benefactor Barbara Lee. “I’d never seen it before, installed. It made me wish I’d done it. Contemporary art is so broadly subjective. For me, you walk around it and if it occupies a volume, something that exploded and was resurrected. Where would this be? In a dump? And what an unlikely medium.’’
Will the new ICA be a magnet? “This is a destination. People will come here to visit,” says Kuronen, “But people will have to come back’’ to take it all in. “Our work is still ahead of us.”