Boston Center for the Arts

South End & Chinatown


There’s rarely a dull moment at the BCA, which serves as a nexus for excellent small theater productions. Over 20 companies present more than 45 separate productions annually, from comedies and drama to modern dance and musicals. The BCA complex comprises several buildings, including a cyclorama (1884) built to display panoramic paintings, a former organ factory and the Mills Gallery.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby South End & Chinatown attractions

1. Mills Gallery

Besides several performance spaces, the main venue for visual arts at the Boston Center for the Arts is the Mills Gallery, which hosts cutting-edge art…

2. Cathedral of the Holy Cross

0.27 MILES

When this neo-Gothic cathedral was built in 1875, it was America’s largest Catholic cathedral, as big as London's Westminster Abbey. It serves as the main…

3. Boston Sculptors Gallery

0.33 MILES

This unusual cooperative gallery has been going strong for over 25 years. The innovative gallery, dedicated to 3D art in all media, is run by three dozen…

4. Bromfield Art Gallery

0.34 MILES

The city’s oldest cooperative, this South End gallery hosts solo shows by its members, as well as occasional visitors, with an emphasis on New England…

5. SoWa Artists Guild

0.36 MILES

The brick-and-beam buildings along Harrison Ave were originally used to manufacture goods ranging from canned food to pianos. Now these factories turn out…

6. John Hancock Tower

0.38 MILES

Constructed with more than 10,000 panels of mirrored glass, the 62-story John Hancock Tower was designed in 1976 by Henry Cobb. It is the tallest and most…

7. Alpha Gallery

0.39 MILES

Once a Newbury St staple, this venerable art gallery is one of many that have relocated to SoWa. Presenting the work of some headline-grabbing artists …

8. Trinity Church

0.43 MILES

A masterpiece of American architecture, Trinity Church is the country's ultimate example of Richardsonian Romanesque. The granite exterior, with a massive…