Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Massachusetts North Adams Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

More than 200 unconventional musical instruments that anyone can play.

North Adams, Massachusetts

Added By
Lew Blank
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The exhibit.   Courtesy of MASS MoCA
The exhibit.   Courtesy of MASS MoCA
Mark Stewart plays the giant banjo.   Courtesy of MASS MoCA
Playing the instruments.   Courtesy of MASS MoCA
Drums   Courtesy of MASS MoCA
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Throughout his life, Gunnar Schonbeck, a musician and professor at Bennington College, believed that anyone and anything can make music. Armed with this simple philosophy and an arsenal of ordinary objects and scrap materials, he created more than 1,000 unique musical instruments that can be played by anyone, regardless of skill level.

More than 200 of Schonbeck’s unconventional instruments are on display at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, in an exhibit aptly titled "No Experience Required." The eccentric collection includes drums made from aircraft fuselages, a towering 9-foot banjo, a steel-string harp, and ukuleles made from coconuts. 

The collection includes colorful monochords in the shape of trapezoids, and triangle-shaped cellos. There is a “Western Gamelan” made from the leaf springs of automobiles, and a series of “Sound Towers,” large plywood boxes that can be struck with a mallet to make a sound. 

Schonbeck constructed his instruments over a 50-year period, up until his death in 2005. Six years later, Mark Stewart, Paul Simon's music director and guitarist, brought the instruments to the museum. All are open to visitors to play, honoring Schonbeck's belief that every human being is a musician.

Update: The Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit is currently closed until further notice.

Related Tags

Music Museums And Collections Inventions Collections Sounds Art Museum Art

Community Contributors

Added By

lewblank

Edited By

webbkcrawford, Meg

  • webbkcrawford
  • Meg

Published

May 14, 2018

Updated

May 4, 2022

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.benningtonbanner.com/stories/the-unlikely-roadtrip-of-gunnar-schonbeckrsquos-creations,230476
Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit
1040 Mass MoCA Way
North Adams, Massachusetts
United States
42.701872, -73.11519
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Harmonic Bridge

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Hillside Cemetery

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Natural Bridge State Park

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of North Adams

North Adams

Massachusetts

Places 5

Nearby Places

Harmonic Bridge

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Hillside Cemetery

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Natural Bridge State Park

North Adams, Massachusetts

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of North Adams

North Adams

Massachusetts

Places 5

Related Stories and Lists

Gunnar Schonbeck Exhibit

Podcast

By The Podcast Team

Related Places

  • The museum entrance.

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Museo Dolores Olmedo

    This extraordinary art museum is like a secret world on the edge of Mexico City.

  • Ilana Goor Museum .

    Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

    Ilana Goor Museum

    A modern-day cabinet of curiosities housed in a 300-year-old inn.

  • Chalice/grigson #2

    Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Museum of Sound

    An unusual collection of self-made musical instruments and unique noises.

  • One of the corridors.

    Zacatecas, Mexico

    Rafael Coronel Museum

    Mexico's largest collection of masks is found in the ruins of an abandoned convent.

  • The Estey Organ Museum contains dozens of playable organs, of all shapes and sizes.

    Brattleboro, Vermont

    Estey Organ Museum

    Play everything you see at a museum dedicated to a town's historic organ industry.

  • Drawers of samples of dried paint on glass slides.

    Washington, D.C.

    The National Gallery's Art Materials Collection

    The institution is sitting on a goldmine of 21,000 paints, varnishes, pigments, and primers preserved for posterity.

  • Belz Museum Street Entrance on Main Street.

    Memphis, Tennessee

    Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art

    The "Jade Museum" is full of thousands of intricately carved works of art made from various precious stones.

  • Dover, Delaware

    Johnson Victrola Museum

    Museum houses an impressive display of the origin and artistry from the now-quaint invention's history.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.