Best art museum

Best museum in Boston? It's like asking what's Boston's best ballpark. The Museum of Fine Arts is the Fenway Park of Boston art museums. You hear the words baseball and Boston in the same sentence, chances are the Green Monster comes to mind. Likewise, when you hear the words museum and Boston, your mind's eye likely moves to Huntington Avenue, with images of Monet's haystacks, of Sargent's Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, of Gauguin's tropical colors. For years running, the MFA has taken this category, and for good reason: it houses world-renowned collections of staggering breadth and scope -- from ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt and Asia, and Africa and America, to 19th-century Europe and to contemporary masters. But art's not all. It's programs like mfafirstfridays ("come for the art, stay for a cocktail"), as well as film series, concerts, lectures, and classes, that make the MFA Phoenix readers' pick for best museum.

The town of Lincoln doesn't exactly have a reputation for being a go-to place for a good time. The staid colonial houses, historical-society plaques, and tidy, manicured lawns breathe old money all over the winding, wooded streets. Nouveau riche it's not. One Lincoln institution, however, specializes in nouveau. Last year, the DeCordova Museum was Phoenix readers' pick for the best underappreciated museum. This year, they're giving it the appreciation it deserves. The DeCordova is committed to showcasing work by New England contemporary artists, especially as highlighted in the DeCordova Annual Exhibition. It's also home to the only permanent sculpture park in New England, a 35-acre spot in which you can meander for free any day of the week. For its dedication to work by up-and-coming artists in the Northeast, and for being an unexpected of-the-moment treasure in an old New England town, the DeCordova is this year's best.

Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, (617) 267-9300; DeCordova Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Road, Lincoln, (781) 259-8355.