5,000 attend contemporary museum's first day

After a week of inaugural celebrations and parties, the new Institute of Contemporary Art yesterday opened to the public for the first time, and thousands lined up to get a look.

The modern, 65,000-square-foot glass box on the South Boston Waterfront's Fan Pier welcomed more than 5,000 visitors. The day featured a 12-hour celebration with performances by local artists and musicians -- ending at 9 p.m., or five hours past what will be its normal Sunday closing time.

By 1 p.m. , about 2,500 people had filtered in through the galleries and halls of the museum, taking advantage of the free admission and touring Super Vision, the institute's first exhibition, according to Melissa Kuronen, director of communications. Super Vision explores the ways technology has changed the visual arts. The four-story building, facing the water and designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro of New York, has an exterior of translucent and transparent glass.

Early in the afternoon, the crowd was so large that about 500 visitors waited their turn for 90 minutes in a heated tent. Face painting and balloon sculpting kept children entertained, and there were live performances by the Berklee Motown Review and the jazz band Andromeda Quartet.

"They seem to be excited about finally seeing the inside of the ICA instead of reading about it and seeing the outside," said Kuronen.

In anticipation of the large number of visitors, museum staff numbered about 60. Additional help came from 30 to 50 volunteers.