Campus & Community

Museum oasis

1 min read
An international array of teas lines the shelf.

After an exhausting, if exciting, tour of Roman busts and Indian painting at the Sackler, a thrilling, if wearying, rendezvous with the Renaissance at the Fogg, and a provocative and stimulating, albeit enervating and challenging, flirtation with German Expressionism at the Busch-Reisinger, you need a place to sit and down some coffee or tea and maybe a little sandwich. The perfect spot is just a couple of buildings down on Quincy Street in the shapely Carpenter Center, the only building in the United States designed by the great Swiss architect Le Corbusier. There you will find, overlooking Quincy Street and beautiful Harvard Yard, the Sert Gallery Cafe. The glassy enclosure is spare, cozy, friendly, and tranquil. As you sip your mocha, you can tune in to the sometimes pretentious, sometimes profound conversations around you. Or just tune out, relax, and prepare yourself for your next move – a visit to the adjoining Sert Gallery, which features modern and contemporary art. Admission is free.

Claudia Schuldc works behind the counter at the Sert Cafe.
Two substantial umbrellas shield visitors to the Sert Gallery Cafe from the sun.