💰 World's largest art heist | Bulletin #140

This week: AWA gaming 🕹️ and an underground medical school 🏫

November 05, 2025

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 📍 Boston, Massachusetts, USA 📸 Marjorie Becker

In the wee hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers knocked on the door of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and walked out with 13 masterpieces worth over $500 million! They left behind empty frames, unanswered questions, and the most valuable art heist (and property theft) in history. For context, this would be about 5 Louvre heists 🫣 To this day, no one has been framed for the crime and the thieves are still art large!

THIS WEEK IN AWA AWESOMENESS

🎯 AWA’s very own game
🎼 Music to our ears
🏛️ A masterpiece of architecture
⛸️ Skating to find today’s Secret Link

PASSPORT NOT REQUIRED

Travel somewhere beautiful today … without packing a bag! AWA IQ drops a new real-world wonder every morning. Your mission: view a photo and try to choose the country it’s from before your guesses run out. Side effects may include: wanderlust, joy, and triumphant fist-pumping.

In Case You Missed It

When the world falls flat, cue the music! Here are some very special symphonic spots that speak for themselves: 

🎹 A keyboard sized post
🎶 World’s coolest music store
🪈 The oldest instrument
🎼 The Museum of Music

Countway Library 📍 Boston, Massachusetts, USA 📸 Marjorie Becker

CURING THROUGH CURIOSITY

The story of one of the most prestigious medical schools in the US all began in a basement. The discoveries that followed changed medicine forever...

Trinity Church 📍 Boston, Massachusetts, USA 📸 Marjorie Becker

BURNED, BUILT, AND BLESSED

Born from the ashes of Boston’s Great Fire of 1872, Trinity Church didn’t just rise again - it reinvented American architecture. Designed by H.H. Richardson, it marked the beginning of a style that would shape skylines across the nation.

From the Community

WHERE SHOULD THE NEXT AWA EXHIBITION BE?

From Melbourne to Seoul to Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz, Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition welcomed thousands of adventurers this year. Thank you for showing up with curiosity, cameras, and co-adventurers. We’re already dreaming of our next stop. Where should we do an AWA Exhibition next? Let us know!

Lace up your skates and get ready to move… your mouse around this email to win a Roller Skate Pin if you find the Secret Link! Happy searching!