A two-dimensional(2D)viscoelastic boundary element, VS2D2Bar, was developed based on the open source finite element package OpenSees. The applicability of the 2D viscoelastic boundary element was verified with a numerical example, and it was applied to the seismic response analysis of a gravity dam. Numerical results demonstrate that the peak dynamic response of the dam body according to the viscoelastic boundary element model greatly decreases in contrast to that obtained from the massless foundation model with fixed boundary conditions. As a result, the radiation damping effect of the infinite foundation should be considered in seismic response analysis of gravity dams. The results also show that OpenSees is applicable to the seismic response analysis of gravity dams. With a high efficiency in programming and debugging, OpenSees can be easily extended to the static and dynamic analysis of complex hydraulic structures.