Virtual Galleries Opening
Virtual Exhibition and Symposium Series Are Slated as First New ICA Programs
Institute for Contemporary Art Pittsburgh
written by
Resnicow and Associates
The Institute for Contemporary Art Pittsburgh (ICA) has announced an innovative partnership with the nonprofit arts organization KADIST that enables audiences to explore its new galleries in the virtual realm, as construction continues on its new home within the Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. Launching in spring 2025, “The Generative Museum” will be an ongoing digital initiative that democratizes the curatorial process and builds on the strength of CMU as a hub for science, technology and the arts, as well as on ICA’s history of advancing curatorial and artistic innovation.
Formerly known as the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art, ICA Pittsburgh concluded operations in its former galleries in the spring and will open its purpose-built home in 2027. The new space is being designed by ZGF Architects.
"The Miller ICA closed its last exhibition in Purnell Center for the Arts in May and now begins to prepare for the opening of its stunning new space in the RK Mellon Hall of Sciences."
Mary Ellen Poole
Dean, College of Fine Arts
"With the conclusion of our programming at the Purnell Center, we now look forward to sharing more details of our interim activities in the coming months,” said ICA Executive Director Elizabeth Chodos. “We’re excited for what the future holds and to build the foundation of our new institution together!"
Spring 2025 brings “The Generative Museum,” with scenography by the artist-run exhibition space EPOCH. It will feature a rotating series of curated and AI-generated exhibitions, with artworks selected as a direct result of prompts submitted by each visitor, within the ICA’s digitally rendered galleries. In addition to KADIST’s expansive collection of contemporary art from over 120 countries, each generated exhibition will also spotlight artworks from various collections across Pittsburgh, many of which aren’t otherwise accessible to the public. Future exhibitions will also feature newly commissioned digital works of art.
Concurrent with this virtual initiative, the ICA is also planning a new in-person series of convenings and symposia interrogating the role of arts institutions in contemporary society that will serve as a roadmap for the ICA as it outlines its programmatic vision. “Institution as Form: Remaking the Museum” will include both private and public sessions led by Chodos and mounted in conjunction with CMU’s College of Fine Arts starting in spring 2025. Both the “Institution as Form” and “The Generative Museum” reflect the ICA’s dedication to foregrounding global trends and issues through the lens of contemporary art and serve as critical forums for research and development for the renewed institution.
"With construction of our new home underway, the ICA has been actively considering how to best serve our audiences and evolve our programmatic form beyond traditional institutional infrastructures."
Elizabeth Chodos
Executive Director, Institute for Contemporary Art Pittsburgh
“The ICA has always worked to challenge convention, and we are thrilled to be partnering with KADIST to reimagine our gallery program and investigate our new space within the virtual realm, and to include our audiences in that process. At the same time, building a brick-and-mortar museum from scratch provides us with a unique opportunity to question current structures and ideologies, and to create them anew. Through our symposium series, we will be interrogating responsible models for representation and meaning-making within a gallery setting and forging a new and foundational programmatic vision for the ICA,” Chodos said.
featuring the following:
All images courtesy of the artist and KADIST Collection:
Felipe Romera Beltrán, "Dialect," 2022
Toby Ziegler, "The Fifth Quarter," 2005
