Conditions Governing Use

The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright, beyond that allowed by fair use, requires the researcher to obtain permission of copyright holders.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for Research.

Preferred Citation

Records of the Institute of Contemporary Art (PH-05). VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Institute of Contemporary Art – ICA

[Virginia Museum Bulletin, May 1979]

The Institute of Contemporary Art of the Virginia Museum – a self-contained program operating within the Museum's headquarters building in Richmond – opens May 7 with a one-man show by the noted American painter and printmaker Allan D'Arcangelo.

The new ICA is located in recently-converted quarters opposite the lobby of the Virginia Museum Theatre, an area that at one time had contained the Members' Suite and Restaurant, and, more recently a staff and trustee meeting room. Portable walls and track lighting have been installed to make possible a flexible program of contemporary arts events.

The establishment of this new program has been made possible by generous grants from the Institute of Museum Services, a federal agency in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare that offers operating and program support to the nation's museums, and by donations from ICA Founders and other private sources. To assure the continuation of the program, however while responding to specific interest in contemporary art in the statewide community, a special membership has been created …

Throughout the year, the ICA will show a series of one-person, group, or thematic exhibitions. Artists from Virginia, the Southeast, and around the nation will be invited to show new, provocative materials in painting, sculpture, photography, crafts, and printmaking, as well as video works, performance art, and films. The ICA staff will originate many of the exhibitions, while others may be borrowed from museums and galleries in major art centers such as New York or Chicago, or borrowed on exchange from other ICAs …

The ICA will serve as a resource center where Virginia artists can receive information on grants, competitions, and exhibition opportunities. The gallery also will make available information on events in other commercial and non-profit galleries in Virginia and around the nation. And it will maintain a registry of Virginia artists which is available for general reference.

[Virginia Museum Bulletin, September 1984]

A Message from the Director …

The legacy of which we are custodians is primarily that of the past, but we would not be true to the opportunity given us if we did not seek ways to encourage the creators of today. For it is the artists – whether musicians, painters, sculptors, architects, or poets – who through the ages have had the unique capacity to synthesize, in their works, the aspirations and accomplishments, the fears and the hopes of the period in which they lived.

We must not only encourage this precious segment of our society but we must also seek out those whose contributions may be the most meaningful. Such presentations cannot be secondary to an art museum's activities: they are part of our very reason for being.

In this spirit, the Institute of Contemporary Art, formed some five years ago as a separate enclave within the Museum, has become the Department of Contemporary Art. It is now thoroughly integrated into our conceptual and administrative structure and implemented by an imaginative staff. We intend to become increasingly active in presenting to our Richmond audiences, as well as to others through the Artmobile and through our Chapters and Affiliates, works by established contemporary artists, as well as by the younger ones who hold promise of being the masters of tomorrow.

By developing an increasingly dynamic approach to contemporary exhibitions and interpretative programs, we will, as it were, prepare our audiences for the richness of the Lewis Collection, one of the glories we anticipate in the new West Wing.

[n.b. The last exhibition mounted at the ICA was "Construction Works" May 15-June 10, 1984]

Scope and Contents

The collection documents the work of the Institute of Contemporary Art from 1978-1984, including exhibition planning and implementation, collections management, and specific artists and works, and comprises photographic prints, slides, and related ephemera.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into 1 series but is unprocessed OR minimally processed so more series may be added after processing.

Series 1: Exhibitions and Events, 1979-1984

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Art museums--Virginia.
• Contemporary artists
• Museums -- Collection management