A New Contemporary Art Museum With Free Admission Has Opened In SF

The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is an innovative gallery space challenging the traditional limits of the art world.

Jamie Ferrell - Staff Writer • September 28, 2022

Exterior view of ICA SF, a gray building with black accents. — Courtesy of ICA SF

The highly-anticipated Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) officially opened on October 1 in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. It’s an innovative new gallery space that will be completely free to all, working to uplift artists and individuals while promoting equity and representation.

The museum makes a welcome addition to the city’s thriving art and culture scene, and we can expect exciting new gallery spaces that bring something new to the traditional museum model.

Interior of building at 901 Minnesota St. Courtesy of ICA SF.

ICA SF works to “create a paradigm shift in the art world” by exhibiting civically engaged creators who are ready to shift the hierarchies and traditions rampant in the art world. Upcoming exhibitions include the following:

THIS BURNING WORLD

October 1, 2022 – March 26, 2023
An exhibition of paintings and sculptures examining the urgency and importance of our relationship to the planet. By American Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson.

Resting Our Eyes

January 21, 2023 – May 14, 2023
A group exhibition guest-curated by Tahirah Rasheed, visual activist and founder of the See Black Women movement; and Autumn Breon, education advocate and curator specializing in the African Diaspora.

A Weed By Any Other Name

January 21, 2023 – May 14, 2023
A collection of paintings by Liz Hernandez, an Oakland-based Mexican artist whom you may know from SFMOMA’s Bay Area Walls; and Ryan Whelan, an Oakland-based American artist known for graphic, stark line paintings.

Patrick Martinez

Opening May 20, 2023
An exhibition by artist Patrick Martinez, whose work consists of mixed-media landscape pieces, neon signs, and more.

Rupy C. Tut

Opening September 1, 2023
An exhibition by Oakland-based painter Rupy C. Tut, whose work examines narratives of displacement as a descendant of refugees and a first-generation immigrant.

Hayv Kahraman

Opening September 22, 2023
An exhibition by LA-based artist Hayv Kahraman, whose work examines her experience as an Iraqi refugee.

*Look What We’ve Become* by Genevieve Gaignard for *Resting Our Eyes*. Courtesy of ICA SF.

ICA SF is a non-collecting museum made possible by large donations from various SF tech giants and venture capitalists. SFist writes that some of the biggest names to fund the space include Andy and Deborah Rappaport of SF’s Minnesota Street Project; Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger and his wife Kaitlyn Trigger; and venture capitalist David Hornik and philanthropist Pamela Hornik, who previously collaborated on exhibitions at ICA San Jose.

*Citational Ethics* by Ja’Tovia Gary from Paula Cooper Gallery, for *Resting Our Eyes.* Courtesy of ICA SF.

TIME Magazine recently named San Francisco in the world’s 50 greatest places of 2022, and specifically cited ICA SF as a determining factor in the decision. As a museum that works to take on the flaws in the fine art world head-on, ICA SF is one of the most exciting progressive new institutions to arrive in San Francisco this year.

Liz Hernandez and Ryan Whelan for *A Weed By Any Other Name*. Courtesy of ICA SF.

The museum space is still in the works at 901 Minnesota Street in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood, preparing for an October 1 opening. It’s one of several pioneering spaces in the area, including Pier 70, a 28-acre waterfront neighborhood in the works that just welcomed the glamorous new RH Gallery.

Keep up to date with ICA SF’s newest developments via its website, Instagram, and Twitter.