Institute for Contemporary Art

Join us Friday, March 20 from 5 to 8 PM at ICA at VCU's Markel Center for the opening of the 2026 VCUarts (@vcuarts ) MFA Thesis Exhibition, Round 1. This showcase marks the culmination of two years of research and studio practice for artists and designers preparing to embark on the next stage of their careers. Thirteen artists and designers will be showing works representing Craft/Material Studies(@vcuartscraft ), Graphic Design(@vcuartsgraphicdesign ), Kinetic Imaging(@vcuartskineticimaging ), Painting + Printmaking(@vcuartspaintprint ), Photography + Film(@vcuartsphotofilm ), and Sculpture + Extended Media (@vcuartssculpture ) Opening night performances: The Authority of My Experience by kodiCrone (Miri Sluis) All Other Ground Is Sinking Sand by Kevin Hopkins Saturday, March 21 performances: MFA Listening Experience 4 pm – 5 pm 4 pm Miri Sluis, The Authority of my Experience Featured Artists + Designers: Erin B Ehren, Cole Kamerick Alfelt-Eller, Nathaniel Newcomb, Daša Kulikova, Frances Adair Mckenzie, Colin Goodpasture, Kevin Hopkins, Megan Koeppel, Eva Foldy, kodiCrone, Catie Leonard, Tori Mitchell, Hammet Reavis Free and open to the public. Exhibition continues through April 5. Round 2 will premiere May 1. To RSVP click the link in bio. 💫 📍 ICA at VCU's Markel Center, 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 🕐 5 to 9 PM Exhibition identity designed by Charles O'Leary (@c.s.0.l )

Something new is happening this summer from the ICA+VPM Community Media Center! The Community Media Center Film Lab is a hands-on, beginner-friendly ccourse in filmmaking happening at the ICA, from June 26–28. Over three days, participants will write, shoot, edit, and screen a 3–5 minute short film, all inside the Markel Center. Inspired by the story-first spirit of Dogme 95, this lab is about people over production. You'll work alongside fellow creatives on everything from directing and cinematography to editing and post-production. Walk away with a film production credit, a finished film, and a whole new skill set. Applications are due May 31. Get yours in today! 🎬 Open to creatives 18+ 🎬 Must be available for all three days, 10am–5pm 🎬$40 registration fee (after application approval) To apply click the link in bio. 🎥 📍 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 🗓️ June 26–28, 2026

Last week to see the 2026 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition, Round 2 at the ICA at VCU. Experience new work from emerging artists across @vcuartssculpture , @vcuartsphotofilm , @vcuartspaintprint , @vcuartsgraphicdesign , @vcuartscraft ,and @vcuartskineticimaging . Open through May 17. Plan your visit at icavcu.org

SOLD OUT ✨ Mindful Mornings is heading to @glenstonemuseum 🌿 This Saturday, May 16, join mindfulness practitioner Thurmond Alford Jr. and ICA’s Michael Lease for an exclusive visit to one of the D.C. area’s most beautiful contemporary art spaces. The afternoon includes a short intro on contemplative walking and landscape photography, followed by self-guided exploration of Glenstone’s pavilions and trails. 12–5 PM | Only 4 spots left! To purchase your ticket click the link in bio ✨Note: All participants are responsible for their own transportation 🚗

VCUarts MFA Thesis Round 2 is now open! Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening last Friday 🎉 You have until May 17 to catch all the work with another viewing of screenings happening tomorrow, May 6. Come visit! Galleries are open Tue–Sun, 10 AM–5 PM. To plan your visit at icavcu.org/visit. Photos by @dhhphoto

AUTHOR RVA is back for spring 🌷Join us Tuesday, May 5 for Author RVA with Andrew Martin (the writer behind Early Work and Cool for America) as he discusses his sharp, darkly funny new novel about a group of neurotic, lovably flawed friends navigating life, loss, and a global pandemic. Cash bar at 5:30 | Talk 6 to 7 PM | Book signing at 7 PM Free & open to the public |📍 601 W Broad St, Markel Center To RSVP click the link in bio 📚

Finals are hard. Your study space shouldn't be. ✨ ICA Study Hall is BACK and we're holding it down for you all day long. Join us Sunday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for the ultimate finals prep spot at the ICA! ☕ Free Afterglow coffee with student ID (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) 🍕 Free study snacks + unlimited coffee (after 4 p.m) 🎨 Coloring sheets & collage station for a real study break 📶 Wi-Fi + extra outlets throughout No registration needed. Just show your student ID after 5 p.m. 📍 601 W. Broad St. | VCU Monroe Park Campus See you Sunday 💫 flyer by @alexa.m.art

Creative formal? The assignment was understood 🌸 Florals, avant-garde silhouettes, dancing, piercings, and everything in between, Night Bloom was pure magic. Huge thank you to our gala chairs Pam Royall and Marcia & Harry Thalhimer, our amazing sponsors, artists, performers, and every one of the 450+ guests who packed the Markel Center with so much good energy. Every ticket and every dance move goes straight back to supporting contemporary art in Richmond. We love this community so much, and you bet we are absolutely doing this again! Start getting ready for next year ✨ phtos by @ethanhickerson @pmbphoto @j.maclin @sohophotos

This Friday! Join us for the @vcuarts MFA Thesis Round 2 opening! Come spend your evening with us as we open the next round of the 2026 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition, featuring new work by 14 featuring new work by 14 emerging artists and designers across Craft/Material Studies, Graphic Design, Kinetic Imaging, Painting + Printmaking, Photography + Film, and Sculpture + Extended Media. This event will feature Will you let me in? A reading/ performance by MFA candidate Irene Piazza (Gallery 2/3) and join us for even more screenings from MFA students on Saturday, May 2. 📅 Friday, May 1 | 5 to 9 PM 📍 ICA at VCU, 601 W Broad St @hemandherfood and @kyrumatcha will be popping up to provide goodies and refreshments!

What a night. 🌸✨ Last Saturday, something really special happened at the Markel Center. Artists, neighbors, students, patrons, and friends all came together under one roof to celebrate what contemporary art can be and what it means to this community. From the garden-inspired dinner to the Night Bloom after-party, the energy in the building was unlike anything else. People danced, connected, and shared in something bigger than themselves, a collective belief that art matters, that community matters, and that Richmond is a place where both can truly thrive. Every person who showed up, raised a glass, or hit the dance floor was making a statement: that investing in art is investing in each other. The funds raised this evening go directly toward keeping the ICA a free, open, and ambitious space for everyone, the exhibitions, the programs, the commissions, and the conversations that make this place what it is. We are endlessly grateful to our sponsors, our gala chairs, honorees, creative partners, and every single guest who made the night what it was. This community continues to show up in the most generous and inspiring ways, and we don’t take that for granted for a single second. Thank you, Richmond. Stay tuned for another announcement coming from ICA VCU, we’ve got big things ahead of us! And don’t miss MFA Thesis Round 2, opening next Friday, May 1. P.S. There were too many good pictures to cram into one post, Night Bloom photos incoming! Photos: @ethanhickerson @pmbphoto @j.maclin @sohophotos

Hear from the curators behind this year's MFA Thesis Exhibition! Join us this Friday, April 24 from 6–7 PM as co-curators Taylor Jasper (@jasper_taylor_jasper ), Susan and Rob White Associate Curator, Visual Art at the Walker Art Center, and Egbert Vongmalaithong (@lilcurmudgeon ), ICA Assistant Curator, pull back the curtain on their collaborative curatorial practice and reflect on what it means to champion emerging artists at such a pivotal moment in their careers. Jasper and Egbert worked closely with this year's MFA candidates through every stage of the exhibition, and this talk is a chance to hear directly from them about the process, the conversations, and the ideas that shaped the show. Come curious and leave with a whole new appreciation for what goes into bringing an exhibition like this to life, just in time for Round 2 opening May 1. ✨ to RSVP click the link in bio. 📍 ICA at VCU | 601 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 📆 Friday, April 24 6–7 PM Free and open to the public. Images: 2026 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition, Round 1 opening celebration, Mar 20, 2026, ICA at VCU. (photograph by Keshia Eugene @chocolatekesh )

Today is VCU Giving Day! 🎉 And ICA at VCU is marking the occasion with something truly special. We're launching a new fund for Self-Evident, a major public art commission by Diana Al-Hadid (@dianaalhadid ), a @VCUarts MFA alum ('05) and one of the most compelling sculptors working today. Self-Evident will be one of the defining pieces of the ICA's burgeoning public art series (more on that later) and will transform the Markel Center into a living site of artistic experimentation when it debuts in 2028 for the ICA’s 10th anniversary. Here's the best part: Common Wealth Public Art Fund (@cwpublicart ) is matching every dollar raised today, up to $50,000. Your gift goes twice as far. Give today and be part of a new legacy coming to Broad and Belvidere. We would be so happy to have you. To contribute, click the link in bio.🔗