The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

12/05/2025

“Susanna Paints” is a portrait of ’s longtime mentor Susanna Coffey engrossed in her own painting.

Nisenbaum portrays her teacher and the domestic setting around her with great attention and care, capturing the humanity and expressiveness of her subject and conveying the strength of their personal relationship.

Take a closer look at this painting in "Portraits from the ICA Collection," on view through December 28.

Video by Doza Visuals

12/03/2025

Did you catch one of The Wall Street Journal’s favorite exhibitions of 2025? The answer is yes if you saw “Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon” this summer! 🌙🎨

Reminisce on Whitney’s “surprising color relationships, varied edges, nuanced paint application, shifting proportions and dislocations of apparently continuous space,” and see what else made the list → https://loom.ly/YoUo-Js

Installation view, Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2025. Photo by Mel Taing.

12/02/2025

IF SHE WAS AT THE PARTY, SHE WOULD HAVE DUMPED MORE THAN TEA (2025).

If you laughed when you read the title above, then you know something about the Boston Tea Party. Anna Tsouhlarakis’s title pokes at this foundational American event, one whose legacy is a fable of taxation and revolution.

When the artist conceptualized this new sculpture last year, tariffs dominated the news cycle (and still do). The conflation of Boston history with current events—of past and present—aligns with the ways Tsouhlarakis mixes sourced and found materials, for example IKEA shelves, artificial sinew, aspen logs, to***co lids, and press-on nails. Here she accumulates materials, objects, and ideas into a structure that resembles a ship’s bow and a fortress.

See this new work on view in on view in “An Indigenous Present” → https://loom.ly/AecmTCM

Anna Tsouhlarakis, IF SHE WAS AT THE PARTY SHE WOULD HAVE DUMPED MORE THAN TEA, 2025. IKEA remnants, aspen, birch, maple, ice pick pole, oars, boat fenders, metal, leather, artificial sinew, to***co lids, press-on nails, steer horns, artificial elk teeth, horsehair, basketball rim, paint, adhesives, plaster, bed frame, plastic, elk hide, screws, nails, helmet face guard, buffalo nickels, and found book. Installation view, An Indigenous Present, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2025–26. Photo by Mel Taing.

12/01/2025

Chances are you recognize this prolific artist’s style as soon as you see it!

This Thursday, join us for a special moment with Sneha Shrestha, one of our 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize artists, as she signs her new limited-edition print inspired by her "Way Home" paintings, a series celebrating the idea that home is found in the people who hold us.

We’re thrilled to share this edition of 100 prints created in collaboration with Gary Lichtenstein Editions, available exclusively at the ICA. Come meet the artist, connect with the story behind the work, and bring home a piece rooted in friendship, family, and belonging.

Learn more → https://loom.ly/7fxQlNs

Photo by Jane Louie Photography

Meet Sneha Shrestha (aka IMAGINE)—one of the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize artists—at a special print signing event

11/28/2025

Find something for everyone (and we do mean everyone) at the ICA Store!

Enjoy free shipping at icastore.org now through Monday, or drop by and see what else we have in stock.

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving! We’re closed today, but we hope you’re spending quality time with your loved ones and communities.

John Ahearn, in collaboration with fellow artist Rigoberto Torres, created painted busts of his neighbors in the South Bronx, cast directly from individuals ranging from chance street encounters to those he had close connections with. This collaboration, exploring themes of childhood, self-representation, race, and individuality, lovingly depicts their South Bronx community through the everyday residents belonging to it.

Take a closer look at three of the busts, "Ciba," "Elliot," and "Smokey," which are currently on view in "Portraits from the ICA Collection" → https://loom.ly/UoA1UUg

Installation view, Portraits from the ICA Collection, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, 2025–26. Photo by Lauren Miller + Mel Taing.

11/26/2025

Planning your visit? The ICA will be closed tomorrow for Thanksgiving and will reopen on Friday with reduced hours from 10 AM to 5 PM. We are thankful for all our visitors and can't wait to welcome you back for live jazz, family-friendly art-making, and, of course, great art this weekend.

Learn more → https://loom.ly/_-sBzaU

Photo by Lauren Miller

Fri, Nov 28–Sun, Nov 30, 10 AM–5 PM Spend Thanksgiving weekend at the ICA with free live jazz, art-making for the whole family, unique artist-created gifts, and more! See work spanning a century of Native North American art and… more

11/25/2025

A “must-see” exhibition of the season, “An Indigenous Present” (Boston Art Review). Now on view!

11/24/2025

Eat food, be merry, and spend some time with us this Thanksgiving weekend! 🍗👋 See what we have going on → https://loom.ly/_-sBzaU

🎷 Enjoy free live jazz performances from Tyson Jackson and Friends
🖍️ Make art with the whole family
🖼️ See work spanning a century of Indigenous art and creativity
🍷 Enjoy wine and coffee by the waterfront
🎁 Find one-of-a-kind gifts for everyone on your list
✨ And more!

11/21/2025

Have you ever considered sound as an abstract form of creativity? 🔊👂🎶🎧

In our latest podcast episode about "An Indigenous Present," artists Sky Hopinka and Raven Chacon share how sound shapes memory and offers expanded ways to experience art.

Here, Hopinka discusses how sound art can challenge people's expectations of what's possible within a museum.

Listen to the full episode, produced in partnership with WBUR 90.9 FM! Also available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bloomberg Connects.

11/19/2025

We’re throwing a (wintry) mixer, and you’re invited! 🪩✨❄️💃

Next month, deck the galleries with us at the last First Friday of the year! Grab a festive drink, catch exciting performances and pop-up installations from WBUR’s new cohort of The Makers, and dance the night away. Will we see you there? 🫵

🎟️ Tickets now available → https://loom.ly/xnfMxKs

11/18/2025

“I was trying to show that very simple minimalist paintings can convey an idea, convey energy, and...convey this story.” —Kay WalkingStick

In 1974, WalkingStick began a suite of 36 paintings (27 of which are on view at ICA) to honor Nez Perce hero Chief Joseph. Each painted panel includes four shapes repeated in different permutations.

Take a closer look, in person, in “An Indigenous Present,” now on view → https://loom.ly/AecmTCM

Kay WalkingStick, Chief Joseph Series, 1974–76. Acrylic, beeswax, and varnish on canvas. 27 panels, each 20 × 15 inches (50.8 × 38.1 cm). National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Photos by Lauren Miller + Mel Taing.