The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) will leave its current home at The Cube in December in favor of adopting a “a fully nomadic, citywide model” that will see it present exhibitions and programs at various sites across the Bay Area beginning early next year.
Founded in 2020, the ICA SF is among the country’s newest art institutions. It originally opened in the city’s Dogpatch neighborhood before moving to The Cube, located at 345 Montgomery Street in the city’s Financial District, in October 2024. Its two current solo exhibitions for Masako Miki and David Antonio Cruz (on view through December 7) will be its last at The Cube space.
“When ICA SF moved from Dogpatch to The Cube last October, something clicked,” ICA SF founding director and chief curator Alison Gass said in a statement. “For three years, we’ve invited artists and audiences to think differently about how contemporary art can be experienced, and that journey has reshaped our own thinking.”
Gass described The Cube as always being conceived by the institution as “a temporary home,” where the ICA SF could “bring our vision to a new part of the city and test new possibilities.” She added, “That time confirmed an evolving vision: art doesn’t need a single permanent space to make a major impact.”
As part of this new model, the ICA SF has also received support from the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco. In a statement, Mayor Daniel Lurie said, “Arts and culture are essential to San Francisco’s recovery, and the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco is a beloved destination for creativity, community, and culture. Its presence in the Cube has brought new energy to our downtown over the past year and helped to revitalize the heart of San Francisco. I’m thrilled that ICA SF’s plans for multiple activations and installations will continue to play a vital role in our downtown recovery.”
In a release, the ICA SF said that its adoption of this new nomadic model will see it transform “vacant buildings, public spaces and significant architectural sites into platforms for experimentation, civic dialogue and cultural momentum.” The museum has already lined up several programs lined up for the next year, including for artists Tara Donovan, Lily Kwong, Dominique Fung, and Heidi Lau.
Rendering of EARTHSEED DOME (2026) by Lily Kwong, in collaboration with Atelio.
©Lily Kwong
In January, during San Francisco Art Week 2026, it will present two exhibitions at the Transamerica Pyramid Center. Several sculptures from Donovan’s “Stratagem” series, including two that have not been previously exhibited, will go on view at its Annex gallery, while a new site-responsive commission, titled EARTHSEED DOME, by Kwong will go on view in the adjacent Transamerica Redwood Park. Kwong’s 3D-printed living soil installation will evolve over the course of its run through July 2026.
“As a Bay Area native, my creative consciousness and ecological attunement was completely shaped by this place,” Kwong said in a statement. “I often say I was raised by Redwoods, as these mighty trees felt as much like ancestors as any human being growing up as a small child in Mill Valley. … I’ve spent over 15 years building installations all over the world, always with the inspiration of the Redwoods in my heart and to be invited by such a revolutionary arts organization to build a site-responsive, ecologically meaningful piece in this iconic grove amongst the trees and community that have given me my creative life, purpose and mission in the world is an honor of a lifetime.”
Later in 2026, the ICA SF will present a two-person exhibition for Fung and Lau, which will be guest curated by Kathy Huang, an independent curator and managing director at Jeffrey Deitch. The show will feature newly commissioned works staged at Pier 24, located on the city’s Embarcadero. (Until this past February, Pier 24 was home to a photography-focused arts organization.)
In 2027, the ICA SF will partner with Fifth Space and Heatherwick Studio to realize a public art program at the forthcoming Prequel Park, which will be located in the Dogpatch Power Station. The 300-foot smokestack, a marker on the city’s southern waterfront, will be turned into a vertical gallery with site-specific pieces.
In a statement, Fifth Space managing partner Enrique Landa said, “We’ve long looked for ways to collaborate with ICA SF, one of the most innovative, relentlessly creative, and gutsy organizations in the city. They’re phenomenalists through and through. Their new nomadic model is a perfect fit for turning over the Stack and presenting it as a place for art—only ICA SF could take a 300-foot chimney and transform it into a beacon of civic energy and wonder.”
