The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (ICA Philadelphia) today announces its fall 2026 season, a constellation of four initiatives that each explore how relationships with land and place shape cultural and political realities. Anchored by a major group exhibition and a new Entryways public art commission, the season marks a moment of institutional evolution under the leadership of Johanna Burton, ICA’s new Daniel W. Dietrich, II Director, whose vision emphasizes ICA’s longstanding and deep ties to cultural change and radical artistic experimentation. Burton’s priorities are reflected in the creation of ICA’s first formal research residency, which facilitates cross-disciplinary inquiry by connecting artists with resources within ICA, the University of Pennsylvania, and the broader city of Philadelphia, as well as the relaunch of ICA’s project space, which provides dedicated space for artists to test their practice and invite audiences into more process-based discussions. The fall season will also relaunch an open video call, inviting local artists to submit work to be exhibited over the summer.

Beginning September 26, 2026, ICA Philadelphia presents The Condition of Being Near, a group exhibition mapping the cross-cultural networks forged from historical socio-political proximity and shared economic circumstances among Black, African, and Chinese diasporic alliances. Wilmer Wilson IV: SKIRL! marks the inaugural presentation of R+D, ICA’s newly launched annual research residency, including works by the Philadelphia-based artist tracing the eastern gray squirrel’s introduction into American urban parks as a window into the racial and ecological politics of civic life. In the relaunched Project Space, ICA presents Waste Scenes, a two-channel video installation by artists Maia Chao and Fred Schmidt-Arenales that excavates the material and ideological remains of a post-industrial Philadelphia. Finally, a new Entryways commission invites artist Saif Azzuz to engage ICA’s large street-facing windows with mural-size imagery rooted in Indigenous land stewardship and the flora and fauna of Philadelphia. Together, these initiatives reflect a season of deep scholarship, bold experimentation, and meaningful engagement with the communities, histories, and ecologies of Philadelphia and beyond.

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