Institute for Contemporary Art planned for Broad and Belvidere

VCU yesterday unveiled the design for a new 3-story museum to be built by 2015 on the parking lot at the southwest corner of Broad and Belvidere. Located at the corner of Broad and Belvidere, near one of the most-traveled entrances to the city, the ICA will be a signature building for the School of […]

April 25, 2012; 7:10 AM • by Fan of the Fan

VCU yesterday unveiled the design for a new 3-story museum to be built by 2015 on the parking lot at the southwest corner of Broad and Belvidere.

Located at the corner of Broad and Belvidere, near one of the most-traveled entrances to the city, the ICA will be a signature building for the School of the Arts and VCU, representing the best in international contemporary architecture and art, and a valuable community resource for Richmond. The ICA, which is expected to be about 32,000-square-feet, will feature approximately 8,000-square-feet of gallery space, an outdoor installation space, a 210-seat auditorium with tiered seating, classrooms, a gift shop, a café with a catering kitchen and an entry hall suitable for exhibitions, installations and social events. It will provide a practical and dramatic space for the VCU School of the Arts, which has the top-ranked public graduate arts program in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The ICA will be privately funded. Fundraising efforts are under way with leadership from Steve and Kathie Markel and Bill and Pam Royall. The ICA is expected to open in the spring of 2015.

“The ICA will provide a strong cultural connection between the university and the community, offering an innovative, welcoming space and exhibition venue for a broad and diverse audience,” said Michael Rao, Ph.D., president of VCU. “The prominence of the ICA’s location, bordering the city’s Arts District and in the Broad Street corridor that links the VCU Monroe Park Campus with VCU’s Medical Center, has symbolic significance and conveys to the city VCU’s creative aspirations, especially in our top-ranked School of the Arts.”