ICA Miami Plans Transformative Expansion, Acquires Former Site of de la Cruz Collection in the Miami Design District

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (ICA Miami) culminates its tenth anniversary year with a transformative expansion, acquiring a second site located at 23 NE 41st Street in the Miami Design District, the former home of the de la Cruz Collection.

Providing an additional 30,000 square feet to the museum, the acquisition doubles ICA Miami's facilities for exhibitions and the permanent collection, public programming, and education, enabling the museum to deepen its engagement and impact with audiences and significantly enhance its community resources. ICA Miami acquired the building for $25 million through a robust capital campaign supported entirely by private funds.

Since its founding 10 years ago, ICA Miami has driven the development of Miami's cultural landscape and has led globally in artistic experimentation and scholarship. Providing free admission and access to its educational programs, the museum has organized nearly 100 exhibitions; including global U.S. museum debuts for both established and emerging artists; supported over 1,000 artists through exhibitions and acquisitions; engaged over 1 million visitors; hosted a robust calendar of field-leading lectures, performances, screenings, and seminars; and extended its global reach through publications, podcasts, and other digital resources.

This expansion enables ICA Miami to continue the growth of its innovative exhibition program, providing increased gallery space for special exhibitions and dedicated space for the creation of the Knight Foundation new media gallery, which will provide a platform for artists experimenting with emerging mediums and technology. The expansion additionally provides ICA Miami for the first time with dedicated galleries for the museum's permanent collection, which includes some of the most important work of the last decades and reflects a robust intergenerational and inclusive narrative of global contemporary art. Supporting the ongoing demand and rapid growth of ICA Miami's education and public programs, the new site enables the museum to create multiple, state-of-the-art classrooms; spaces for talks, lectures, symposia, and performance; and a lab for the creation of digital and audio-visual media.

ICA Miami's acquisition of the site, the former home of the de la Cruz Collection, preserves the building's pivotal and historic role as an anchor for the art community in Miami and as a beacon of admission-free arts in the Miami Design District. The museum will host educational programs and classes at the site within the next several months, and then undergo renovation before officially reopening to the public.

Providing a vital foundation for the building's acquisition and renovation, the museum's capital campaign has already received tremendous early gifts from private foundations and individuals, including significant participation from ICA Miami's Board of Trustees and significant in-kind support from long-time ICA Miami patron Craig Robins. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded the museum a $5 million grant that supports the growth of ICA Miami's commitment to digital innovation.

“Over the past decade, we have seen a profound and enthusiastic response to ICA Miami's mission of free access to arts and education, and to our groundbreaking exhibitions and collections. At this pivotal moment in Miami's arts landscape history, ICA Miami's expansion represents a natural next step in its trajectory by providing crucially needed space to share the work of important artists and to deepen our educational reach. I am grateful to our Board of Trustees and Campaign members, as well as the Knight Foundation, for recognizing the museum's significant role locally, nationally, and internationally, and for leadership that continually raises the bar in our community,” said Alex Gartenfeld, ICA Miami's Irma and Norman Braman Artistic Director.

Founding expansion gifts have been provided by leaders from across the philanthropic community in South Florida including Mickey Beyer, Catherine and John Carrafiell, Pilar Crespi Robert and Stephen Robert, Carolynn and Michael Friedman Amy Dean and Alan Kluger, Margot and George Greig, Monica & Blake Grossman, Kathy and Steven Guttman, Stephanie and Matt Herfield, Barbara Z. Herzberg, Annie & Manny Kadre, Joanne Katz, Andrea and Robert Kramer, Tammy and Jay Levine, Janice and Alan Lipton, Arlene and Larry Mendelson, Amanda and Don Mullen, Ed and Helen Nicoll, Keith and Sonia Pomeroy, Craig Robins and Jackie Soffer, Chandra & Michael Rudd, Kay Torshen and Alan Schriesheim, Sandy and Tony Tamer, Todd White and Cameron Carani, the Witkoff Family, Ray Ellen and Allan Yarkin, among others.

“It is incredible that, in just 10 short years, ICA Miami has led in innovation nationally and even globally, thanks to leaders here in our community. With our audiences growing rapidly and our educational commitment firm, this new site accommodates the ever-increasing demand for our programs and continues to deepen our impact,” said Ray Ellen Yarkin, Co-chair of ICA Miami's Board of Trustees.

“ICA Miami's expansion makes Miami Design District an even richer cultural campus. It is fitting that the space, which for almost two decades as the de la Cruz Collection presented thought-provoking, innovative contemporary art exhibitions, will continue that tradition,” said Miami Design District founder and ICA Miami Campaign supporter Craig Robins.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami is located at 61 NE 41st Street, Miami, Florida 33137. For more information, visit www.icamiami.org or follow the museum on Instagram and explore the ICA Channel for inside looks at ICA Miami exhibitions and the practices of the most exciting artists working today.

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