Wheelchair-accessible lift
Yes
Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia
Categories
Location on the map
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, US
Accessibility
Wheelchair-accessible toilet
Yes
Amenities
Good for kids
Yes
Comments (83)
Fantastic museum (also free) with two main spaces; went here for the first time today (Dec 2018) and there were two artists work on display. Cool building with some cool stuff. The staff were very nice and the exhibits were interesting and presented in a professional manner. Very happy I got to see the space and looking forward to coming back
Small but a very nice space. The exhibitions on when I was there didnt do too much for me, but thats my problem, not theres. Very polite staff. Great way to spend a couple of hours. And I was very surprised to find out it was free.
Free entry and definitely worth a visit.
Interesting quirky art museum, with not much gallery space, but usually filled to the brim with weird art installations and exhibits, all containing thought-provoking contemporary art. Admission is free, and the museum is never crowded. Located near UPENN, and is a good local museum that is incredibly underrated.
Small, free museum owned by the U of Penn., with easy parking on the street. If you are interested in learning about contemporary art, this is one of the top venues in the U.S. Other museums may put on flashier shows, but the exhibits here are the real thing. The recent Ree Morton retrospective is just the latest in a long series of shows, all consistently pertinent to issues in contemporary art.
Its wonderful to have such an accessible art museum in University City. Its always free and there is no condescension of any kind from the staff there. They have interesting installations and it doesnt take too long to go through them.
Wonderful and provocative installations of post modern art. Welcoming staff. New exhibitions regularly. Free admission. Exhibits can often be viewed in about an hour or less, but can take a lifetime to fully appreciate. I drop in for inspiration whenever Im in the neighborhood.
A beautiful, welcoming museum. The current exhibits were a fascinating source of new ideas for me, an avid visitor to art museums. Well worth the visit when youre in the area.
ICA is always my favorite museum. The exhibits are often on really interesting social topics and very well done. However, I was dissapointed by the current Queer Play exhibit. The exhibit is small (the top is not in use), and myself and other guests had trouble understanding the purpose and meaning of a lot of the pieces because they werent necessarily connected or explained. I still recommend takimg a look at it since its always free and right by other stores!
Beautiful museum. Truly a treasure. It really saddens me that people dont visit museums enough. Summer is a great time to visit them and you get to see so many interesting things and broaden your horizon. Dont miss it if youre in Philly!
A great place to see unique exhibits. This piece is called Ghetto Bird Tunic.
University of Pennsylvanias contemporary art museum is an opportunity to view work of artists who have achieved a level of celebrity in the art world.Many shows are exhibitions of the work of living artists which enables ICA to have public events concurrent with the show where the artist is present. Sometimes performance is part of the exhibition.For a small, non-collecting museum, the exhibits are blockbuster good, sometimes irreverent and challenging and the exhibition design is always excellent.
A very nice space at present underpopulated with exhibits, but Id definitely come back when theres more going on. Plus its free admission!
Hands down the best contemporary gallery I have ever been to. Incredible architecture, engaging exhibits, thoughtful curation, even the security friendly!
Their seasonal exhibits feature visual thought provoking and unique and obscured art in various forms and mediums that are difficult to find in most traditional museum settings, especially in the Philadelphia.
Assistants were nice, but a security guard followed us throughout the museum which was obnoxious. Art was awful and pointless. At least it admission was free.
Looking for fascinating, challenging, provocative exhibitions? You cant get much better than ICA. I guarantee you will have an opinion about any exhibition there. And isnt that what its all about? Go. Respond to the work. Go.
Decent exhibit, but it was the front desk staff that made the experience fantastic
Seasonal exhibits that feature thought provoking and unique art in various forms and mediums difficult to find in most traditional museum settings
Milford Graves exhibit was amazing
Very small museum, three collections that will take a maximum of 45 minutes. Youll have to make other plans for a complete day trip.
Great Gallery Space, fun people, interesting exhibits - would love to visit again and see other exhibits
So, the art was not my kinda art. However, this place is set up really well, and they have great information on the pieces and the artist.
ADMISSION IS FREE FOR ALLICA is always Free For All. Free admission is courtesy of Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman.HOURSWednesday, 11am–8pmThursday & Friday, 11am–6pmSaturday & Sunday, 11am–5pmMonday & Tuesday, closedCheck holiday & seasonal closures
Very developed and happening art space. UofPenn is a campus that allows its structural architecture to speak louder than its many new developments.
Always has a thought provoking exhibit. Free admission. Never crowded.
Arts receive you with open arms at ICA...beautiful place. If you visit it in these days, two big artists!
One of the best small art museums in America. Great curators make a huge difference
Im not super into contemporary art, but I did like this museum.
Just like Google reviews, its free.
Free gallery with rotating exhibitions. Great study spaces as well.
Security is a little uptight. Gallery is amazingWould go back in a heartbeat.
Very cool museum, something interesting is always going on here.
Free to visit and had an interesting African American exhibit.
Very nice building, free access, interesting art installations
Some very unique art is featured here, definitely worth checking out.
Free admission, amazing contemporary art, good hours
The best place to bring that person that you cant figure out how to spend time with them
Free entry and unique, thought provoking exhibitions!
Was underwhelmed with how little art there was displayed.
Small space with exhibitions that I couldn’t appreciate. Didn’t enjoy
An always interesting, place to enjoy multimedia art.
...definitely on top of things, and best of all free!
Great rotating installations, free, worth a visit.
Good independent artist with great visions
Interesting contemporary art exhibits.
Impressive exhibitions. Very well displayed
Made sense to someone thats not me.
Best free museum in Philly.
Its free and worth the price
Always great shows and programs
🎨
Great date spot!
Great art
I am never disappointed.
Always interesting and free
Interesting, nice staff.
Thought provoking and sensitive
It was closed for renovations.
I loved it!
Excellent gallery
Bland
Penn university museum
Very Contemporary
Small and powerful
I Loved it.
Very small.
Go
I saw an anus
Most visit
It was closed
It is free of charge and exhibits several abstract sculptures. It is a one-story and two-story building, and it takes a little while to look around and come out.
Good perfect place.
Total reviews rating 4.5
83 Reviews for Institute of Contemporary Art 2023:
Review №1
2018-12-29This place in incredible, it has always been something that is under appreciated. As a free museum not enough people know about. With prolific exhibitions I couldn’t recommend this enough to someone visiting Philadelphia.
Review №2
2019-05-17Well the term contemporary art definitely has a different meaning than what Im used to enjoying. Yes, it was free but this was probably the worst one Ive ever seen. The building was nice. My favorite part and piece was the chandelier at the visitors desk.
Review №3
2017-01-31Simply incredible well kept friendly staff free entrance and anything from 1970 Jazz pioneers to cultural exhibit come and see it for your self you will love it
Review №4
2022-05-30Only the first floor was open when I went. It was smaller than I expected. It was a good museum overall.
Review №5
2020-02-22I enjoyed the exhibits that were on display. They were interesting and diverse
Review №6
2021-03-31Its free and they have covid 19 protocols in place, but theres just 1 small exhibit on 1st floor right now (15-20 min experience).
Review №7
2018-06-10This museum is free! The staff are lovely and helpful. I wasnt in love with most of the installations, but the concept and atmosphere was very pleasant.
Review №8
2017-03-09The best contemporary art museum in Philadelphia. World class, amazing history of ground breaking shows. Wonderful execution
Review №9
2020-03-02This place provided a very good experience for my daughter and I. Understandably, it wasnt huge and there werent a ton of things to look at, but it was in oasis. The security staff was actually proactive about making the experience a good one. One lovely guard had even explained some of the pieces to us, which was very welcome because not all of the artwork was articulated in a way that caused us to understand the statements the artist was making. Sometimes the curators report omits information that would clarify the meaning of the artwork. The security guard filled in the blanks for us and that was greatly appreciated. Also an artist had left red carnations for guests to wear as a form of participation in her exhibit. That added a new dynamic to the experience.
Review №10
2020-02-29Great free art museum with friendly staff.