Institute of Contemporary Art San José, Contemporary art center in downtown San Jose, United States

The Institute of Contemporary Art San José is a downtown arts center with multiple gallery spaces that present rotating exhibitions. These rooms showcase paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, and digital installations from contemporary artists.

Founded in 1980 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the center worked for years toward a permanent home before buying a 7,500-square-foot building in the SoFA District in 2006. Its 3,700 square feet of gallery space were divided into three interchangeable rooms, enabling site-specific, solo and group installations for the first time. Cathy Kimball, a former curator at the San Jose Museum of Art, led the institution from 2000 and was succeeded by Alison Gass in 2020.

The center's name is often shortened to ICA San José, and it operates as a member- and community-supported nonprofit in the SoFA District. Its galleries have hosted solo shows by painters such as Amy Ellingson and by Alan Rath, a pioneer of electronic, kinetic and robotic art.

The gallery occupies a 7,500-square-foot building on South First Street in the SoFA District, with 3,700 square feet divided into three connected gallery rooms. Admission to the rotating exhibitions is free. The building was purchased in 2006, so check current opening days before travelling, as the schedule is set by the nonprofit.

The 2006 purchase of a 7,500-square-foot building in the SoFA District gave the institute its first permanent home, with 3,700 square feet of gallery space split into three interchangeable rooms. That layout allowed site-specific, solo and group installations to run continuously for the first time in its history.