San Francisco, CA– The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) is the recipient of the first philanthropic grant made by LYRA and its founder, Tanya Fileva. The grant ensures the museum can continue to help artists push boundaries and provide a space for everyone to experience the power of art in Downtown San Francisco.
Spotlight: Kathleen Ryan installation view
Photo: Nicholas Lea Bruno. Courtesy of ICA SF
In alignment with LYRA’s goal of enabling bold and ambitious ideas, this three-year naming grant creates the LYRA Foundation Curator of Contemporary Art position. Meghan Smith, the museum's current assistant curator, will be appointed to the newly formed role. The grant also provides additional funding to support curatorial projects over three-years. Upcoming exhibitions that will benefit from this support include projects with artists David Antonio Cruz, Masako Miki, Dominique Fung, and Heidi Lau.
Tanya Fileva
Photo Daria Senin
I believe that entrepreneurs shape the world we live in through technology, just as artists inspire and challenge us to see things differently and make impactful change. We have found great synergies between the ICA and LYRA’s goals of empowering under-represented artists and bolstering a rich visual culture. They encourage exhibiting artists to take risks and delve into some of the most pressing questions and challenges we face today. I’m excited to support this work and raise the profile of ICA SF and their woman-led institution.
Photo 2: Visitors in The Poetics of Dimensions on view at ICA SF, January 2025. Photo: Nicholas Lea Bruno. Courtesy of ICA SF
Photo 2: Visitors in The Poetics of Dimensionson view at ICA SF, October 2024. Photo: Drew Altizer Photography
LYRA and Tanya, upon the recent launch of their not-for-profit foundation, selected ICA SF as the recipient for their first major grant due to the museum's role in the San Francisco Downtown burgeoning arts scene, its entrepreneurial approach to building an arts institution, and its commitment to supporting artists by allowing them to dream big and take risks.
Ali Gass
Photo: Ulysses Ortega. Courtesy of ICA SF
ICA SF is grateful to LYRA for specifically recognizing the importance of supporting curatorial careers and the vital need to create platforms for artists. It’s not often that museums are able to support the creation of new curators, but there is no one more deserving than Meghan of this new title given her commitment to partnering with artists to make their visions a reality. In addition to supporting new leaders in our field, this grant is also a recognition of San Francisco’s renewal and its bet on arts to continue transforming Downtown into a vibrant neighborhood.
Alison Gass, ICA SF Founding Director.
About The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) is a non-collecting art museum that offers artists from around the world an opportunity to push boundaries, experiment with new ideas, and take risks. We believe in the power of art to explore the most critical social, political, and cultural questions of our time and are committed to expanding the art historical canon of the future. Building upon the lessons learned in our early start-up years, ICA SF remains continuously “under construction,” embracing a nimbleness rarely found in art institutions. We seek to make contemporary art relevant and meaningful for all audiences. Admission is always free.
Meghan Smith
Photo: Megan Kelly. Courtesy of ICA SF
About Meghan Smith, LYRA Foundation Curator of Contemporary Art
Meghan Smith started at ICA SF as a Curatorial Fellow in the fall of 2022, and has since held the positions of Curatorial Assistant and Assistant Curator. Prior to ICA SF, she held a Curatorial Fellowship at Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, where she produced public programs centered on artist Lorraine O'Grady, supported a major group exhibition, and contributed to two publications, Drum Listens to Heart and uncontained. Previous positions included Co-Director of CCA PLAySPACE Gallery, San Francisco, and Associate Director of Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville. Smith holds degrees from the University of Virginia and California College of the Arts.