Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
The ICA's current building in South Boston
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 Location in Boston
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| Former name | Boston Museum of Modern Art |
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| Established | 1936 |
| Location | 25 Harbor Shore Drive, Boston, MA 02210 |
| Coordinates | 42°21′10″N 71°02′34″W / 42.352843°N 71.042857°W |
| Type | Art museum |
| Accreditation | American Alliance of Museums |
| Director | Jill Medvedow |
| Architect | Diller Scofidio + Renfro |
| Public transit access |
Courthouse Station 
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| Website | icaboston |
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936 with a mission to exhibit contemporary art. Since then it has gone through multiple name changes as well as moving its galleries and support spaces over 13 times. Its current home was built in 2006 in the South Boston Seaport District and designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
The Institute of Contemporary Art was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936 with offices rented at 114 State Street with gallery space provided by the Fogg Museum and the Busch–Reisinger Museum at Harvard University. The Museum planned itself as "a renegade offspring of the Museum of Modern Art", and was led by its first president, a 26-year-old architect named Nathaniel Saltonstall. The first exhibit curated by the new museum was "the first survey show of Paul Gauguin in the Boston Area." Also in this first year the institution's first fundraiser was held, the Modern Art Ball, to which many big names in the art world attended including Gala and Salvador Dalí who entered the ball dressed as sharks.
In 1937 the Boston Museum of Modern Art moved to its first self-administered gallery space located at 14 Newbury Street and instated a 25 cent admission charge. This year the museum displayed the first survey of dada and surrealist art. On exhibit during this show was the now famous work Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) by Méret Oppenheim. This exhibit was followed in 1938 by the museum sponsoring the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo's United States premiere. The performance had set pieces and costumes designed by Henri Matisse which was in keeping with the current exhibit, an examination of the relationship between Matisse and Pablo Picasso. The museum also moved again, this time to the Boston Art Club at 270 Dartmouth Street.
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