[2] It was the first Modern Arts Museum in Spain, with two buildings: the main in Guillem de Castro street and a close location in the Centre del Carme, active until 2002.

It has two spaces: the Centre Julio González, a new building which opened in 1989 featuring the museum's collection along with other temporary signs and the Board of the Wall, located in the basement of the building that remains of the former Medieval fortifications of the city, and now houses temporary exhibitions.

Jointly organized with the San Diego Museum of Art, IVAM mounted a major exhibition on Joaquín Sorolla in its first year, culling paintings from collections throughout Europe and the United States.

His predecessor, Consuelo Císcar, was ousted after ten years at the post, following complaints from local critics, visual artists and gallery owners about the low quality of the museum's programming and "lack of professionalism in the management".

"Enguita has been brought on board to conduct a major internationalization project at the institution whose core will focus in a detailed work on the museum collections, the importance of research and participation along with an enhancement on the public–private collaboration and the educational activities undertaken by the Valencian institution".