Early shows included works by Richard Artschwager, Vija Celmins, Karen Kilimnik, Charles LeDray, Barry Le Va, Glenn Ligon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pepon Osorio, Tavares Strachan, and Cy Twombly.

[2] Other featured artists have included Gillian Wearing, Yoshitomo Nara, John Armleder, Robert Crumb, Kate Gilmore, and Odili Donald Odita.

It chooses its subject well, keeps things accessible through the judicious use of well-written labels and brochures, and takes risks that prove that the curatorial discipline is alive and kicking".

[7] In 2009, Smith also observed, "On a surprisingly regular basis, the tiny Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania here mounts exhibitions that make the contemporary-art adventures of many larger museums look blinkered, timid and hidebound.

The current modern gallery building was built in 1990 and designed by Adèle Naudé Santos,[9] who later became the dean of architecture at MIT.