The organization's signature event during this time was an annual costume party fundraiser known as the Dada Ball, which it held from 1996 until 2001 in a variety of vacant spaces throughout the city.

[6] The TBA Festival built upon PICA's itinerant model of utilizing multiple venues around the city, including sites such as the former Washington High School building in Southeast Portland, which would later become Revolution Hall.

[7] On April 19, 2016, PICA announced that the organization was gifted a 20-year no-rent lease on a 16,000 square feet (1,500 m2) building along the North Williams Avenue corridor by donor Allie Furlotti and the Calligram Foundation.

She is now Artistic & Executive Director of the Center for the Art of Performance (CAP) at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

[2] PICA has presented works from performance artists and musicians such as Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, Spalding Gray, Marina Abramović, Miranda July, Mike Daisey, and Reggie Watts, among others.

[15] Since its inception, PICA has programmed both performances and exhibitions, while also hosting educational events such as lectures, public conversations, and artist-led workshops.

PICA has presented work by visual artists such as William Pope.L, Matthew Day Jackson, Francis Alÿs, Emily Roysdon, A.L.

During that time, visual art curator Stuart Horodner presented work from artists such as Janine Antoni, Dana Schutz, and Melanie Manchot in the space.

On Sight exhibition programs often include performance-based or otherwise non-conventional visual art modes in addition to traditional gallery spaces.