Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Pressing, a group exhibition inviting audiences to simultaneously revel in the beauty of the natural world while considering the entanglement of ecological and human histories.

Video production by Eric Hales

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) is pleased to present SEED, a solo exhibition by sculptor Kendall Buster in conjunction with her solo presentation, SOLSTICE, concurrently on view at The Kreeger Museum in Washington, DC. 

SEED makes up the third of a series of three shows marking the 50th anniversary of Tephra ICA. The exhibition highlights this important milestone in the Institute’s history by emphasizing the significance of place while examining themes of life, future, and innovation.

Video production by Eric Hales

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Choosing to Portage, an exhibition featuring the work of Ashley M. Freeby, Noelle Garcia, Jeff Huckleberry, Jackie Milad, and Michael Rakowitz.

Choosing to Portage is curated by Associate Curator Hannah Barco and is the second of a series of three exhibitions marking the 50th anniversary of Tephra ICA. The exhibition highlights this important milestone in the institution’s history by examining the theme of legacy.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Hacia la Vida | Towards Life, an exhibition featuring the work of Baltimore-based interdisciplinary artist Hoesy Corona and the San Diego-based Cog•nate Collective (Amy Y. Sanchez and Misael Diaz). Together, the artists’ work honors the position of the immigrant and serves as a reminder that the act of migration is deeply optimistic and full hope.

Hacia la Vida | Towards Life is co-curated by Tephra ICA curatorial staff Jaynelle Hazard and Hannah Barco. The exhibition is supported in part by Leidos with special programming presented in partnership with the Mexican Cultural Institute and Reston Community Center.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents between a rock and a soft place, a group exhibition reframing the concept of rest as more than a reward for work, but as a practice in itself.

Bringing together the work of five contemporary artists, between a rock and soft place opens a conversation about negotiating societal structures that stand between the subject and a life of ease. Who gets rest and when? What is truly restorative? What permissions do we allow for ourselves to slow down, and how?

Guest curated by Deirdre Darden, between a rock and a soft place features new work by Holly Bass, Adjoa Burrowes, Deborah Grayson, Katie O’Keefe, and Britt Sankofa. The exhibition is the 2023 iteration of Tephra ICA’s Mary B Howard Invitational, a biennial program which values exhibition-making as a collaborative and generative process while supporting the development and public presentation of innovative new work.

Funded in part by ArtsFairfax.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents What Makes the Earth Shake, featuring work by figurative painter Dominic Chambers.

Chambers (b. 1993 St. Louis, MO; lives and works in New Haven, CT) creates vibrant paintings that simultaneously engage art historical models, such as color field theory and gestural abstraction, along with contemporary concerns around race, identity, and the necessity for leisure. This is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in the Washington, DC metropolitan region.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Mother Line, an exhibition of works by photographer, filmmaker, video and performance artist Laurel Nakadate. The exhibition is presented in partnership with George Mason University and is guest curated by Lily Siegel and Don Russell.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) presents Time Sensitive, an exhibition of works by Myanmar artist collective, 3AM, curated by Adriel Luis. Since 2016, members Ma Ei, Ko Latt, and Yadanar Win have collaborated on works that dissolve the lines between art and activism, performance, and media.

3AM's work responds to social conditions that are pressing in Myanmar, but that resonate throughout the world – the repression of social critique, the complexities of queer life, and the effects of globalization, to name a few. Ever since Myanmar's military coup in February this year, internet shutdowns, public uprisings, and police violence against demonstrators and artists, the nation's turmoils have been placed back in the global spotlight.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Workhouse Arts Center presents Compounds Not Required: 29 47 13, a group exhibition featuring the work of six artists utilizing metals in their process highlighting the allure, complexities and innovations of the craft. The exhibition explores metals as elements from the periodic table, specifically copper, brass, silver, aluminum, and steel; while demonstrating how these small physical components both make up a whole and have the power to stand alone.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Ceramics artist Michelle Erickson talks about the Master Class program at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.

Video production by Eric Hales.

Mark Dean Veca discusses his installation at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, which is part of the exhibition Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose Magazine.

Video production by Eric Hales