New works, programs mark new era at ICA

With the September opening of its new building approaching, the Institute of Contemporary Art today will announce art acquisitions, programming decisions, and the hiring of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck to oversee its cafe. The ICA will also announce that developer Steve Samuels has closed on his purchase of its current home on Boylston Street. The building is selling for $9.5 million.

Today's announcements -- which will include word that the ICA will increase its annual Artist Prize to $25,000, five times the previous total -- signal a new era at the museum, which will move to its new home on the waterfront Sept. 17. It will be the first new art museum in Boston since the Museum of Fine Arts moved to its current home in 1909.

''We're focused so much on this from a construction standpoint, but I think we also want to show that it's not only a building," said Paul Bessire, the ICA's deputy director for external relations. ''This really is about the programs, about how everything we do is increasing significantly."

In March, ICA officials disclosed the first 11 pieces acquired for the new collection, including three Nan Goldin photographs, a Marlene Dumas watercolor, and a pair of Cornelia Parker sculptures. The new acquisitions -- to be announced today as part of a press tour of the building by its architects, Elizabeth Diller, Ric Scofidio, and Charles Renfro -- are a video installation by Christian Jankowski, a painting and drawing by Lucy McKenzie, and a painting by Kai Althoff.

All three artists, like those whose works were acquired earlier, already have a relationship with the ICA, having been featured in past shows. That's been a key to acquiring the works, even though they were purchased for the institution by collectors, according to Nicholas Baume, the ICA's chief curator.

''It's a good time to draw on the good will of the artist," said Baume. ''In [Althoff's] case, there's a mile-long waiting list. He doesn't produce much work and it's sought after by collectors around the world. The artist himself reserved a piece for the ICA, and at the same time, he's agreed to give us long-term loans of a couple of wonderful early pieces."

With expanded galleries and a higher profile, the institute has decided to make changes to the ICA Artist Prize it established for local artists in 1999. Instead of announcing a winner, the ICA will name four finalists and have each produce works for a show opening in September at the new building. A jury will vote for the eventual winner, who will be announced in early November.

This year's finalists are Sheila Gallagher, Jane D. Marsching, Kelly Sherman, and Rachel Perry Welty. The new prize, $25,000, matches the amount awarded by the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park for its Rappaport Prize. Winners of the MFA's Maud Morgan Prize receive $5,000.

''I think we want to raise the stakes, and also signal our commitment to Boston artists," said Carole Anne Meehan, the ICA curator who oversees the artist prize. ''While we can't reinvent our mission and who we truly are in terms of being a leading presenter of international and national art, an important component of what we do is to keep a good eye on our immediate neighborhood."

With a new 325-seat theater, the ICA is also looking to expand its cultural programs, including concerts, dance performances, and lectures. Today, the ICA will announce that it has commissioned a piece by choreographer Mark Morris to be performed by his company in May of 2007.

In addition, the ICA is launching programs designed to draw newcomers to the Fan Pier. A family program, set for one Saturday each month, will offer free admission to children under 12 accompanied by an adult. The ICA's Teen Council will help put together four nights featuring events for teens. The ICA has already announced that Boston's CRASHarts, a division of World Music Inc., will program 10 weeks of performances in the theater's first eight months.

Morris will also take part in the ICA's ''What New Is" lecture series. Other speakers haven't been announced, though David Henry, the ICA's director of programs, hopes to draw from the music and film worlds.

''Having a name performer like that will really draw attention to the fact that we're a performing arts institution," said Henry. ''I would hope to be able to do at least one or two things like that every year."

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com.