The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art

The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art (BICA) is an artist-run nonprofit cultural organization on Buffalo's West Side, housed in the Essex Street Arts Center, a former ice house that was the original home of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. It was founded in 2018 in a converted mechanic's garage a few blocks away. BICA presents exhibitions, runs a free alternative art school, publishes the regional print magazine Cornelia, and operates a regranting program that puts funding directly into artists' hands. All of its programs are free or pay-what-you-can.