Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (HICA or "the Halsey") is a non-profit, non-collecting contemporary art institute within the School of the Arts at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. The HICA presents contemporary art exhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists. The Halsey is housed in the Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts at 161 Calhoun Street, in the heart of downtown Charleston. Mark Sloan was Director and Chief Curator of the Halsey from 1994 to 2020. Katie Hirsch served as Director and Chief Curator from 2021 to 2024. In addition to exhibitions, the Halsey presents a publishing program, visiting-artist lectures, a membership program. History The Halsey Institute was originally named the Halsey Gallery after artist William Halsey , an accomplished Charleston native whose modernist works were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art , the Whitney Museum of American Art , the Art Institute of Chicago , and the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Halsey was the first individual to teach a studio art course at the College of Charleston, beginning in 1964. Upon his retirement in 1984, the Studio Art faculty voted to name the art gallery after him to honor his contribution to the arts in.