Asian artists including Sutapa Biswas and Alia Syed went on to tour internationally. Ikon replaced the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery as the venue for travelling exhibitions of contemporary art such as Diane Arbus curated by John Szarkowski, Chris Orr curated by Nick Serota, Objects and Documents featuring works selected by Richard Smith, An Element of Landscape curated by Jeremy Rees, The Human Clay featuring works selected by R. B. Kitaj, and Berenice Abbott. By 1978, Ikon had again outgrown its premises and it moved to a former carpet shop in John Bright Street adjacent to the Alexandra Theatre. The gallery moved to its current site, the former Oozells Street Board School, in 1997 with the cost of the conversion partly funded by a grant from the National Lottery. The refurbishment work was designed by Levitt Bernstein, who reinstated the building's tower, which had been demolished during the 1960s. Café Ikon, on the ground floor, was designed by Birmingham-based architects The Space Studio and opened in December 1998. Form, Space & Order were the contractors. In 2011, the Ikon Gallery started work with Gillian Wearing, to create a public artwork of 'A Real Birmingham Family'. The consequent bronze cast sculpture was erected in Centenary Square, outside the Library of Birmingham, on 30 October 2014. Ikon Eastside In July 2006, Ikon opened a second site in the Digbeth area of Birmingham, known as Ikon Eastside. It was housed in a Victorian former chapel and Sunday school, with the words "Stay away from Lonely Places" prominently displayed on the façade - an artwork by Canadian artist Ron Terada. This venue closed in summer 2007, but the gallery opened a gallery in a different building a short distance away in May 2008. After being part of the Fazeley Studios complex it closed permanently in 2011. Current activities The Ikon has an artistic programme consisting of three interdependent strands. The gallery features temporary exhibitions over two floors totalling . A variety of media are represented, including sound, film, mixed media, photography, painting, sculpture and installation. There is also an off-site programme which helps develop dynamic relationships between art, artists and the audience outside the gallery. The projects and events vary enormously in scale, duration and type of location, challenging expectations of where art can be seen and by whom. Education is at the heart of the Ikon's activities, stimulating public interest in and understanding