2026 Thesis Exhibitions

CINCINNATI, OH — Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) presents its 2026 Thesis Exhibitions, a series of student-led exhibitions featuring the culminating work of graduating seniors across disciplines. Installed throughout AAC’s campus galleries this spring, the exhibitions offer a layered view into the practices shaping a new generation of artists and designers.

Working across painting & drawing, illustration, sculpture, photography, digital arts animation, design, print media and creative writing, students present fully realized bodies of work developed through sustained studio inquiry. The exhibitions foreground material exploration, narrative, and process, revealing a wide range of approaches that move fluidly between disciplines.

This year’s titled group exhibitions, Kaleidoscope, Phantasmagoria, Overhead Underbelly, and All Roads Lead Here, emerge as distinct but interconnected frameworks, shaped by the artists themselves. Together, they transform AAC’s galleries—including Pearlman, McClure, Chidlaw, SITE1212, and the Clean Cube—into an expansive, multi-site presentation of contemporary practice. Public receptions will take place throughout the exhibition period. All events are free and open to the public.