FotoFocus at AAC
The Art Academy of Cincinnati is hosting four exhibitions and five free public events for FotoFocus 2026!
This October, the Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) will be a destination for the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial, presenting four exhibitions and five free public events featuring internationally recognized artists, AAC alumni, and emerging student artists and curators. Across four campus galleries, FotoFocus at AAC explores photography as a means of documenting history, preserving memory, examining the present, and imagining what comes next.
The exhibitions will be open to the public October 14–31, 2026, at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Admission is free.
Free Public Events
October 14, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. – Noel Maghathe Photo Weaving Workshop, McClure Gallery: AAC alum Noel Maghathe leads a hands-on workshop exploring memory, personal history, and photographic storytelling.
October 16, 12:30–2 p.m. – Accra Shepp Panel Discussion, Lecture Hall: Artist Accra Shepp joins curator Kevin Moore for a conversation about Bearing Witness, moderated by AAC Academic Dean Sarah Stolar.
October 16, 5–8 p.m. – FotoFocus Opening Receptions, All Galleries: Celebrate all four exhibitions during a free public opening reception.
October 22, 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m. – Gigi Gatewood Artist Lecture, Lecture Hall: New York photographer Gigi Gatewood presents an artist talk about her work and practice.
October 31, 1:45–2:45 p.m. – FotoFocus Bus Tour, All Galleries: FotoFocus Bus Tour guests will experience guided tours of AAC’s four exhibitions before they close at 3 p.m.
Exhibitions
Bearing Witness – SITE 1212
Anchoring FotoFocus at AAC in the college’s largest exhibition space, SITE 1212, New York-based photographer, writer, and educator Accra Shepp presents Bearing Witness, bringing together OccupyingWall Street, The Covid Journals, and The Islands of New York. The three bodies of work examine defining social, political, and environmental moments of the 21st century, from the Occupy movement and COVID-19 pandemic to New York City’s changing island landscapes. Shepp’s photographs are held in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Art Institute of Chicago. His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Senior Fulbright Fellowship, two New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships, and a Cullman Center Fellowship at the New York Public Library.
Over Everything – McClure Gallery
The McClure Gallery features AAC alum Noel Maghathe, Class of 2017, a Palestinian American multidisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited internationally from New York and Cincinnati to Jordan, Palestine, Tasmania, and Helsinki. In Over Everything, Maghathe draws from familial archives, photographs, words, and woven imagery to explore memory, identity, heritage, and the search for home. By reconstructing moments they never personally experienced, Maghathe blurs the boundaries between truth and fabrication while considering how memory changes across time, distance, borders, and generations.
Untwined/Interwoven – Pearlman Gallery
Untwined/Interwoven, on display in the Pearlman Gallery, is curated by current AAC photography students and brings together professional artists Angela Kahoali’i Casagrande, Diana Noh, and Kaitlin Santoro. Through lens-based and mixed-media works, the exhibition considers photographs as fragments of memory that can be collected, altered, layered, and reassembled. Combining found materials and photographs, the artists explore how personal and collective histories are preserved, reconstructed, and transformed through acts of remembrance and storytelling.
Depth of Field – Chidlaw Gallery
Rounding out the four exhibitions, Chidlaw Gallery presents Depth of Field, featuring current student artists from AAC whose work considers both the present state of their mediums and where those practicesmight lead next. Using “depth of field” as a framework, the exhibition captures a moment of experimentation in which emerging artists question established conventions, work across disciplines, and test new approaches. The exhibition positions the present as the place where the future of artistic practice first comes into view. Participating student artists include Autumn Fletcher, Kelsey Gallagher, Kaiden Jacques, Kamaire Jones, Olivia Kaiser-Piazza, Tammie Le, Avin Martin, Kennede Oninku, Camille Simpson, Gina Tarantino, Harper Thomson, and Lila Ungs.
Gallery Hours: Daily, 9 a.m.–9 p.m.
Admission: Free and open to the public
Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, (513) 562-6262
ABOUT THE BIENNIEL
The FotoFocus Biennial, now in its eighth iteration, activates over 70 exhibitions at
museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton,
Columbus, and Northern Kentucky in October 2026. Each Biennial is structured around a unifying theme; the 2026 theme, The Long View, considers aspects of time and perspective in photography and film, and how these mediums shape our understanding of the world. FotoFocus welcomes global artists, curators, critics, educators, and visitors to Cincinnati with exhibitions, talks, performances, screenings, and panel discussions during its Biennial
Opening Events, October, 1–3, 2026.
ABOUT THE ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI
Art Academy of Cincinnati, established in 1869, is an independent college of art and design. Degrees granted are the Associate of Science in Graphic Design; the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Design, Illustration, Painting and Drawing, Photography, Print Media, Digital Arts Animation and Sculpture; and the Master of Arts in Art Education. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the Art Academy is a charter member of both NASAD and the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. The AAC is also accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education. The AAC’s mission is to create and sustain radical, forward thinking, contemporary visual artists and designers whose creative contributions make a substantial difference in all the lives they touch.
