2026 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition, Round 2

The 2026 VCUarts MFA Thesis Exhibition will premiere cutting-edge works from twenty-eight emerging artists and designers, representing the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts departments of Craft/Material Studies, Graphic Design, Kinetic Imaging, Painting + Printmaking, Photography + Film, and Sculpture + Extended Media.

Presented over two rounds at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU’s Markel Center, the thesis exhibition is the culmination of two years of intensive research and practice, showcasing the creativity, dynamism, exploration, and invention that make VCUarts one of the nation’s leading schools of art and design.

This exhibition was curated by Egbert Vongmalaithong, assistant curator of the ICA, and guest curator Taylor Jasper, Susan and Rob White Associate Curator of Visual Arts of the Walker Art Center. The exhibition identity was designed by Charles O’Leary.

Round 2 Featured Artists and Designers

Amelia Baxter
Kika Castrellon
HWIY
Luz Del Carmen Salama-Tobar
Clara DeWeese
Fatima Kaleem Khan
Madaline Gardner
Irene Piazza
Leroy Winter
Brice Goldberg
Jiayi Liang
Nneoma Njoku
alexis torres-marroquín
Lorna Williams (also in Gallery Three)
Yangyang Zhang

Round 1 of the exhibition will take place March 20–April 5.