San Francisco, CA—March 20, 2026—California College of the Arts announces a new exhibition featuring work by 19 emerging artists from its Fine Arts graduate program. The 2026 MFA Fine Arts exhibition spans across multiple galleries on the college’s campus, including the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Novack Gallery. The exhibition is organized by Glen Helfand, professor of Graduate Fine Arts, and Heidi Rabben, adjunct professor, independent curator, and alum of CCA’s Curatorial Practice Program.

On view from May 1 through 16, 2026, the exhibition offers a diverse range of works in painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, installation, and textiles. The international group of artists include Nishat Ahmed, Mel Blue, Alfredo Zapata De Jesus, Jiao Deng, Jennifer Boyuan Han, Arielle Harvey, Grace Jin, Ana Diaz Korin, Abby Lawrence, Megan March, Adrian Martinez, Lara Rabinowitz, Soorim Ryu, Gabby Severson, Adam Wever-Glen, Jasmine Narkita Wiley, Enbo Yang, Wang Ye, and Zimo Zhang.

“The artists will debut works developed over the past two years, projects that present compelling intersections of contemporary personal, social, and aesthetic concerns,” says Helfand. “As the penultimate iteration of the MFA thesis exhibition this is an even more exciting and urgent expression of the Bay Area’s vital art scene.”

The public reception is on Friday, May 15, from 5 to 8 pm and includes multiple performances as part of our all-campus celebration of graduating student work.

Exhibition details

Dates: May 1 – May 16, 2026
Location: CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Novack Gallery, 145 Hooper Street, San Francisco
Reception: Friday, May 15 | 5–8 pm
Admission: Free and open to the public
Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Saturday, noon–6 pm

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