RISD Grad Show 2026 to Open at the Rhode Island Convention Center on May 21

Graduate student work representing 19 advanced degree programs featured in in-person exhibition and digital publication

PROVIDENCE, RI – May 1, 2026 – Thesis work by students completing master’s degrees at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will be on display at RISD Grad Show 2026, RISD’s annual graduate thesis exhibition. Celebrating the creativity that RISD’s newest graduate alumni will bring to the world, the exhibition and digital publication includes work by students in Architecture, Ceramics, Design Engineering, Digital + Media, Furniture Design, Glass, Global Arts and Cultures, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Landscape Architecture, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teaching + Learning in Art + Design, and Textiles. Work can be viewed digitally at risdgrad.show, beginning May 21.

The exhibition will be on view at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Halls C & D from May 21–30, 2026. The show is free and open to the public daily from 12–5 pm (10–5 pm on May 30, the day of RISD Commencement), with a public opening reception on May 20 from 6–8 pm.

Highlighting the creativity of students at all stages of the thesis process, from sketches and drafts to completed works, RISD Grad Show 2026 invites viewers to experience an expansive range of exploratory work by emerging artists and designers. The work selected represents the culmination of each student’s experience in RISD’s dynamic and diverse graduate programs. As in years past, the 43,000-sf space will be custom-constructed, with more than 2,000 linear feet of walls forming a network of smaller galleries. The unique configuration of the large, flexible space provides remarkable opportunities for graduate students to show multiple pieces or large installations from final thesis projects representing one to three years of research, experimentation, critical thinking, and production.

Graduate study at RISD brings together artists, designers, and thinkers from around the world to research, experiment, create, and push the possibilities of practice. Grad students advance their practice using exploratory and expansive approaches that connect critical thinking to making. At the heart of this experience are thesis projects that represent two or three years of research, writing, experimentation, collaboration, and production and serve as a foundation for future creative inquiry.

About Rhode Island School of Design
RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”) is a creative community founded in 1877 in Providence, Rhode Island. Today, we enroll 2,577 students hailing from 60 countries. Led by a committed faculty, they are engaged in more than 40 full-time bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and supported by a worldwide network of over 33,000 alumni who demonstrate the vital role artists and designers play in today’s society.

Beyond facts and figures, what is the spirit of this community? Through a cross-disciplinary curriculum of studio-based learning and rigorous study in the liberal arts, RISD students are encouraged to develop their own personal creative processes, but they are united by one guiding principle: in order to create, one must question. In cultivating expansive and elastic thinking, RISD seeks to activate a critical exchange that empowers artists, designers and scholars to generate and challenge the ideas that shape our world. RISD’s mission, at both the college and museum, is not only to educate students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, but to transmit that knowledge and make global contributions. Visit risd.edu to learn more.

RISD contact:
Danielle Mancuso 
Associate Director, Public Relations / RISD
dmancuso@risd.edu
401 454-6334