On view through May 29 in the Rhode Island Convention Center, the exhibition provides visitors a look inside the studios of RISD’s 19 graduate departments.
RISD GRAD SHOW 2026 Considers Memory, Love, and the Fate of Our Planet
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Visitors entering the Rhode Island Convention Center for RISD Grad Show 2026 immediately encounter Traenziens, an installation exploring the shifting nature of memory and experience by Sculpture grad Pablo V. Cazares MFA 26 SC that incorporates sand, branches, and other natural elements. Off to the right, viewers crowd around The Maroon Cycle: Overture by Painting grad Lloyd-Princeton Cangé MFA 26 PT, which references daring 18th- and 19th-century escapes into the wilderness by enslaved Africans in North America. From across the hall, the rumbling sound of tectonic plates shifting under the earth emanates from RIFT, a piece by composer and installation artist Yuval Gur MFA 26 DM, who earned his degree in Digital + Media.
Viewers from inside and outside the RISD community are here to experience the immersive, multidisciplinary graduate thesis exhibition, on view daily through May 30. The show highlights the creativity of students at all stages of the thesis process, from sketches and drafts to completed works. Showcasing the work of more than 200 artists and designers and utilizing 43,000-sf of space, RISD Grad Show 2026 is one of the largest contemporary art exhibitions in New England, according to Director of Campus Exhibitions Mark Moscone 88 PR.
“I think most people are surprised at the variety of work in the show,” says Moscone. “There really is so much here that people might not expect, like product design alongside paintings and conceptual jewelry pieces.”
The vision of each contributing artist is unique, but several themes emerge as one explores the show, including identity, dreams, memory, sustainability, global instability, and feminism. How to Make a Jumpsuit by Illustration grad Faith Huang MFA 26 IL, for example, asks “What is the cost of internalizing patriarchal narratives?” And a series of incredibly detailed porcelain dolls by Ceramics grad Rebecca Stevens MFA 26 CR clearly rejects the roles traditionally assigned to women. “I critique gendered forms of socialization while questioning historical and contemporary perceptions of feminine taste,” the artist explains.
What a Wonderful Dream by Cindy Zhaoyue Chen MFA 26 CR taps into the subconscious and explores “tension, control, and unease,” while Love in Passing Time by Printmaking grad Elysa Adams MFA 26 PR recalls memories of family and the quest for unconditional love. Adams’ piece “reflects on how the Black church has molded my understanding of faith, family, and community,” she says. “Working across relief, screenprint, sculpture, and sound, my practice explores how knowledge is shared across generations through music, tradition, and adornment.”
In the realm of planetary instability, Scale Clock by Furniture Design grad Eriq Wities MFA 26 FD reimagines the grandfather clock as an object of impermanence for unstable times. Textiles artist Jenny Richie MFA 26 TX built a 10-foot wall out of cardboard boxes and scraps of fabric commenting on waste, and Landscape Architecture grad Marguerite Kreuzkamp MLA 26 presented The Disappearing Shore, a project exposing the dangers of developing coastal real estate that “may soon slip from land to sea.”
Stepping into the Industrial Design department’s section of the exhibition, viewers are met with whirring and spinning creations and the sound of recorded voices. A teched-up minivan for surfers centers the space. Titled Made in Chimerica and created by Austin Wang MID 26, the piece attempts to break down stereotypes about Chinese Americans. “The ID program endorses the notion that the most valuable design opportunities today are those promoting the preservation of our environment and a better understanding of human behavior,” notes Graduate Program Director Paolo Cardini.
The measured voice of Xiaotong Cai MFA 26 DM breaks through the music, recorded voices, and other curated sounds of the exhibition. 41.82379°N, 71.38497°W focuses on an abandoned bridge Cai has been interacting with, and the artist is committed to reading her related journal entries aloud for the duration of the exhibition.
Learn more about all of the projects on display and the artists and designers who created them at risdgrad.show.
Top image: A sculptural installation by Pablo V. Cazares greets visitors to the show.
Simone Solondz / photos by Jo Sittenfeld MFA 08 PH
May 27, 2026
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