FotoFocus Biennial at AAC
October 9 – October 31
Art Academy of Cincinnati
Free Admission
Attend the FotoFocus Biennial at AAC from October 9 through 31
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 9–31, 2026, at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Admission is free.
FotoFocus Biennial 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 Occupying Wall 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 practices might 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.
Free Public Events
Noel Maghathe Photo Weaving Workshop
October 14, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
McClure Gallery
AAC alum Noel Maghathe leads a hands-on workshop exploring memory, personal history, and photographic storytelling.
Accra Shepp Panel Discussion
October 16, 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Lecture Hall
Artist Accra Shepp joins curator Kevin Moore for a conversation about Bearing Witness, moderated by AAC Academic Dean Sarah Stolar.
FotoFocus Opening Receptions
October 16, 5–8 p.m.
All Galleries
Celebrate all four exhibitions during a free public opening reception.
Gigi Gatewood Artist Lecture
October 22, 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Lecture Hall
New York photographer Gigi Gatewood presents an artist talk about her work and practice.
FotoFocus Bus Tour
October 31, 1:45–2:45 p.m.
All Galleries
FotoFocus Bus Tour guests will experience guided tours of AAC’s four exhibitions before they close at 3 p.m.
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Accra Shepp, Laura standing on the steps of Federal Hall, ink jet print, 40×50”, 2012 (SITE1212)
Noel Maghathe, From Now Until (Situ in her bedroom), Archival print, wool, 13×12”, 2025 (McClure Gallery)
Angela Kahoali’i Casagrande, Better Things, Mixed Media Cyanotype, 16×20”, 2023 (Pearlman Gallery)
Autumn Fletcher, Castillo, Archival inkjet print, 12×15”, 2026 (Chidlaw Gallery)
