CCA Spring Thesis Showcase & Open Studios

California College of the Arts concentrated its end-of-year thesis season into a public, campus-wide showcase on Friday, May 15, at 145 Hooper Street in San Francisco. The school’s 2026 Graduation Exhibitions ran from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and brought together work from architecture, design, fine arts, and humanities and sciences programs. CCA described the event as an all-campus presentation of graduating student work across multiple buildings and outdoor spaces. The school’s broader graduation exhibitions calendar also included earlier spring open studios, screenings and thesis shows tied to specific programs. ### What exactly happened on May 15 at CCA’s San Francisco campus? Friday, May 15, was the date of CCA’s All-Campus Graduation Exhibition, according to the school’s 2026 celebrations site. The event featured thesis work by graduating students in BFA Communication Design, BFA Fashion Design, BFA Illustration, BFA Industrial Design, BFA Interaction Design, MFA Design, BArch Architecture, BFA Interior Design, MAAD Advanced Architectural Design, and MArch Architecture. Eventbrite’s listing for the same event said the showcase activated the San Francisco campus, including the Gensler Courtyard, the Nave, the Simpson Family Makers Studio, the Wattis Gallery and the Upper Quad. The listing said the evening opened at 5 p.m. with a DJ, refreshments and performances by two MFA Fine Arts students, and ended with a 7:30 p.m. outdoor fashion show. ### Which student programs were included in the main public exhibition? (2026.cca.edu) CCA’s official exhibition page named 10 degree programs in the all-campus show, spanning undergraduate and graduate work in design and architecture. Those programs included graphic design, illustration, industrial design, interaction design, interior design, architecture and MFA Design, alongside fashion and communication design. (eventbrite.com) Separate program pages added detail on some of the cohorts. CCA said the Fashion Design senior show featured nine graduating designers, each presenting five original looks after a gallery-style preview. The school said the Illustration senior show included 31 graduating illustrators, while the Industrial Design senior show featured 15 students working on projects including medical devices, furniture and consumer electronics. CCA’s Graphic Design senior show page said seven students built thesis projects around the word “resist.” (2026.cca.edu) ### How did the MFA Fine Arts thesis exhibition fit into the week? May 1 through May 16 was the run of CCA’s 2026 MFA Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and the Deborah and Kenneth Novack Gallery, according to the school’s exhibition pages and newsroom release. CCA said the show brought together 19 artists working across painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, installation and textiles. (2026.cca.edu) Glen Helfand, a professor of Graduate Fine Arts, said in the school’s release that the artists were debuting work developed over two years. The public reception for that exhibition was scheduled for May 15 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., aligning it with the larger campus-wide graduation event. Gallery hours were listed as Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m., and admission was free. ### Were there other open studios and thesis events before the main showcase? (portal-dev-nlm.cca.edu) April 30 was the date of CCA’s 2D Programs Open Studios, according to the school’s graduation exhibitions calendar. That event ran from noon to 2:30 p.m. in the CCA Painting Studios and highlighted Painting & Drawing students. CCA’s calendar also listed Architecture Division Final Studio Conversations from April 30 through May 3, BFA and MFA film screenings on May 5, an Animation Senior Showcase at the Roxie on May 6, a Game Arts & Design Showcase on May 7 and May 8, and an MFA Design exhibition called “Silver Linings” on May 15. (cca.edu) The school’s exhibition hub presented those events as part of the Class of 2026 graduation season rather than a single one-night show. (2026.cca.edu) ### Where should readers look for schedules and remaining details? CCA’s 2026 Graduation Exhibitions page is the central schedule for the school’s thesis and showcase events. The page lists dates, venues and program-specific exhibition links for the Class of 2026, including the May 15 all-campus event and the MFA Fine Arts exhibition that remained on view through May 16. The school’s main events and exhibitions pages also direct visitors to current public programming in San Francisco. (2026.cca.edu) For this graduation cycle, CCA said admission to the major exhibitions was free, with RSVP links posted on the school’s event pages and Eventbrite listings. (cca.edu)