The Greater Columbus: The 2026 Visual Arts Fellowship Exhibition ran from April 15 through September 20, 2026, at the Columbus Museum of Art. The biennial collaboration highlights six Central Ohio artists who received the Greater Columbus Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship, showcasing innovative practices in sculpture, photography, textiles, installation, video, and sound.
Celebrating Central Ohio’s Creative Vanguard
The 2026 Visual Arts Fellowship Exhibition put this local vitality front and center. According to the Columbus Museum of Art, the exhibition featured six distinct creators: Malcolm Cochran, Yusef Ferguson, Dana Lynn Harper, Marcus Jackson, Michelle Stitzlein, and Bradley Weyandt.
These artists are deeply embedded in the region’s cultural ecosystem. They serve as participants in local craft organizations, graduates and professors at the Columbus College of Art and Design and The Ohio State University, and previous awardees of the Ohio Arts Council and Greater Columbus Arts Council. Their work captures the pulse of Columbus while bridging connections to global events, migrations, and evolving visual cultures.
“With our partners at the Greater Columbus Arts Council, we are proud to support these six Central Ohio Artists,” said Brooke A. Minto, Executive Director of the Columbus Museum of Art, emphasizing the profound depth and diversity of the local arts community.
A Rigorous Blind-Review Selection Process
A jury of distinguished arts professionals working outside the region evaluated submissions for the 2025 Visual Arts Fellowship to choose the final group. According to the Columbus Museum of Art, the blind-review panel included Anthony Graham, Senior Curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Maddie Klett, Associate Director of the Ortuzar art gallery in New York, New York; and Antoinette Roberts, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Baltimore Art Museum.
Established in 1986, the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Visual Arts Fellowship program has spent decades supporting hundreds of creators across disciplines ranging from visual arts and crafts to film, video, creative writing, music composition, and choreography.
Inside the Studios and Public Programming
Bringing audiences closer to the creative engine, the museum paired the physical exhibition with the Greater Columbus Up Close program series. Curated in dialogue with Rae Root, CMA’s Roy Lichtenstein Curatorial Fellow and curator of the exhibition, the Thursday evening series gave visitors a rare chance to hear directly from the artists while surrounded by their work.
The lineup featured intimate artist talks spanning the summer months, starting with Malcolm Cochran on May 28, followed by Bradley Weyandt on June 4, Marcus Jackson on July 2, Michelle Stitzlein on July 23, Dana Lynn Harper on August 13, and Yusef Ferguson on September 10.
Among the fellows, Marcus Jackson balances a literary career with visual artistry. Jackson is an award-winning poet whose poems and photographs have appeared in publications like The American Poetry Review, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine. He directs the creative writing MFA at Ohio State and released his second book of poems, Pardon My Heart, through Northwestern University Press in 2018, alongside a street portraits and poetry collection titled Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices.
Meanwhile, fellow exhibitor Michelle Stitzlein works out of a former grange hall in Baltimore, Ohio, transforming repurposed materials once bound for landfills into large-scale sculptures. Her practice reflects a focus on environmental stewardship and a deep appreciation for the tactile flaws of handmade textiles, supported by honors including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and individual excellence grants from the Ohio Arts Council.
