Chroma
Friday, May 15, 3–7 p.m.
CCAD campus, 60 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH
Join Columbus College of Art & Design for 2026 Chroma: Best of CCAD, our annual campuswide exhibition showcasing outstanding student work from across the college’s academic programs. This faculty-juried show features select work from CCAD students of all class years, and is a can’t-miss end-of-year campus celebration recognizing their tremendous achievements.
It’ll be a night of fun and entertainment, with interactive games, animation and film screenings, art symposiums, poetry and prose readings, and more (along with some of the best local food trucks).
Chroma is free and open to all.
Featured Events
History of Art & Visual Culture Symposium
3–4 p.m. | Canzani Center, Auditorium
Students present a range of art and design history topics and projects, along with recognition of the Gertrude Prize of Art History Winner.
Red Wheelbarrow Reading & Botticelli Launch
4–5 p.m. | Canzani Center, Screening Room
Hear poetry and prose by CCAD students, including winners of this year’s Creative Writing Awards. Copies of the newest issues of the creative writing publication Botticelli will be available.
Animation Best of Student Work Screening
5–6 p.m. | Canzani Center, Auditorium
A 45-minute program of selected animated short films from CCAD Animation students.
Film & Video Best of Student Work Screening
6–7 p.m. | Canzani Center, Screening Room
Selected works from CCAD Film & Video students, including films and film posters.
Experience the energy, creativity, and innovation of tomorrow’s leading artists and designers—don’t miss this exciting lineup of student work that celebrates bold voices and fresh perspectives.
AnimationDesign Studios on Broad: first floor | Comics & Narrative PracticeKinney Hall: lobby, main-floor hallways | Fashion DesignDesign Studios on Broad: second-floor hallways |
Film & VideoKinney Hall: top floor | Fine ArtsJoseph V. Canzani Center: first floor, Beeler Gallery Design Studios on Broad: first- and second-floor galleries Kinney Hall: bottom floor | First-Year ExperienceDesign Studios on Broad: second-floor hallways |
Game Art & DesignDesign Studios on Broad: first floor | Graphic DesignLoann Crane Center for Design: third floor | IllustrationKinney Hall: main-floor hallways and classroom walls Joseph V. Canzani Center: second floor |
Interior Architecture & DesignLoann Crane Center for Design: second floor | PhotographyJoseph V. Canzani Center: Beeler Gallery, atrium Kinney Hall: third floor | Product DesignLoann Crane Center for Design: second floor |
Chroma Worthy Student-Work
FINE2207 Final Project
Elke Brann
Portrait
Dennis Parker
Prose Airport Kiosk
Maggie Yost
Black Squirrel
Keira Ordonio
Gesture Sketches
Susana Antunes
Incohorent Still Life
Ashley Chase
Characters in Environment
Lee Sambas
Gumroad App
Seeun Do
The Promotion
Jane Steele
FINE2207 Final Project
Elke Brann
2026
Acrylic on Oil and Canvas
Portrait
Dennis Parker
2028
Digital Photography
Prose Airport Kiosk
Maggie Yost
2026
Digital Drawing
Black Squirrel
Keira Ordonio
2028
Pen and Ink
Gesture Sketches
Susana Antunes
In animation, understanding the shapes, forms, and volumes of the characters you're working with is an integral foundation for every animator. Cafe Sketch prepares us for this with these 30s-2min sketches of both animal and human figures. My process began with sketching out around 10-20 different poses and angles of a specific animal in pencil. Once I became comfortable with the shape and volume, I would advance my gestures into ink, really monopolizing my strokes to capture the essence and character of the gesture.
2026
Ink
Incohorent Still Life
Ashley Chase
This artwork was made in the course "What Can a Drawing Do." The objective of the project was to study the silhouette of a nonsensical still life, draw its outline, and then make it into a finished piece. This exercise not only shows how whitespace and abstract shapes can come together to form a non-objective composition, but also demonstrates how artistic choices —what is added or taken away— are what determine the unique mood of the work.
2028
Graphite, Colored Pencils
![A still life coloring created by Ashley Chase, an undergraduate in [Program Name] at CCAD.](https://ccad-website.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/art/Core-FY-Experience/3.-FYEX-Ashley-Chase-Incoherent-Still-Life-2.jpg?w=1220&q=90&auto=format&fit=min&dm=1761753044&s=eb2e12bacdccfc103c68ef737ccfda3b)
Characters in Environment
Lee Sambas
This piece was created in my sophomore year for an assignment about historical narrative illustration. I chose to depict the famous tale of Emperor Ai of Han and his lover, "The Passion of the Cut Sleeve". The tale's relevance as a famous queer anecdote has stuck with me ever since I first read it, which is what moved me to illustrate it for this assignment. I focused primarily on the drapery throughout the scene, as well as populating the environment in a believable and visually engaging way.
2027
Digital Illustration
Gumroad App
Seeun Do
The Gumroad app design makes a new education sub-brand by breaking the tutorial section of the Gumroad website into smaller categories. The existing website has many different items, which made it hard to find what you were looking for, so this app was made to help users who are interested in tutorials find and explore content more easily. It includes tutorials from different fields and uses friendly characters and an easy-to-use interface to improve the user experience.
2026
Digital
The Promotion
Jane Steele
The Promotion was created during the second semester of my sophomore year, and was my first opportunity to make a longer animation entirely of my own design. I wanted to create an absurd satire of American work culture by sending a character on an increasingly strange and treacherous quest for a slight paycheck bump. I intentionally left a lot of details unexplained or intentionally misleading to add to the absurdity of the setting. The horror isn't all that he has to go through; it's the fact that he can't afford to give up.
2027
2D Animation
