The Annual Undergraduate Student Juried Exhibition is one of the most the most popular exhibitions at KCAC as it showcases young talent from across the region. The Exhibition is juried by a prominent local curator and offers cash awards to three students.
Exhibitions: Present, Future, Past
Here you’ll find what’s happening right now, what’s just around the corner, and ten years’ worth of shows that have made KCAC what it is today. Whether you’re here to see what’s fresh or to deep-dive into our archives, you’re in good company — we’re nerds for this stuff too.
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This is what’s up right now — the art you can actually stand in front of, breathe in (respectfully), and get lost in. If you’re local, consider this your cue to grab a friend and swing by. If you’re browsing from afar, we’ve got plenty of eye candy to tide you over until you can make the trip.
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Here’s your sneak peek into what’s coming next at KCAC. Think of it like looking over our shoulder while we hang the show — you’re in on the secret before the paint’s even dry. Mark your calendar now so you can be the person who says, “Oh, I saw that before it was cool.”
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This is where we stash the receipts — the last ten of 50 years’ worth of artists, shows, and ideas that have rolled through our galleries. It’s proof of just how much creative energy has pulsed through KCAC. Feel free to dig deep… you never know which artist you’ll spot before they hit the big leagues.
Current Exhibitions
Main Gallery, 31st Annual Undergraduate Student Juried Exhibition
Opening Reception and Award Ceremony: First Friday, April 3, 2026, from 5:00 – 8”00 PM
On View: March 20– May 1, 2026
Jurors select the most interesting, compelling, noteworthy, and highest quality artwork. from submissions made by currently enrolled undergraduate college students in Missouri and Kansas. The exhibition will occupy the Main Gallery KCAC; A variety of media will be represented, and viewers will be immersed in a panoply of diverse perspectives, approaches to art, colors, textures, and forms. The exhibition is an opportunity for students to be recognized as emerging artists in an established and professional art gallery, while introducing the collecting community to the artists who will be entering the arts scene over the next several years.
The 2026 Juror is Jessica Hong, Chief Curator at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, KCMO. Former senior curator of modern and contemporary art at Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, OH), Hong is a curator and cultural worker who has dedicated her practice to highlighting under-recognized narratives and stimulating generational change within institutional sites
The Leigh Rosenberg Earnest Memorial Fund awards a total of $2,250 in scholarships to exhibition participants , awarded by the juror and distributed in tiers of $1,000 $750 and $500.
Snap Space Gallery: Come Into My Heart by Sophia Gaeun Lee
In the Snap Space, Sophia Gaeun Lee presents Come Into My Heart, A multimedia exhibition of sound, sculpture, highlighting themes of identity, addressing and memorializing topics of heritage, cultural duality, religion, relationships, gratitude, and traditions. At a time when otherness is becoming something to fear instead of being celebrated, Lee is working to build out a multi-sensory experience for the viewer that opens their own heart to ideas and experiences that may be outside their own. This is Lee’s First Solo Exhibition
Upcoming Exhibitions
Past Exhibition Series
