Teen Art Show: Butterfly Effect
The CAC’s Teen Council invites young adults, ages 13-19 to submit original 2D and 3D artwork for a collaborative exhibition in the museum’s Community Gallery.
The pressure on teens to make “the right” choices can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. For many, this is the first moment of realizing how decisions shape not only the future, but the world around us. Butterfly Effect explores this pivotal stage of life, highlighting the many ways young adults wrestle with the choices placed before us and the impact those choices carry.
Work will be submitted digitally first by January 19, 2026. Artists will be notified if their work is accepted by January 26. Accepted work must be dropped off in-person Jan 29- February 1. The opening celebration will take place on February 21, 2026 from 1-3pm. 2-D work can be printed by the CAC if requested. The Teen Art Show is an exhibit curated by teens and featuring work made by young adults. You must be ages 13-19 to submit a work.
Contemporary Young Adults (C-YA) is a collective of 15 high school students who work within the CAC, providing insight on how to better engage the museum’s ever-growing teen audience.
The 10x10 Teen Art Expo is a week-long art exhibition featuring a selection of more than 100 teen artists from the greater Cincinnati region. The challenge? Create a piece of art measuring 10 x10 inches that reflects the theme chosen by the 10x10 Teen Volunteer Team. Artworks selected by the team will be displayed in the Marek-Weaver Family Commons on the museum’s ground floor from April 14-19, 2026. Participants are invited to an opening party planned by the team on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
The Cincinnati Art Museum invites all regional 7–12 grade students to create a 10-inch-by-10-inch artwork interpreting the theme “Connection.”
What makes you feel connected? Who are you connected to, and how? What connections do you have with the world around you? These could be your personal connections or ones you observe. We want to see your unique interpretation of the theme in a 2D medium of your choice, whether that’s painting, drawing, mixed media, illustration, printmaking, or something else!
Artwork submissions must be received digitally by February 20, 2026. Selected artworks will be displayed at the museum April 14–19, 2026.
$2,550 in cash awards! This regional show is part of our Pollinators Project, a celebration of pollinator gardening held at The Barn in Mariemont, Ohio. Entries close February 6, 2026. Awards given in 3 categories: 2-D, 3-D and Photography. Subject matter must be flowers, gardens, fields, pollinator insects or birds. Online submission only. Event Sponsor: Wimberg Landscaping. Submission fee for the first entry is $35. The second entry is $10.01. Submission fees are not returnable. Both, one or none may be selected for the exhibit by our juror.
Accepted works will be notified by email, and artwork delivery is February 18 to The Barn, 6890 Cambridge Avenue, Mariemont, Ohio.