Two Cranbrook Alumni Selected for Made in VA Biennial 2026
aaron (Thompson), Baseline, 2025. Courtesy of the artist.
Cranbrook alumni aaron (Aaron Thompson, MFA 2D Design 2026) and Harrison Moenich (MFA Photography 2016) were both selected for Made in VA Biennial 2026 at Virginia MOCA. The museum received a record 800 applications this year; only 66 artists were accepted.
aaron works across painting, sculpture, and found materials, examining history, identity, and the structures of anti-Black racism from a Southern perspective. His work reimagines everyday objects as vessels of memory and resilience. In addition to his practice, aaron has taught youth in Richmond’s Mosby Court community and undergraduates at Wayne State University.
Moenich’s newest body of work, Q.M.C., documents the rise of the Queer Moto Club in Richmond. A piece from the series, titled Z, appeared this year in Queer Conscience 2026 at The Image Flow Photography Center in San Anselmo, California. They also manages photography arts and media equipment at the University of Richmond’s Department of Art & Art History
Made in VA Biennial 2026 will be on view September 11, 2026 through March 21, 2027 at Virginia MOCA’s new building in Virginia Beach. The exhibition’s top prize, the Goode Award, carries a $10,000 award and a solo exhibition at Virgina MOCA’s 2028 biennial.
Learn more:
Made in VA Biennial 2026 -Virginia MOCA
