Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University

To everyone who came for Open Day 2026: thank you for the questions, the curiosity and the conversations. And to our students and staff who shared their ideas, experience and expertise - you made the day. ⭐️

At Gold Coast campus, we had Rachel Binuya (Design Honours) share their experiences in working on interior design client-led projects through our Livespace industry course while completing their undergraduate degree.

Also Joshua Boit (Product & User Experience Design major) presented his current ‘future helmet design’ project, detailing their user research and prototyping process. Each an emerging talent, we look forward to seeing them go from strength to strength.

If you know a young person in Year 11 & 12 considering further study, direct them to Head Start - this Griffith program gives students access to University-level courses for free, bolsters their ATAR, offers guaranteed admission and lets them gain credit before starting uni 🔥

If you are interested in learning more about pathways, scholarships and admissions, don’t hesitate to reach out. ✌🏼

Mark your calendars - it’s time to get ready for GRAD SHOW! ✨ 🔔 Join us as we celebrate the amazing talents of our graduating creatives.

Our Graduate Exhibitions showcase the work of students from the disciplines of Visual Arts, Design and Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art.

Come and witness the future of creative practice through the innovation and hard work of our graduates with their final projects.

📍 QCAD Gold Coast, G14, Parklands Drive, Southport, 4222
🗓️ Wednesday 21 October 2026
⏰ 6.00pm - 9.00pm

📍 QCAD South Bank, 226 Grey Street, 4101
🗓️ Thursday 22 October 2026
⏰ 6.00pm - 9.00pm

Free entry! 🎫

We can’t wait to show you the creative talents we have here at our Southbank and Gold Coast Campuses! 🌟

We have had a visit from street artist Peter Drew! This is a continuation of his ‘Aussie’ poster series, started in 2016, to challenge biases and assumptions about Australian national identity.

These posters can be seen at S02 building: the Webb Centre. They are 3 of approximately 5,000 posters- all hand printed and coloured by Drew- that have been put up across Australia since 2016.

Further information can be found in ABC’s article:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-27/street-artist-peter-drew-aussie-posters/106602092

Peter Drew

Discover what path your purpose can lead you to at Griffith’s Open Day on Sunday 9 August. 😍 Register now for interactive workshops, talks and campus tours. griffith.edu.au/open-day

Huge congratulations to QCAD alum Karla Marchesi, who has been announced the winner of The Gold Award 2026 at Rockhampton Museum of Art!

Established in 2012, the invitational award is Queensland's richest painting prize and this year was judged by QCAD Adjunct Professor Jenny Watson, who said that Karla's work "demonstrates a sophisticated contemporary practice that reaches across history, drawing on artistic traditions to create paintings that are both compelling and hypnotic. Having successfully navigated the significant transition of relocating to Europe, she has continued to build an impressive international career while maintaining a distinctive artistic voice."

We're absolutely thrilled to have Karla joining us this Thursday 16 July for our next Pep Talk so that we can celebrate with her in person!

https://events.humanitix.com/pep-talks-conversations-with-alumni-karla-marchesi

Don't miss your chance to hear from the *award-winning* Karla Marchesi before she heads back to Berlin! Head to the link in our bio to secure your spot in the audience!

Meet Kuweni Dias Mendis - a current QCAD MPhil student and now The Churchie Emerging Art Prize 2026 finalist. 👏

Kuweni’s research reimagines the figure of the priestess while exploring Sri Lanka’s endangered ritual heritage. She investigates how art can function as a living archive that reactivates relationships between body, land, memory and community, without losing the cultural and spiritual integrity of these traditions.

Congratulations to Kuweni for being one of only 17 finalists in this year’s ‘the churchie.’ We can’t wait to see where your study and practice continue to take you! 🎉





Image: Temple, 2024. Natural pigments, oil paint on canvas, 520 x 210 cm.

Swipe to meet our 3 QCAD alumni who are among just 17 finalists selected from 550 national entries in the churchie emerging art prize 2026. 👏✨

Alannah Dair

‘Opening through steel, a knowing in skin - iteration II, 2024. Spandex, surgical forceps, safety pins, metal hardware, metal wire, LED lights, lead weights. ‘Black Bile,’ 2024. Engine oil, iron oxide, magnets, motors, proximity sensor, arduino uno. Project Space, The University of Sydney.

Portrait image credit: Zarni Kuniead Tun.
Installation image credit: Terence- Kent Ow.

Rosemary Tamas-Cao

‘Squat Tossed (still),’ 2025. Vietnamese rice paper and artificial pandan extract, dimensions variable.

Portrait Image credit: Andrew Willis
Installation Image credit: Louis Lim

Anna Weston

‘Unsettled Landscape’ (detail), 2026. Solvent transfer and watercolour pencil on repurposed paper scroll, 75 x 188cm.

Images courtesy of the artist

The finalists’ exhibition opens 6-8 pm 24 July and continues till 8 August at Metro Arts, West End, with a $55,000 prize pool up for grabs.

Congratulations to these three artists! 👏

Supervisor Spotlight✨ Dr Laini Burton is taking on new Honours & Postgrad students!

Now is your chance to work with a leader in the field. 20+ years at the cutting edge of Visual Arts research, spanning identity politics, masking and masquerade, bio-art and design, fashion theory, performance, and body/spatial relations.

Ready to start your research journey? Reach out to Laini directly: [email protected] ✉️

📣 BIG NEWS! We are absolutely thrilled to announce that CAIA Honours graduate and Yanyuwa/Garrwa artist Chelsea Carkeet has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious Hatched: National Graduate Show 2026 at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts ! ✨

Chelsea’s incredible work features in ’s article, ‘Hatched at Pica: launching Australia’s next generation of artists,’ published this week to profile this year’s cohort.

QCAD is proud to support Chelsea as they travel to Perth in late July for the exhibition opening, artist talks, and professional development forums. The national winner will be announced at the opening night - stay tuned! 🤞

A beautiful bonus: The hero image for Hatched 2026 features work by fellow Griffith BVA graduate and 2025 finalist, Rosemary Tamas-Cao . It’s always great to see Griffith grads on the national stage!

Huge congratulations to Chelsea, and a massive shoutout to the CAIA leadership team- Rae Cooper and Warraba Weatherall - and all the staff continuing to nurture and produce visual arts graduates of the highest quality.

Photograph credit: Kahlia Henry and Finnian Mullen