American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center

05/17/2026

It’s curtains on our Spring ‘26 shows!

Today from 11 AM to 4 PM is your last chance to see the wonderful works of the Weber collection, the contemplative pieces of our AU MFA candidates, the fantastical sculptures of Joan Danziger, and Sandy Walker’s monumental woodblock prints!

We’ll be back on June 13 with all new shows for spring— stay tuned for sneak peeks!

05/15/2026

✨Ryan Kennedy—AU MFA Spotlight 🔦

“Body as form / Body as concept / Body as system / Body as meaning / Body as self”

Artist Ryan Kennedy critically evaluates the individual through an aesthetic investigation of the body. In his work, the body becomes a site where systems of meaning and value may be critiqued.

Kennedy’s repetition of the illustrated human form strips it of its individuality, and questions the role that systems play on the individual. ✂️The act of cutting creates a critical shift; by physically cutting the paper, the artist transforms both the image and individual.

See Ryan Kennedy's work in "If That Makes Sense" —on view through May 17! 📅
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Studio photo of Ryan Kennedy. Installation photograph of Ryan Kennedy’s work, 2026. 📸 Greg Staley. Ryan Kennedy, [138, 67.5] (detail), 2026. Graphite on paper, 730 x 60 in. Some images altered for social media.

05/14/2026

Only a few more days to see the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center's spring exhibitions! ⏳

Five exhibitions are on view now, including work by this year's AU Studio Art MFA graduates, two fantastical exhibitions by Joan Danziger, monumental woodblock prints, and highlights from a sprawling collection of local art.

Visit through May 17, Wednesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Learn more and plan your visit: https://bit.ly/3uMmvka

🎨 Sheila Godlock works on view in "Humanist Touch: Works from the Weber Collection" (left to right): "Interstellar Travelers," 2024. Paper clay, fabric (mixed media), 25 x 9 x 6 in.; "Taaaa Daaaa!," 2024. Paper clay, fabric, aluminum wire, acrylic paint, yarn, 18 x 6 x 4 in.; "I Have Arrived," 2024. Paper clay, fabric, aluminum wire, acrylic paint, yarn, 18 x 6 x 4 in.

📷: Greg Staley

05/14/2026

✨Lexi Moser—AU MFA Spotlight 🔦

Raised in New Buffalo, Michigan, Lexi Moser is an oil painter whose work critiques societal apathy, stagnation, and antagonism through the catalyst of fossilization. For "If That Makes Sense", the AU MFA thesis exhibition, she creates speculative worlds where memory, fear, and human ambition are unearthed like artifacts from a distant future.

“In the fossil beds dreaming of the excavation—we hope to find all ever born, conceived, theorized, and foretold.” 🦴

Blending poetic narrative with haunting imagery, Moser’s work reflects on what remains after meaning fades and history fractures under “temporal indifference.”

See Lexi Moser 's work in "If That Makes Sense" —on view through May 17! 📅
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Studio photo of Lexi Moser. Installation Photo of Lexi Moser's work, 2026. 📸 Greg Staley.
Lexi Moser, Bioclaustration (detail), 2026. Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Courtesy of the artist.

05/13/2026

✨Rob Balsewich—AU MFA Spotlight 🔦🎶

Rob Balsewich invites you to transform his work from a static arrangement of objects into a shared, collective experience.

"Drums and percussion embody the primal, universal rhythm present within all life forms. This innate rhythm drives the way we think, breathe, move, and connect. Through this interactive installation, I unite my identities as an artist and musician and invite others to play, experiment, improvise, and discover the transformative effects of rhythm, sound, resonance, vibration, and community. Inspired by the camaraderie and resourcefulness of underground music scenes, I construct custom instruments from reclaimed, secondhand, and locally-sourced materials. ♻️ I prioritize accessible components, seeking to circumvent traditional notions of 'expertise' and shift the focus from industrial production to the creative potential of the discarded.

Acting as a catalyst, I use this installation to break down the artist/audience barrier, democratizing the artmaking process through improvised performance and collaboration. Viewers of the installation become participants as they use provided artist-made drumsticks to experiment musically, transcending the artwork’s meaning from the objects themselves to the collective experience they facilitate. Ultimately, MID-E serves as a tangible critique of consumer waste and social hierarchy, transforming the act of music-making into a communal reclamation of spaces and shared experiences, where everyone is invited to participate."

See Rob Balsewich's work in "If That Makes Sense", the AU Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, on view until this Sunday, May 17! 📅
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Studio photo of Balsewich. MID-E (Modular Interactive Drum Ensemble), 2026. HVAC duct fittings, tape, sheet metal, wood, latex, and found objects, d.v. Installation photos of Rob Balsewich's work in "If That Makes Sense", 2026. 📸 Greg Staley.

05/12/2026

Have you ever noticed the two glass cases just outside the museum?

This exhibition space was created in collaboration with the James Renwick Alliance for Craft. Through this partnership, the AU Museum highlights a rotating selection of sculpture, pottery, glass, wood work, and jewelry by upcoming and established contemporary artists.

Explore new works by Catherine O’Sullivan in JRA space this week!
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Catherine O’Sullivan, Untitled, 2025. Wool and Kozo paper, linen thread, earth pigments, mineral dyes, wet felted, hand-stitched, dyed and painted.
Catherine O’Sullivan, Untitled, 2025. Wool and Kozo paper, linen thread, earth pigments, mineral dyes, wet felted, hand-stitched, dyed and painted.
Catherine O’Sullivan, Untitled, 2025. Wool and Kozo paper, linen thread, earth pigments, mineral dyes, wet felted, hand-stitched, dyed and painted.

05/10/2026

⏰ Final week alert! Our Spring ’26 Exhibition Cycle closes in just ONE WEEK! Last chance to:

✅ Step into the dreamlike "Wonderful World of Joan Danziger"
✅Explore over 80 works from the DMV art community in "Humanist Touch: Works from the Weber Collection"
✅Discover bold new work from AU MFA Studio Art candidates in "If That Makes Sense"
✅Experience Sandy Walker’s nature-inspired monumental woodblock prints in "Out of Green Mansions"

Don’t miss your chance to see these incredible shows before 🪄 they're gone!

Exhibitions close Sunday, May 17.

05/09/2026

GALLERY TALK TODAY!
If That Makes - the AU MFA Studio Arts Thesis Exhibition

🗓️Saturday, May 9th
⏰2:00- 3:00pm
📍AU Museum

*no parking available in the Katzen Art Center garage on this day

05/08/2026

✨Sarah Bell Wilson—AU MFA Spotlight 🔦👁️

"My large-scale canvases consist of thousands of small black and white oil paint marks that accumulate to form landscapes. From a distance, they often appear abstract but gradually resolve into recognizable landscape forms as the marks interact. Each work begins when I experience something in a landscape by chance that holds my attention. These paintings translate the impermanence of a moment into form through focused looking and meticulous mark making.

By restricting my palette to grayscale tones, I reduce the landscape into its most fundamental elements: light, value, and texture. Marks vary from precise directional lines to dense passages, obscuring and revealing form. From a distance, the collective marks may resolve into a recognizable environment. Upon closer inspection, the image dissolves into a record of the hand.

I emphasize the expansiveness of the sublime to reflect the persistence of an experiential gaze. Each painting serves as an immersive record of time and attention, transforming a momentary observation into a monumental experience."

See Sarah Bell Wilson's work in If That Makes Sense, the AU Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition on view until May 17! 📅
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Studio photo of Sarah Bell Wilson. Sarah Bell Wilson, No. 1, 2026. Oil on canvas, 96 x 72 x 4 in. Installation photo of Sarah Bell Wilson's work in "If That Makes Sense", 2026. 📸 Greg Staley.

05/07/2026

✨📸 Austin Remetta—AU MFA Artist Spotlight 🔦

"The concept of the 'Suburban Dream' was sold as an escape from the city into more spacious living conditions. However, in its actualization, it has become a landscape of uniform buildings and repeated landmarks. The dense urban core of cities gave way to a network of sprawling roads, single-family homes, and shopping centers. 🏠

My work documents these nondescript, repeated places to highlight a growing crisis of personal connection. The American environment has developed in a way that has transformed once-unique spaces into what anthropologist Marc Augé calls “non–places.” Commercial zones and transitory spaces are so ubiquitous that any sense of individuality or cultural significance is lost.

Within this work, I aim to expose the unnatural beauty within the banal nature of these spaces that often go overlooked. My process is intentionally slow. Working in a mix of large- and medium-format film, I am required to spend more time than most would in these places.

I gain a different perspective of my subject matter by traveling to these places on foot, which are within a quarter mile of my home. When I go out to photograph, I encounter the stark reality of a world developed for cars, often at the expense of human safety and social cohesion. 🚗

We have traded our communal connections for expediency and isolation during the commute.

My photographs in this series serve as a visual documentary of the placelessness that has begun to define modern existence. They capture a world where the infrastructure, designed to move us forward, has only begun to leave us more isolated from one another than ever before."

See Austin Remetta’s work in "If That Makes Sense", the AU Master of Fine Arts Studio Art thesis exhibition, on view through May 17! 📅
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Studio photo of Austin Remetta. Installation photo of Remetta's work in "If That Makes Sense", 2026. 📸 Greg Staley. Austin Remetta, 38°57'54.4"N 77°06'15.7"W, 2026. Archival pigment print from medium format fil, 22 x 28 inches.

05/06/2026