Tribeca, New York
Group Exhibition
2026 Chubb Fellows Exhibition
New York Academy of ArtKorbyn Carleton Sierra Merda Andréa Olivia The New York Academy of Art presents the 2026 Chubb Fellows Exhibition, spotlighting new work by Korbyn Carleton, Sierra Merda, and Andréa Olivia. Now in its 18th year, the Chubb Fellowship is the Academy's most prestigious postgraduate award, given annually to three outstanding MFA graduates or alumni. Chubb Fellows receive studio accommodations and a stipend, as well as opportunities including exhibitions and professional development. The fellows participate in the Chubb Lounge at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2026. This year's fellows have each developed a distinct visual language employing figurative art to investigate memory, identity, defiance, and body autonomy. Korbyn Carleton (b. 1997, Maryland) is an interdisciplinary artist with a background in Special EYects Makeup, whose current work focuses on modern women's lack of body literacy and the eYects that come from our divorce from the natural rhythms of life. She completed the Certificate of Fine Arts at the New York Academy of Art in 2019 and graduated with the Masters of Fine Arts from the Academy in 2024. While at the Academy, Carleton received the Martha and Walter Erlebacher Award, the Jeannie Rose & John L. Weinberg Scholarship, Exhibitions Scholarship, and the Sculpture Scholar Award. Carleton was awarded the Newington Cropsey Foundation Fellowship for 2023–2024. Sierra Merda (b. 1991, Lithuania) is a painter and draftsperson currently based in New York City. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with showcases in the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and across the United States. Rooted in London's feminist punk, DIY, and underground scenes, she earned her B.A. in Painting & Drawing from the University of Northampton in 2013 and was awarded her M.F.A. in Painting (Anatomy Track) from the New York Academy of Art in 2025, where she received the Martha & Walter Erlebacher Award and the Chubb Fellowship (2025–2026). She was the recipient of the 2017 Arts Council UK Arts Grant for Artists and has been featured in Forum Gallery, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, and Fulham Town Hall. Her work reinterprets classical ideals through a feminist lens, merging and subverting historical iconography with the emotional realities of contemporary life. Andréa Olivia (b. 1991) is an oil painter with a background in illustration. She completed the Certificate of Fine Arts at the New York Academy of Art in 2023 and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from the Academy in 2025. Her work explores themes of identity, African American culture, and the Black transgender experience, often drawing from childhood, music, and storytelling traditions. Olivia's work has been exhibited throughout NYC and in Denmark at the Art Herning Art Fair in Copenhagen and Forum Gallery, The Living Gallery, and Sotheby's in New York.