Columbus has a luminous new reason to visit downtown: the Columbus Museum of Art has just opened Queer Constellations: Photographs from the Aronowitz Family Collection, a sweeping celebration of photography, connection and artistic lineage. The exhibition opened on Friday, October 16, 2026, and remains on view through March 21, 2027, at the museum at 480 East Broad Street.
The show brings together more than 150 works by more than 75 artists, and it celebrates a transformative gift of more than 50 photographs from the Columbus-based Aronowitz family, expanded with about 100 additional works drawn from the family’s broader collection. Co-curated by Vince Aletti and Kaitlin Booher, CMA’s Associate Curator of Photography, it is presented as part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View.
Visitors will find beloved names alongside exciting discoveries, including Nan Goldin, Catherine Opie, Duane Michals, Peter Hujar, Lola Flash, John Edmonds and Paul Mpagi Sepuya. The museum notes that 37 of the artists in the gift were not previously represented in its collection, so the exhibition also marks a joyful expansion of the stories CMA can share for generations to come.
The title comes from Andrea Geyer’s Constellations series, which rephotographs and collages archival images into kaleidoscopic works about connection and visibility. In that same spirit, the photographs are installed in a warm, salon-style arrangement that recalls how people live with pictures at home — layered, overlapping and in conversation across time. Whether you are a photography devotee or simply looking for a beautiful afternoon in Columbus, this is a rich, welcoming exhibition to explore slowly and share.
Photo: Columbus Museum of Art, Aronowitz Family Collection
