The Skinny Degree Show 2026 Magazine

At the end of each May, The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show stops the city in its tracks. More than just an annual exhibition of graduating students’ work, Degree Show has become a defining moment in the Scottish arts calendar. For ten days, the studios transform into a huge public gallery of art, design, architecture and innovation and are the meeting point where our emerging talent collides with the city’s makers, industry, gallerists, and the curious public in a unique celebration of Glasgow’s creative DNA.

What truly makes the GSA special, though, is what happens after the lights go down. A large number of GSA graduates choose to stay right here in the city after graduation. They put down roots. They open studios, businesses, start collectives, lead community projects, and quietly drive the city’s cultural engine. The energy you feel at Degree Show extends well beyond the physical run of the show; it ripples outward for years as these globally connected graduates continue to shape Glasgow’s cultural and creative identity. They ensure the city’s creative network stays dense, engaged and alive.

This student-led supplement of The Skinny is a love letter to the collaboration and creativity which takes shape within the School. It serves as both a survey and a guide to a fraction of the incredible output from the graduating class of the GSA’s four specialist schools: Mackintosh School of Architecture, School of Fine Art, School of Design, and School of Innovation and Technology.

Our writing team, comprising third-year students, brings an insider’s eye to the techniques, the people, and the stories behind the work. What they reveal here are threads that weave between disciplines and through the exhibition: reinvention, material culture, landscape, health and wellbeing, and the sheer power of ideas to inspire, comfort, and challenge. Civic responsibility runs deep through the themes, with a push to amplify marginalised voices and for urgent, creative solutions to the societal challenges we all face. Whether you’re exploring the physical galleries across the Garnethill campus or taking a deep dive into our immersive digital showcase – you’re bound to find something that resonates.

The Skinny Degree Show Magazine Student Writing Team are: 

• Omnia Ghanem
• Phoebe Wells
• AJ Glover
• Sarah Kefford
• Riley Coombes
• Sam Riddy
• Lynne Mckay
• Emily Weaver
• Anya Lunny

Thank you to The Skinny editorial team, and all the students who spoke about their work so beautifully.