From a new airport terminal where local art takes flight to the 59th Carnegie International, the city's creative energy shines brighter than ever.

While Pittsburgh prepares to host landmark events, including the NFL Draft and America's 250th anniversary, the true showstopper for visitors will be the city's vibrant and rapidly evolving arts scene. With an inspiring lineup of global exhibitions and innovative experimental projects from homegrown talent, the 2026 arts and cultural calendar offers UK travellers the definitive reason to plan a trip.

59th Carnegie International (2 May 2026 – 3 January 2027 | Carnegie Museum of Art)

At the heart of Pittsburgh's creative calendar is the 59th Carnegie International, the longest-running exhibition of international art in North America, organised every four years by Carnegie Museum of Art, and among the world's most prestigious recurring art exhibitions. Curated by Ryan Inouye, Danielle A. Jackson, and Liz Park, the Kathe and Jim Patrinos Curators of the 59th Carnegie International, this highly anticipated edition brings together new commissions, existing works, and site-specific installations that transform both the museum and the city itself into a playground for global creativity. It will be the most collaborative and far-reaching edition to date - a clear expression of the museum's founding commitment to the art and artists of our time, at once grounded in Pittsburgh's locality and extending globally.

Art Takes Flight at The New Pittsburgh International Airport Terminal (Opened November 2025)

Following a $1.7 billion investment and five-years in the making, from the moment visitors land in Pittsburgh, they'll get their first taste of the city's creative spirit inside the new state-of-the-art airport terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport. More than 80 percent of the art and cultural installations throughout the new facility come from local artists and organisations, offering travelers an immersive welcome that reflects the region's innovation, craftsmanship, and cultural pride.

Arts Landing: A New Cultural Waterfront (Soft Launch: April 2026; Grand Opening: June 2026 | Cultural District)

A four-acre destination in the heart of the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Arts Landing will offer a vibrant and welcoming hub of art, recreation and urban beauty. Designed as a multi-use venue featuring a sprawling great lawn that embraces the Allegheny River and the iconic Three Sisters Bridges, a sculptural bandshell for live performances, a lush Garden Walk setting the stage for public art installations, a family-friendly play area and more, Arts Landing adds yet another layer to Pittsburgh's already dynamic arts ecosystem. 

Celebrating 25 Years of Glowing Art with the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2 February - 19 April 2026)

The Pittsburgh Glass Center (PGC) marks its 25th anniversary, celebrating a quarter-century of growing a vibrant community of local and relocated glass artists. The celebration features the exhibition Gathered Locally – 25 years of Glass Art at Pittsburgh Glass , which spotlights the many glass artists who currently live and create in the city. Following this, Gathering Glass: A Fine Intoxication (1 May - 31 July 2026) will document the career of PGC co-founder and preeminent Pennsylvania glass artist Kathleen Mulcahy and will also feature works from late co-founder Ron Desmett. Visitors can also experience molten glass in motion during HOT Jam, a free  live glassblowing demonstration held on the first Friday of every month.

Beyond the International, the year's lineup of exhibitions is packed with fresh perspectives and must see shows  across the city as Pittsburgh becomes a citywide canvas:

• Sharmistha Ray: Emergent Realities (12 December 2025 – 5 July 2026 | Wood Street Galleries)

Cosmic visuals? Check. Mind-bending time loops? Check. Grammy-winning original score by Arooj Aftab? Double-check. Step inside Ray's three-channel animation where ecology, memory, and the cosmos collide in one exhibition.

• Michael Zagaris: 60 Years of NFL Photography (17 April – 8 November 2026 | 707 Gallery)

Go beyond the game-day hype. Zagaris's candid, behind-the-scenes photography chronicles six decades of professional football through a cultural lens.

• Carnegie Mellon School of Art MFA Exhibition 2026 (13 February – 12 April, 2026 | SPACE Gallery)

A showcase of boundary-pushing work from emerging artists shaping the next era of creativity. Catch emerging voices before everyone else does—it's raw, fresh, and distinctly Pittsburgh.

• Lewis Hine Pictures America (21 February – 17 May 2026 | The Frick Pittsburgh)

See over seventy rare photographs from the “father of documentary photography.” Featuring iconic imagery of Ellis Island immigrants, child laborers, Pittsburgh's steel industry, and the Empire State Building, this exhibition is a powerful reminder of America's past and progress.

• French Moderns (20 June – 11 October 2026 | The Frick Pittsburgh)

Showcasing over 60 masterpieces from Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Degas, and others who defined modernism, this exhibition captures France as modernism's epicenter and highlights the movements that reshaped nineteenth- and twentieth-century art worldwide.