Rain falls on Xiangshan; mist veils the river of the heart.

A covenant with lakes and mountains; the gates of learning open anew.

This year, 3,089 new students converge on the China Academy of Art. Taking mountains and waters as their realm, they sculpt the aspirations of the age. With youth as their companion, they head together toward the Academy’s centenary and embark on a new journey.

On the evening of September 11, the opening ceremony for the China Academy of Art’s 2026 incoming class was held at the Xiangshan Campus, where the new “CAAers” together began to unfold a new scroll of their lives. Shen Hao, Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Academy of Art, pinned university badges on representatives of the new students and presented them with cultural gifts such as paper, ink, brushes, and calligraphy copybooks. Yu Xuhong, President of the China Academy of Art, delivered a speech. Members of the university’s Party and administrative leadership team—Cao Xiaoyang, Han Xu, Chen Yujie, Xia Wenli, Feng Zhiguo, Gong Wei, Chen Zhengda, and Han Liang—as well as heads of teaching units and functional departments, attended the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Fu Qiaoling, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee.

The opening ceremony commenced amid the solemn strains of the national anthem.

Yu Xuhong extended a warm welcome to the 2026 incoming class. When the students received their admission letters, they also received a special gift—30 sketches as an assignment. This was not merely an assignment, but an invitation: the students are recorders of life, observers of the world, and creators of the times. In 19 months, the China Academy of Art will usher in its centenary. To study here for a few years and to encounter such a grand occasion—a once-in-a-century moment—is indeed an honor. Yu Xuhong delivered his speech around three themes: One Tree, One Landscape of Lakes and Mountains; One Community, One Ideal; One Path, One Way of Life.

Yu Xuhong remarked that life at CAA is a life in dialogue with the classics—a dialogue with the cultural heart of millennia amid the texture of xuan paper and countless ancient volumes. Life at CAA is a life rooted in the earth. “Going to the countryside for field sketching” is a cherished tradition, one that creates images of life, of the people, and of the times. Life at CAA is a life of a “university without walls.” This year’s graduation season saw 2,881 graduates present nearly 3,000 works, drawing 750,000 on-site visits and over 1.2 billion online views. Life at CAA is a life “oriented toward the future.” The Academy has proposed the “Two AIs” art education concept, advocating the parallel evolution of artistic intelligence and artificial intelligence.

Yu Xuhong said, “Our era is the AI era. No matter how powerful artificial intelligence becomes, it can never replace the sudden flutter of the heart when one faces a blank canvas. The more advanced AI becomes, the more important the power of art becomes. ”In 2028, the Academy will celebrate its centenary. As the centenary draws near, you, at this very time and place, have become new seeds beneath the Elaeocarpus trees. The seeds have taken root; what follows is the beginning of growth. I will think and act together with you all.”

Faculty representative，Xuan Xuejun mentioned that the Dutch scholar Johan Huizinga said in Homo Ludens that play is one of the most primordial activities of civilization, and that it is free and creative. He believes that this in fact also points to art—both art and play create worlds of their own, establishing new orders and new meanings. Art is an open world, like constantly unlocking new dungeons. Some are fun, some are very difficult, and some you don’t even know how to gain experience points from. It’s normal to feel lost, just as The Art of Failure says: failure is not a bug in the game, but a core mechanic. Artistic creation is the same—innovation always faces trial and error, negation, and starting over. Without failure, success has no weight; without setbacks, growth leaves no trace. He welcomed the new students to embark on new experiences, unlock new skills, and embrace their own “hands-on youth.”

Wu Jiongzhang, a student representative, recalled that during more than seven years at CAA he had gained many “unexpected things.” Under the philosophy of “taking the countryside as the academy,” he went into villages and truly felt that art can solve concrete problems and transform life. He offered his younger fellow students three pieces of advice: step into real-world settings and respond to real needs with your expertise; make good use of CAA’s platform and broaden your horizons in a multicultural environment; and cherish every day at CAA, for these ordinary days will become the foundation of your future creations.

Ma Ziqian, a representative of the incoming students, said that standing amid the lakes and mountains, she felt the steadiness of a long-cherished wish fulfilled, the nervousness of facing a new life, and, more wonderfully, a sense of belonging. A century is merely a comma; the new generation are the ones who will set pen to paper for the next full stop. From “Fight for Art” to the Academy’s motto—“Xingjian, Jujing, Huitong, Lüyuan” (Manner and Strength, Virtue and Reverence, Mastery and Openness, Experience and Vision)—what the new students receive is not only an admission letter but an artistic mission. She wished her fellow students to remain sincere and sensitive, to endure solitude before the canvas, and to stay true to their original hearts in creation.

More than 3,000 people attended the opening ceremony, including representatives of China Academy of Art alumni and guests, all 2026 undergraduates and graduate students, heads of teaching units and administrative departments, newly recruited faculty and staff members of 2026, all instructors participating in the military training for 2026 undergraduates, and parents who had traveled from afar. The ceremony concluded with all faculty and students singing the school anthem in unison.

CAA is a way of life! Amid the interplay of stirring music and dazzling lights, the curtain slowly rose on the 2026 New Student Welcome Gala.