Dancer in front of neon sign Dancer in front of neon sign

Public Programs

The Museum brings together artists, critics, writers, poets, and scholars to address key issues in contemporary art and culture through rigorous and provocative talks, conversations, debates, seminars, screenings, and readings in an informal setting.

Unless otherwise noted all events are free and open to the public.

The University Art Museum and the Performing Arts Center are located on the uptown campus of the University at Albany. 

Please check back soon for additional programming announcements.
 

 

Upcoming

REMIX/REBELLION: Noel W Anderson, Youth FX, and the Making of a Film

Thursday, April 2, 2026, 4:30pm 
University Art Museum 
Fine Arts Building 
Free parking in State Quad Student Parking Lot 

Join us for a film screening followed by a conversation with exhibiting artist Noel W Anderson and a collective of Youth FX filmmakers as they discuss their collaborative new film IYKYK (2026) premiering at the University Art Museum. Breaking boundaries in documentary filmmaking, the experimental work includes archival footage remixed with original scripted scenes filmed in the UAM during the exhibition Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence.

Youth FX worked with Anderson for two semesters, leaning into an emergent, trust-based, creative process to explore new cinematic language. The film reflects their personal and shared experiences, reimagining how cinema and visual art can coexist as tools for expression, resistance, and transformation.  

Noel W Anderson is an internationally recognized artist whose media include Jacquard tapestries, printmaking, and video.  Based in Albany’s South End, Youth FX provides film and digital media opportunities for young people ages 10-25 from across the capital region and around the world. 

People holding hands in a circle standing within the art museum.

2026

 

Select Saturday
Exhibition Tour Followed by Coffee Hour

Saturday, March 28, 2026
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm

Exhibition tour 12pm, coffee hour to follow
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Join us at noon for a curator-led tour, followed by coffee and snacks in our lobby. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany

overhead view of a display case full of archival materials

Noel W Anderson and Cara Manes in Conversation
Followed by Catalogue Launch

Thursday, March 12, 2026, 4:30pm 
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Free parking in State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for a conversation between exhibiting artist Noel W Anderson and Cara Manes, Associate Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York. In addition, we will be launching the exhibition catalogue for Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. The catalogue will be available for purchase and signing at the event. The event is free and open to the public.

print of a distorted dogon figure

Select Saturday

Saturday, February 28, 2026
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

Visitor standing in front of painting

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Art + Feminism 2026 

Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 11am – 4pm 
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Join us to make contributions to Wikipedia that directly relate to the University at Albany Fine Art Collections and the University Art Museum’s current and past exhibitions. 

To participate, please:

  1. Register for the Edit-a-thon. Walk-ins are welcome, but registration helps us plan seating.

  2. Sign up for a Wikipedia editor’s account.

  3. Check out this training video on how to edit Wikipedia entries where you’ll learn the basics for making your first successful contributions.

Co-sponsored by the University Libraries Climate Committee. 

Students working on laptops in front of tapestry work

Select Saturday

Saturday, January 31, 2026
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

Digitally woven tapestries hanging from the ceiling and on stretchers on the wall

2025

Echoes of the New World: The Making of a Video 

Thursday, November 6, 2025, 4:30pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in State Quad Student Parking Lot

 

Join us for a conversation with exhibiting artist Noel W Anderson and filmmaker and sound designer Solomon Bennett, led by filmmaker Bhawin Suchak, as they discuss the process, inspiration, and agency behind Anderson and Bennett’s video project Echoes of the New World (2025).

This 40-minute video is on view in the University Art Museum’s current exhibition Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Through appropriated and manipulated archival and cinema footage, the work offers visual meditations on the public struggle and endurance of Black life in America.

Noel W Anderson is an internationally recognized artist whose media include Jacquard tapestries, printmaking, and video. Solomon Bennett is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker, sound designer, and Foley artist whose work spans film, television, and experimental media. Bhawin Suchak is an educator and filmmaker, and is the co-founder and co-executive director of Youth FX, a nationally renowned media arts organization focused on empowering young people by teaching creative and technical skills in film and digital media. 

Person in a jacket and bucket hat in foreground. Projection of a basketball player dancing in the background.

Select Saturday and Fall Preview Day

Saturday, November 1, 2025
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum on this Select Saturday during Fall Preview Day to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

Noel W Anderson stellas ground

Homecoming Weekend and Exhibition Tours

Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18, 2025
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm, exhibition tour at 12pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Join us during Homecoming Weekend to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence, on view in the University Art Museum. Attend our exhibition tour led by Associate Curator Robert R. Shane. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

Tapestry of Lebron James

Great Dane Family Weekend

Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4, 2025
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum during Great Dane Family Weekend to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

referees reflection

Select Saturday

Saturday, September 27, 2025
Museum/CSS open 11am – 4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum on this Select Saturday during the Albany Book Festival to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence. Visit the Collections Study Space to view Romare Bearden & Ralph Ellison: From the Archive and to browse our Collections.

Noel W Anderson video still

Select Saturday

Saturday, September 6, 2025
Museum open 11am – 4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum on this Select Saturday to view Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence.

James Brown tapestry

Artist Walkthrough and Reception

Thursday, September 4, 2025, 5 – 7pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for an exhibition walkthrough of Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence led by the artist. Reception to follow.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany.

Artist Noel W Anderson installing tapestry

2025 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition Reception

Friday, May 9, 2025, 5 – 7 pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for a reception to celebrate the 2025 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. Light refreshments will be served.

Student talking with an artist in front of a large painting.

2025 M.A. Thesis Exhibition Reception

Friday, May 9, 2025, 5 – 7 pm
Gallery 223
Fine Arts Building, second floor
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join the Department of Art and Art History at Gallery 223 on the second floor of the Fine Arts Building, down the hall from the University Art Museum, to celebrate the 2025 M.A. Thesis Exhibition: Spectral Fictions.

MA 2025 Studio Art Students in the Gallery 223 space.

UAlbany Showcase

Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 11 am – 4 pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

As part of UAlbany’s Showcase Day, the University Art Museum will present the 2025 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. The Department of Art and Art History will also have work on view in the Fine Arts Building. For more information, please visit: albany.edu/ualbany-showcase

UAlbany Showcase Wednesday, April 30, 2025.

Saturday Hours, Exhibition Tour Followed by Coffee Hour

Saturday, March 29, 2025
Museum/CSS open 11am-4pm
Exhibition tour 12pm, coffee hour to follow
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum on Saturday, March 29, during the final week of our exhibition, History Lessons, and join us at noon for a curator-led tour, followed by coffee and snacks in our lobby. Visit the Collections Study Space to view more work from our Collections.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany

Open book with laser cut details on the right side.

Film screening and discussion with Director Luis Gispert and Film Editor/Producer Ryan Murphy: CAJITA

Saturday, March 29, 2025
3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Campus Center West Auditorium
Free and open to the public. No tickets required.
Director: Luis Gispert, USA | 2024 | 83 min

Film screening and discussion with director Luis Gispert and film editor/producer Ryan Murphy. Moderated by Alejandra Bronfman, Professor, Department of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o Studies.

This event is part of the New York State Writers Institute’s Albany Film Festival 2025 and is cosponsored by the University Art Museum. For a complete listing of events visit: https://www.albanyfilmfestival.org/.

The University Art Museum will be open Saturday, March 29, 11am to 4pm.

Inspired by a true story, this intimate tale follows a Cuban refugee with a murky past who now lives off the grid performing odd jobs for an upper-class family. After an unforeseen event forces him into a chancy situation, his best friend lays out a risky plan to help free him from his dangerous dilemma.

Luis Gispert is the director of CAJITA (2024) and an internationally recognized American visual artist living and working in New York. His work has been exhibited at institutions all over the world including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami; the Royal Academy, London, UK; MoCA Shanghai, China; Palazzo Brocherasio, Turin, Italy; and the Haifa Museum, Israel. Born in New Jersey to Cuban immigrant parents he was raised between New York City and Miami. He attended Miami Dade College, studied film at the Art Institute of Chicago, and earned an MFA in sculpture from Yale University.  

Ryan Murphy is the film editor and producer of CAJITA (2024), winner of Best U.S. Narrative Feature at the 2024 New York Latino Film Festival. As editor, he has collaborated with many leading directors, including Errol Morris, Michael Moore, Greg Mottola, Jason Reitman, Ben Stiller, Roger Waters, Tom McCarthy, and Ethan Coen. His work is featured in many notable films including STILLWATER (2021), SYRIANA (2015), THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (2013), and ADVENTURELAND (2009). He also served as the press kit photographer in promotion of the Beastie Boys’ 1998 Grammy award-winning album Hello Nasty.

Image credit: Still from CAJITA, dir. Luis Gispert, 2024, 83min.

Two figures on a lawn, one holding a wheelbarrow and the other stooped in front of a horse sculpture

Artist Talk with Kameelah Janan Rasheed

Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 4:30pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the State Quad Student Lot

Join us for a talk by interdisciplinary artist-educator and learner Kameelah Janan Rasheed. Rasheed explores themes of language, memory, and the production of Black knowledge through her large-scale text-based installations, videos, sound works, and drawings that interrogate historical narratives and archives.

Rasheed has had solo exhibitions at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; the Art Institute of Chicago; and Kunstverein Hannover, among other institutions, and her awards include a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship and 2022 Creative Capital grant. Additionally, she is the author of five artist books, founder of the consultant business and microgrant organization Orange Tangent Study, and founder of the digital archive Black Orbits.

Rasheed is one of the artists featured in the UAM’s exhibition History Lessons.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany

Image credit: Christopher Gregory for The New York Times

Person in a headscarf and glasses sitting on a bench in a gallery space

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Art + Feminism 2025 

Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 11am – 4pm 

Join us to make contributions to Wikipedia that directly relate to the University at Albany Fine Art Collections and the University Art Museum’s current and past exhibitions. 
 

To participate, please:

1. Register here: https://albany.libcal.com/event/14029750 Walk-ins are welcome, but registration helps us plan seating.

2. Sign up for a Wikipedia editor’s account here: http://bit.ly/4jm1eTb

3. Check out this training video on how to edit Wikipedia entries where you’ll learn the basics for making your first successful contributions: File:ArtAndFeminism-full-training.webm - Wikimedia Commons

Contact: Berly Brown, Education Coordinator, [email protected] 

 

Co-sponsored by the University Libraries Climate Committee. 

Woman working on a laptop and smiling

Saturday Hours, Exhibition Tour Followed by Coffee Hour

Saturday, February 1, 2025
Museum/CSS open 11am-4pm
Exhibition tour 12pm, coffee hour to follow
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Visit the museum on Saturday, February 1, during the first week of our exhibition, History Lessons, and join us at noon for a curator-led tour, followed by coffee and snacks in our lobby. Visit the Collections Study Space to view more work from our Collections.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany

She Knows Other Worlds in colorful geometric lettering on a patterned background

2024

 

LIMINALITIES Reception

Wednesday, November 13, 4-5pm
Collections Study Space, Fine Arts 121
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for an informal reception for LIMINALITIES curated by Jesse Asher Alsdorf, BA ’22, on view in the University Art Museum’s Collections Study Space.
 

Person in a sweater and jeans wrapped in a vacuum in front of plants and a domestic space

Fall Preview Day

Saturday, November 2, 2024
Museum/CSS open 11am-4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

The UAM will be open and welcomes prospective students, the campus community, and the general public. Visit the Collections Study Space in FA 121 to view our holdings.

Building and a parking lot.

In Conversation: James Casebere and Danny Goodwin

Tuesday, October 29, 2024, 4:30pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Artist James Casebere will be in conversation with artist and UAlbany Professor Danny Goodwin discussing their shared interest in constructed photography, as well as themes related to social control, power structures, and institutional mythologies in their respective work. For the last 30 years, James Casebere has been at the forefront of artists working with constructed photography, creating photographs of his table-sized models based on architectural, art historical, and cinematic sources. Goodwin’s work spanning over 20 years has explored the US intelligence community and related issues of surveillance, secrecy, and violence. Goodwin’s photography and videos are currently on view in Job Security: Voices and Views from the American Security Industry.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany.

Image credit: James Casebere, School, 2024, image courtesy of the artist

Model of a brutalist building in front of grey skies and a reflective pool.

Homecoming Weekend and Exhibition Tours

Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19, 2024
Museum/CSS open 11am-4pm, exhibition tours at 12pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

Join us during Homecoming Weekend to view our current exhibitions: Job Security: Voices and Views from the American Security Industry and Sky Hopinka: Dislocation Blues. Attend our exhibition tours led by exhibiting artist Danny Goodwin. Visit the Collections Study Space in FA 121 to view our holdings.

Three museum visitors looking at artwork

Great Dane Family Weekend

Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28, 2024
Museum/CSS open 11am-4pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

The UAM will be open and welcomes students and the general public. Visit the Collections Study Space in FA 121 to view our holdings.

Curator Robert Shane chatting with museum visitors.

Exhibition Walkthrough with Danny Goodwin and Edward Schwarzschild

Saturday, September 21, 2024
Museum open 11am-4pm, exhibition walkthrough at 2pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the Collins Circle visitor lots

As part of the Albany Book Festival presented by the New York State Writers Institute, the UAM will be open 11am-4pm. Join us for an exhibition walkthrough at 2pm of Job Security: Voices and Views from the American Security Industry led by Danny Goodwin and Edward Schwarzschild. 

Images courtesy Patrick Dodson and Danny Goodwin

Headshots of Danny Goodwin and Edward Schwarzschild.

Public Reception

Friday, September 13, 2024, 5-7 pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for a public reception for the exhibitions Job Security: Voices and Views from the American Security Industry and Sky Hopinka: Dislocation Blues. Light refreshments will be served.

Supported by the University Auxiliary Services at Albany.

Color photograph of a floodwater simulator.

2024 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition Reception

Friday, May 3, 5 – 7 pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for a reception to celebrate the 2024 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. Light refreshments will be served.

Visitors in the museum looking at artworks.

2024 M.A. Thesis Exhibition Reception

Friday, May 3, 5 – 7 pm
Gallery 223
Fine Arts Building, second floor
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot 

Join the Department of Art and Art History at Gallery 223 on the second floor of the Fine Arts Building, down the hall from the University Art Museum, to celebrate the 2024 M.A. Thesis Exhibition.

Visitors at the museum looking close up to artwork on the wall.

UAlbany Showcase

Tuesday, April 30, 11 am – 4 pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building

As part of UAlbany’s Showcase Day, the University Art Museum will present the 2024 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. The Department of Art and Art History will also have work on view in the Fine Arts Building. For more information, please visit: albany.edu/ualbany-showcase

UAlbany Showcase

Introphantasm Reception

Tuesday, March 26, 4-5pm
Collections Study Space, Fine Arts 121
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us for an informal reception for Introphantasm curated by Bella Burnett, M.F.A. '24, on view in the University Art Museum’s Collections Study Space.

Supported by University Auxiliary Services at Albany.

Bald head figure on a wavy geometric background

Talk by Glenn Adamson: Pattern Recognition: Barrow Parke in Context 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 2:00pm
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the State Quad Student Parking Lot

Join us as Glenn Adamson, curator, writer, and historian renowned for his scholarship on contemporary art, design, and craft, speaks on the exhibition Barrow Parke: Systems and Mythologies. Dr. Adamson is the author of Craft: An American History (2021, Bloomsbury), editor of the journal Material Intelligence, and Artistic Director for the Design Doha 2024 Biennial, Qatar. He has previously been Director of the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, and Head of Research at the V&A, London.

The event is free and open to the public. 

This event will be an exhibition walkthrough. Please contact UAM with questions about accessibility.

Supported by the Coby Foundation and University Auxiliary Services at Albany.

Artist Photograph of Glenn Adamson

Artists Walkthrough and Catalogue Signing with Mark Barrow and Sarah Parke

Saturday, March 9, 2024, 2:00pm 
University Art Museum
Fine Arts Building
Free parking in the visitor lots off Collins Circle

Join us for an artists-led walkthrough of Barrow Parke: Systems and Mythologies, followed by a reception and a signing of the exhibition’s catalogue. 

The event is free and open to the public. The catalogue will be available for purchase. 

This event will be an exhibition walkthrough. Please contact UAM with questions about accessibility.

Supported by the Coby Foundation and University Auxiliary Services at Albany. 

Barrow Parke in the studio

Public Programs Archive

Access the Public Programs Archive.