Youth FX Turns UAlbany Art Museum into Creative Studio
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 24, 2026) — Surrounded by towering tapestries and layered images exploring identity, performance and memory, a group of young filmmakers moved through the University Art Museum not as visitors, but as creators.
For Taliyah Peralta, the experience marked another step in a journey that began in Albany classrooms and is now pointing toward a future in the arts.
“I’ve always been passionate about filmmaking and storytelling,” said Peralta, who grew up in Albany and graduated from Albany High School before enrolling at Hudson Valley Community College. “When the opportunity to join Youth FX came to me, I knew I had to take it — and I’m really glad I did.”
The work will culminate in “Remix/Rebellion: Noel W Anderson, Youth FX and the Making of a Film,” a screening and conversation set for April 2 at 4:30 p.m. at the University Art Museum. The event will feature the premiere of “IYKYK” (2026), an experimental film created by Youth FX students in collaboration with artist-in-residence Noel W Anderson, blending archival footage with original scenes filmed inside the museum during the exhibition Black Excellence.
The project was developed as part of Remix/Rebellion, a Youth FX program that brings together young filmmakers to collaborate with professional artists and experiment across film, contemporary art and culture.
“It’s powerful, to be honest — to be around the work, to interact with it, to transform it,” Peralta said. “That’s what ‘Remix Rebellion’ is all about.”
Remixing the space
For Anderson, whose exhibition Black Excellence fills the museum with large-scale tapestries, video and altered archival imagery, that kind of interaction is central to the work itself.
“That’s in the work. It’s in the show,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to challenge rigid structures with lived experience.
“Lived experience, man — it’s like watching someone cook,” he added.
The idea behind the project draws in part from DJ culture — artists reworking existing material into something new — but also from a broader goal of expanding who gets to participate in artistic spaces.
“For me, it comes from understanding people on the margins,” Anderson said. “We always need to reform in ways that bring those voices into the system.”
That philosophy extends to how he approaches exhibitions.
“When I do a show, I advocate for the museum or university to find students — preferably from the city — and bring them into the space,” he said. “Because institutions can become places that feel exclusive, even to people who live in the community.”
At UAlbany, he found a willing partner.
“When I spoke to the team at UAlbany and said I wanted to invite students from the city, their eyes lit up,” Anderson said. “I think this is what we’re supposed to be doing.”
A community of creators
Through Youth FX, students learn every aspect of filmmaking — from writing and directing to editing and production — while working collaboratively to tell stories rooted in their own experiences.
Bhawin Suchak, co-executive director of Youth FX, said Remix/Rebellion is designed to connect young filmmakers with working artists and expand how they approach storytelling.
“The program brings young filmmakers into direct collaboration with artists like Noel and encourages them to explore new ways of working across film and visual art,” Suchak said.
That approach has worked directly for Peralta.
“It’s shown me the importance of community and teamwork,” Peralta said. “Art is such a community-focused thing. In a world that’s constantly trying to push people down, it’s powerful to be around people who are just as passionate as you are.”
For Peralta, who is studying business administration at Hudson Valley Community College, the experience has also meant stepping into spaces that once felt intimidating.
“I was a little scared and intimidated at first,” she said. “But you have to get over that right away.”
Anderson works intentionally to remove those barriers.
“At first, some of the students were intimidated,” he said. “But I told them — I don’t know cameras the way you do. You know lighting, sound, all of that.”
“There’s no hierarchy here. You’re empowered.”
From access to belonging
The collaboration reflects an ongoing effort to connect the University Art Museum with the surrounding community, creating opportunities for young artists to not only engage with contemporary work, but to see themselves within those spaces.
For Peralta, that sense of belonging is shaping what comes next as she considers transferring to UAlbany as the next step in her academic journey.
“I know about UAlbany’s business programs, and when that opportunity comes, I’ll probably take that too,” she said.
Anderson’s exhibition Black Excellence, which inspired the project, remains on view at the University Art Museum through April 3.
For Anderson, the goal is simple.
“I told the students, when this project is done, you’re part of this place,” he said. “You belong here.”