Past Exhibitions 2025
Up to Us: Black Dimensions in Art, 1975–Tomorrow
Since its founding in 1975 in Schenectady, New York, Black Dimensions in Art, Inc., has promoted the art of the African diaspora through exhibitions, workshops, youth programs, and other events and programs in the Capital Region and beyond. BDA emerged as one of many volunteer-run arts and culture organizations in the late 1960s and 1970s as part of a broader national Black Arts Movement and continues to maintain a robust program fifty years on.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Up to Us: Black Dimensions in Art, 1975–Tomorrow presents selections from BDA’s growing archive—publications, fliers, postcards, photographs, oral histories, and more—and artwork by BDA members and artists from the Tang collection whose work celebrates Black identity. The exhibition reflects on the organization’s legacy in the Capital Region, celebrates the dedication of its leaders past and present, and imagines its future possibilities.
The exhibition title, originating from the 1980s Harlem Week slogan “Much more to do … a better Harlem is up to us,” epitomizes the need for Black communities to create and claim space for themselves and connects BDA to other grassroots Black arts and culture organizations throughout the country.
Contribute to the Archive
The Tang Teaching Museum and Skidmore’s John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative (MDOCS) have been assisting Black Dimensions in Art in building an archive of photographs, posters, brochures, postcards, and other material from its nearly 50-year history. If you have material you are willing to donate to the BDA archives, please contact BDA at this link.
