May 31–November 2, 2025
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (May 27, 2025) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College announces Up to Us: Black Dimensions in Art, 1975–Tomorrow, an exhibition honoring the 50-year history of Black Dimensions in Art Inc. (BDA), the Capital Region’s longest-running Black arts collective. The exhibition will be on view from May 31 through November 2, 2025.
The exhibition presents a rich collection of archival material—including publications, posters, photographs, and other ephemera—alongside artwork by BDA members as well as artists from the Tang collection who have been included in past BDA exhibitions or are associated with larger conversations around Black liberation in the late 20th century. The title Up to Us originates from a 1980s Harlem Week slogan “Much more to do … a better Harlem is up to us,” which 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.
One aspect of the exhibition will be a new video that features highlights from oral histories by current and former BDA members, recorded as part of Skidmore’s MDOCS Co-Creation Initiative (2021–2025). Speakers include D. Colin, Miki Conn (a founding member of the group), Francelise Dawkins, Trenton Graham, Linda Jackson-Chalmers (a founding member, Skidmore College class of 1973, and former longtime Skidmore trustee), Gregory Freelon (a founding member), Jacqueline Lake-Sample, Mitzi Lawrence, Thurmon Myers, Brenda Twiggs, and Stephen J. Tyson.
Up to Us: Black Dimensions in Art, 1975–Tomorrow is organized by Rebecca McNamara, The Frances Young Tang ’61 Associate Curator, in collaboration with BDA members Marcus Anderson, D. Colin, Miki Conn, Daesha Devón Harris, Jacqueline Lake-Sample, and Stephen J. Tyson, with support from Angela Beallor, Documentarian in Community Co-Creation in the John B. Moore Documentary Collaborative at Skidmore College. The exhibition was made possible by the Friends of the Tang and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Public Programs
Saturday, June 21: A Black Dimensions in Art Gathering. Exhibition Tour and Intergenerational Panel Discussion (details to be announced later)
Thursday, July 10, noon: Curator’s Tour. Rebecca McNamara, The Frances Young Tang ’61 Associate Curator, leads a tour
The exhibition is free and open to the public. The Tang Museum, located on the Skidmore College campus at 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs, New York, is open noon–5 p.m. Tuesday–Sunday, with extended hours until 9 p.m. Thursday. For more information, call the Visitor Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit https://tang.skidmore.edu.
Companion Exhibition at the Albany Institute of History & Art
The celebration of BDA’s 50th anniversary continues with the art exhibition For Liberation and For Life: The Legacy of Black Dimensions in Art, which will be on view at the Albany Institute of History & Art from August 23 through December 31, 2025. The presentation marks the organization’s return to the Institute, where its first major exhibition, Black Artists in Historical Perspective I, traveled after being on view at the nearby Schenectady Museum, in 1976. The exhibition will showcase a range of mediums, techniques, and aesthetics by historic, contemporary, and emerging artists to honor the organization’s resilient past while looking to the future. For more information, visit the Albany Institute’s website.
About Black Dimensions in Art Inc.
Founded in Schenectady, New York, in 1975, Black Dimensions in Art, Inc. (BDA) is a volunteer-led group of creatives and activists seeking to address a lack of access and visibility for artists of the African Diaspora, and to encourage youth of African descent in the practice, application, and appreciation of the arts. Energized by the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, BDA’s founders focused on breaking down systemic barriers fortified by the art world. BDA’s mission is to educate the public about the unique contributions of African Diasporic artists within the American art scene and provide opportunities for Black artists to be seen and acknowledged. blackdimensionsinart.org
About Skidmore College
Founded in 1903, Skidmore College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college of about 2,700 students located in the dynamic town of Saratoga Springs, New York. Consistently ranked as a top liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, Forbes, and more, Skidmore has also been recognized for its innovation, value, and sustainability efforts. Skidmore fosters academic and personal excellence — all driven by a belief that Creative Thought Matters. Its comprehensive array of opportunities encompasses more than 40 bachelor’s degree programs, including popular offerings in business, psychology, and the creative and performing arts; competitive NCAA Division III athletics; world-class facilities; and hands-on civic engagement and career development resources.
About The John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative
The John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative (MDOCS) embeds documentary within Skidmore’s curriculum and culture, building capacities for creative public engagement and impact. Extending from the traditional documentary mediums (film, audio, photo, exhibition, writing, archives) to the edges of nonfiction (oral history, VR/AR, performance, social practice), MDOCS creates dynamic contexts for creation and exchange, where students and scholars, activists and artists, campus and community, can join to craft the stories that will shape our past, present, and future.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for college and university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics, to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. The Museum is open to the public Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursday. https://tang.skidmore.edu