Paintings, monumental banners, and daily Town Crier performances connect American history to the news of today
August 22, 2026—January 3, 2027
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (August 13, 2026) — The Tang Museum at Skidmore College presents Mark Thomas Gibson: We Are A Constellation, a solo exhibition in which the Philadelphia-based American history painter connects recent American history with the responsibilities of citizenship today. It will be on view from August 22 through January 3, 2027.
A recurring figure in Gibson’s work is the Town Crier—a stand-in for the artist who rings a bell and delivers urgent announcements to fellow citizens. Gibson began the drawing series in 2021 as a daily practice for processing the news and events of the day. Shared through his Instagram account, the images have developed into a visual archive of American political life.
At the Tang, the Town Crier will move beyond Gibson’s pen and paper and into the gallery. At 2 pm each day the gallery is open, a Skidmore student will enact the role of Town Crier and deliver two announcements: news from that date 250 years earlier and news from the present day. Together, the performances will create a record of this important year while asking how history is remembered, narrated, and made.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a monumental, three-part American flag that debuted at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2025. Unfolding like the panels of a comic strip, the work features the flag transformed into choppy waves on one side and the Town Crier in the role of Paul Revere, sounding an alarm about threats to American democracy on the other.
Gibson is inspired by comic books, political caricature, historical painting, and the work of artists including Philip Guston, Robert Colescott, Kara Walker, and Honoré-Victorin Daumier. Through bold imagery, layered narratives, and sly humor, he asks viewers to see themselves as participants in the histories unfolding around them.
The exhibition takes its title from We Are A Constellation, a 2024 painting in the Tang collection that presents individual stars in the night sky connected to form an image of the United States. This symbolizes how we can be connected as citizens through voting. The painting reminds us: “Voting is faith in action.”
“I’ve followed Mark’s work since Black Pulp!, the 2016 exhibition he co-curated with fellow artist William Villalongo,” said Ian Berry, Dayton Director and curator of the exhibition. “His art insists that history is neither distant nor settled, and I love that our students can become Town Criers each day, connecting news from the past with the events shaping our lives now. During the nation’s 250th anniversary and an election year, the exhibition asks us to be active, engaged citizens.”
Mark Thomas Gibson: We Are A Constellation is organized by Berry in collaboration with the artist and is supported by Friends of the Tang.
Public Programs
All programs are free and open to the public. Additional details and programs will be announced at tang.skidmore.edu.
Daily at 2 pm throughout the exhibition
Town Crier Performance
Each day the gallery is open, a member of the Skidmore community will announce news from that date 250 years earlier and news from the present day.
Thursday, September 17, 5–8 pm
We Are A Constellation Voter Registration Drive
A voter-registration event presented in conjunction with the exhibition.
Saturday, October 17, 5 pm
Fall Opening Reception
Celebrate Mark Thomas Gibson: We Are A Constellation and the Tang’s fall exhibitions.
Friday, October 23, 5 pm
Kuroda Lecture with Danielle Allen
Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, delivers the 2026 Tad Kuroda Lecture in the exhibition. Allen is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy. She is also director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Democratic Knowledge Project, a research lab focused on civic education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Thursday, November 12, 6 pm
Dunkerley Dialogue with Mark Thomas Gibson and Jennifer Delton
Gibson joins Jennifer Delton, Skidmore Professor of History, for a conversation about art, American history, and contemporary political life.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. The Tang Museum, located on the Skidmore College campus at 815 N. Broadway in Saratoga Springs, New York, is open Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm on Thursdays. For more information, call the Tang’s Visitor Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit tang.skidmore.edu.
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 Tang 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 institution’s approach has become a model for university art museums across the country — with exhibition programs and series that bring together the visual and performing arts with fields of study as disparate as history, astronomy, and physics. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, the Mellon Seminar, and robust publication and touring exhibition initiatives that extend the institution’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of ideas and exchange the institution catalyzes. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from noon to 5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursday. More information at http://tang.skidmore.edu.