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Fall 2026
Light and Transient Causes
September 1 – December 5, 2026
Meztli Castro Asmussen | Deborah Dancy | Sky Hopinka | Weihui Lu | Paul Akira Miyamoto
Wendy Red Star | Liz Roberts | Alisa Sikelianos-Carter | Jean-Marc Superville Sovak | Millicent Young
In the 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, this exhibition takes its name from a line in the document that suggests that some grievances may prove too fleeting to justify revolution—and considers asymmetries of perception of what is deemed light enough to ignore, transient enough to postpone. This exhibition is curated by Marisa Espe, Director of Communications at the Albany Institute of History & Art and guest curator with River Valley Arts Collective.
For more detailed information on all these events see our Events Page here.
FRI Sept. 11, 6:00-9:00pm, Exhibition reception in conjunction with our Pop-Up Beer Garden
THURS Sept. 17, 7:00pm, Talk, Suketu Mehta, author of This Land is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto, will speak at Opalka Gallery in collaboration with the NYS Writers Institute in recognition of Constitution Day
SAT Sept. 19, 1:00-2:30pm, Kids’ Art Workshop Led by RSC MAT Art Education students. Free but registration required. Class size limited.
FRI Oct. 2, 6:30 to 7:30pm, FIRST FRIDAY Music from Buggy Jive. Fresh off his sweep of the 2026 Eddies Music Awards, Buggy Jive stops by Opalka for First Friday!
SAT Oct. 3, 1:00-2:30pm, Talk and Performance, Albany Symphony Orchestra conductor David Alan Miller in conversation with composer Celka Ojakangas, plus performance by a trio of ASO musicians. Register in advance.
THURS Oct. 8, 6:30-7:30pm, Poetry Reading by Susan Comninos, Janet Bowdan, and Shira Dentz, contributors to The Color Wheel: Poems (Terrapin Books, 2026). This event is funded in part by Poets & Writers with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
WEDS Oct. 14, 5:30-6:30pm, Member reception and private tour with Light & Transient Causes curator Marisa Espe. Become a member today or renew your membership and join us for this special event.
THURS Oct 22, 6:30-7:30pm, Stage and Stanza: Conversations with Creatives, hosted by Carol Durant and David Baecker, of RSC Theatre Institute. Special guests TBA
FRI Oct. 30, 6:30 snacks, 7:00pm talks, PechaKucha Night. Sponsored by Druthers Brewing and Honest Weight Food Co-op.
FRI Nov. 6, 6:30 to 7:30pm, FIRST FRIDAY music with Belle-Skinner
SAT Nov. 7, 2:00-3:00pm Poetry Reading by acclaimed poet and RSC alum Hajar Hussaini ‘19, recent recipient of a prestigious 2026 Whiting Award in Poetry and author of Disbound Poems (University of Iowa Press, 2022)
FRI Nov. 13, TIME TBA, A Culinary Experience
In dialogue with Opalka Gallery’s exhibition Light and Transient Causes, Dishing.Studio presents a ticketed culinary experience. Finding parallels in food x art, tastes reflect the lived experiences of immigrant artists and third culture culinary memory shaped by displacement, hybridity, belonging, identity, and the slow transmission of knowledge. Food as material. Flavor as connection. More info including time and ticket info to come!
FRI Dec. 4, 6:30 to 7:30pm, FIRST FRIDAY music with Sarah Claire Sings. Co-sponsored by the Music Performance Trust Fund, arranged by Local 14.
SAT Dec. 5, 2:00 to 4:00pm, Closing reception and tour for Light and Transient Causes
Read more about events here.
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