SUNY Chancellor King Highlights Campus Art Galleries Ahead of National Fine Art Appreciation Day

October 22, 2026

Art Exhibitions, Programs, and Events Happening at SUNY Campuses Across New York State 

Albany, NY — State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today highlighted exhibitions and events taking place at campus art galleries throughout the SUNY System ahead of National Fine Art Appreciation Day, Sunday, October 25. SUNY's colleges and universities have museums, galleries, and art departments featuring a wide range of exhibitions for students and local communities to view. These exhibitions are often accompanied by educational programs – including gallery talks, lectures, panel discussions, films, or participatory projects – presented for the benefit of students, faculty, staff, and their local communities.

"SUNY is proud to be a leader and champion of the arts and art education. Throughout the SUNY system, our campuses provide students and their local communities with the opportunity to view and experience excellent art, without having to travel far from home," said SUNY Chancellor King. "The arts are a crucial way to foster human connection, and we celebrate the amazing artwork that is on display at our campus galleries statewide."

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "SUNY is proud of our efforts to create an environment where our students and their communities can form connections through the arts. We commend our campuses for their work to make art more accessible for their students, and local communities."

To celebrate National Fine Arts Appreciation Day, many SUNY campuses are hosting events or having exhibitions on display. Campus activities and exhibitions include:

  • The State University of New York at Albany's University Art Museum will have three exhibitions on display, including "Howard Schwartzberg: Volume, Surface, Core," which reconfigures the physical materials of painting to create new spatial and perceptual relationships, "mosie romney: ash, whistle & redress", which explores echo, remedy, and ritual through paintings, poetry, and installation, and "Invitation to the Light Factory" by painter Suzan Frecon and poet and translator Marcella Durand, which features small-scale brushwork experiments with haematite pigments on paper by Frecon and ekphrastic poetry by Durand. All three exhibitions will be on display through April 2, 2027, at the University Art Museum, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222.
  • The Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY Adirondack is exhibiting "Ionkwaskare:waké: We Are All Bear Clan," featuring the works of artist and filmmaker Katsitsionni Fox and her family members, Kawennahare Fox, Kanonkwatsrakohe Fox, Tsionahariio Swamp, Kahawanion David, and Karonies Thompson. This exhibition includes digital art, films, paintings, printmaking, pottery and baskets, and is on display through October 29 in Dearlove Hall on the college's Queensbury campus, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804.
  • Alfred State College's Bret Llewellyn Art Gallery will feature an exhibition from artist Kelley Bell. The exhibition, titled "Oh!" will feature projections, inflatables, and other artistic spectacles. The exhibit will open October 12 and run through November 6, and is located at 10 College Drive, Alfred, NY, 14802. 
  • The Gallery at SUNY Broome is hosting the solo exhibition by local artist Melissa Restuccia titled "Collected: Objections, Observations, and Musings," which explores memory, collecting, everyday objects, and personal experience through richly colored paintings. The exhibition will be on display through October 30 in the Cecil C. Tyrell Library (first floor), 907 Front St, Binghamton, NY 13905.
  • Buffalo State University’s Czurles-Nelson Gallery is hosting “Across the Visual Arts XVII: Dean's Creative Associates Awards Exhibition”, featuring one outstanding student artist from each Art and Design Department The exhibit will be on display through October 28. In addition, the Burchfield Penney Art Center will be hosting the exhibition "FIT: Buffalo Fashion, Identity, and Transformation", which explores the creative output of a region where fashion, art, community, and economics are deeply interconnected, through November 1, 1300 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14222.
  • SUNY Canton is hosting an exhibition of Saranac Lake photographer Barry Lobdell titled "Barry Lobdell: Street Level." The exhibition will be on display for the entire fall semester in the SUNY Canton Learning Commons Classroom, 34 Cornell Drive, Canton, NY 13617. 
  • Cayuga Community College is hosting three exhibitions of student art, with two dedicated to supporting veterans and mental health and well-being. The first exhibition, "Postcard Art for and by Veterans", will be on display from November 9 through November 13. The second exhibition "Orange Circle Show — Art and Well Being" will be on display starting November 30 through December 9. The campuses student art exhibition will also be on display from December 5 through December 9. All three exhibits will take place on the College's Auburn Campus, 197 Franklin Street, Auburn, NY 13021.
  • The Grosvenor Art Gallery at SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech is hosting "Paper Garden" by Artist David Mentus. The exhibition will feature over 500 handmade and hand-printed pieces of paper to create an immersive garden of insects, plants, and repeated imagery. The opening reception will be held at the Grosvenor Art Gallery on October 29 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at 125 Schenectady Ave., Cobleskill, NY 12043, and the exhibition will be on display until December 12.
  • SUNY Cortland's Dowd Gallery, will be hosting an exhibition titled "Discardia" which highlights an all-female roster of contemporary creators whose artwork relies on discarded and repurposed materials. The exhibition opens October 22 and will be on display through November 27, at the Dowd Fine Arts Center, 48 Graham Ave, Cortland, NY 13045.
  • The Farmingdale State College Memorial Art Gallery is exhibiting "Threshold, Faculty Biennial Exhibit," which is on view through November 20. Featuring works by faculty in the Department of Visual Communications, the exhibit explores the theme "Threshold"; pieces that engage with borders, doorways, and in-between states, as well as concepts of physical, psychological, or cultural liminality at Hale Hall, 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735.
  • The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology will be hosting the exhibition "Doll Dressing", which explores the enduring and often unexpected relationship between dolls and fashion. Featuring more than 170 objects —including fashion dolls displayed alongside full-size garments, accessories, videos, and artworks — the exhibition highlights how dolls have influenced fashion and dressed appearance during the 20th and 21st Work by designers and labels such as Balenciaga, Maison Martin Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Anna Sui highlight how dolls aren't just toys — they're muses, canvases, and even prototypes for designers. The exhibition runs through January 3, 2027, 227 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001. In addition, the FIT Art and Design Galley will be hosting the exhibition "PICTURING COLOR: Artists Reveal the Spectrum", which brings together the work of fine artists, photographers, graphic designers, and textile designers who respond to color in diverse ways, beginning November 12 through December 8, 227 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001.
  • Finger Lakes Community College's ArtSpace36 gallery will be hosting the exhibit "The Art of Collaboration: Graphic Design and Viticulture," highlighting the collaboration between the college's graphic design and viticulture and wine technology programs. The exhibition opens on October 22 and will be on display until November 28, at 36 S Main St, Canandaigua, NY 14424.
  • Hudson Valley Community College celebrated the reopening of the Esther Massry Gallery on October 14 with the "News Walls" faculty exhibition featuring work by members of the college's fine arts and digital media faculty at 1002 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY 12210. Additionally, "The Films of Jennifer and Kevin McCoy" exhibition, featuring three cinematic installations by the McCoys is on display through October 24 at Hudson Valley Community College's Teaching Gallery, Administration Building, Room 013, 80 Vandenburgh Ave, Troy, NY, 12180. 
  • SUNY New Paltz's Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art will be hosting two exhibitions in honor of the museum's 25th The first exhibition, "Jean-Marc Superville Sovak: Open for Unfinished Business", brings together more than two decades of the artist's work to examine overlooked histories of freedom, labor, and place-making among the Hudson Valley's early Black communities, and will be on display through December 6. The second exhibition, "In Our Time: R. B. Kitaj and Books", curated by Reva Wolf, explores Kitaj's 1969-70 portfolio of 50 screen prints depicting book jackets, covers, and endpapers, considering books as witnesses to history and powerful visual objects, will be on display through November 8 at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, NY 12561.
  • The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University will feature four exhibitions across three galleries in celebration of National Fine Art Appreciation Day. The Fosdick-Nelson Gallery will present "Queer Ruralities," opening on October 23 and running through December 6. Curated by Briar Pine, the exhibition features six artists whose work challenges assumptions about queer life in rural landscapes through explorations of homebuilding, community, care, and identity. The Cohen Gallery will feature "Jackie Pancari: PhenomenaLogic," an exhibition of glass works exploring the material's relationship to light, form, and perception opening on October 23 and running through December 6. The Robert C. Turner Gallery will host two student exhibitions: "Bugaboo!: Darkness Enfigured" in the Main Space and "Ways to Interpret" on the Catwalk, with both exhibitions opening on October 23 and running through October 30 at 1 Saxon Drive, Alfred, NY 14802.  
  • SUNY Old Westbury's ART LAB is hosting the exhibition "To Leave Without Arrival", an interdisciplinary multimedia installation by SUNY Old Westbury alumna Rachel Jungeun Oh. This community-based project explores housing insecurity, migration, displacement, memory, and belonging through collaboration with Korean immigrant women experiencing housing instability. The exhibit is on display through October 30, Woodlands Hall 1, SUNY Old Westbury, New York 11568.
  • SUNY Oneonta's Martin-Mullen Gallery will be hosting the exhibition "The Uncanny Body," featuring work by Maryland, NY-based artists Georgia b and Zelda Smith that includes large-scale sculptures, a selection of time-based video projections, and a to-be announced performance schedule activating the sculptures. The exhibit opens October 27 and will be on display through December 19, 106 Fine Arts, SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, New York 13820. 
  • SUNY College of Optometry is featuring work from the artist Peter Josyph's collection "The Love Letters of Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie" throughout the fall semester in its recently updated art space. The collection of acrylic, collage, wax-oil crayon, ink, and pencil pieces can be viewed at 33 West 42nd Street, NY, NY.  
  • SUNY Orange's Mindy Ross Gallery will be hosting an exhibition from internationally recognized photographer Nick Zungoli, who will be starting the tour of his environmentally focused exhibit "Garden of Eden" on the college's Newburgh campus, where it will be displayed mid-October through January.
  • SUNY Oswego's Tyler Art Gallery will host its biggest show of the year, the 64th annual Juried Student Exhibition. Open to submissions from all Oswego students and sponsored by the Student Art Exhibition Club, this exhibition hosts top work across various media and a popular awards reception that includes pieces that become purchased for the university's permanent collection. The exhibition runs from October 16 to November 13 in the Tyler Hall Gallery, Tyler Hall, 71 Sweet Rd, Oswego, NY 13126.
  • SUNY Plattsburgh's Plattsburgh State Art Museum will be hosting the exhibition "Hands That Nurture: Perceptions of Masculine Devotion," created by artist and researcher Shawndel N. Fraser, which uses sculpture and photography developed through long-term relationships with Adirondack tradesmen and craftsmen to explore masculinity through devotion, tenderness, skilled labor, and everyday acts of care, which opens on October 20 and is on display through December 4. The campus is also hosting the exhibition "Women's Rights Are Human Rights", an international poster exhibition examining the role of art and graphic design in addressing gender equality, human rights, and stereotypes, is on display through December 4 at 235 Myers Fine Arts 101, Broad St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901. 
  • SUNY Polytechnic Institute will host Art War, an intercollegiate live art tournament, on Wednesday, October 28 at 5 p.m. Presented in collaboration with The Art Thing Collaborative, Inc., the event will feature teams of student artists competing in fast-paced live art challenges, along with a live DJ and other surprises at 100 Seymour Rd, Utica, NY, 13502.
  • SUNY Potsdam's Gibson Gallery hosted a Fall Art Stroll on Tuesday, October 20 at noon, starting from the Gibson Gallery, to tour the works in the college's art collection, including sculptures and paintings on display across campus. The Gibson Gallery also hosted the closing reception for "F4 & See It: An Exhibition of Photojournalism," a retrospective of photography by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephan Savoia '71, on October 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. Hermitage Art Retreat founder Bruce Rodgers '71 will return to campus for a keynote, "Navigating the Future Without a Map," on October 22 at 6 p.m., in Kellas Hall Room 106. LoKo Arts will host a special Festival of Lights on October 24 at 6 p.m., transforming the Academic Quad with glowing art installations from regional artists, along with live music and more. All events are free and will take place on the campus, located at 44 Pierrepont Ave., Potsdam, NY, 13676.
  • The Neuberger Museum of Art, located on the SUNY Purchase campus, will have five exhibitions on display: "The Declaration Distributed: Westchester County's Holt Broadside of 1776", "Grave Sites: Present Histories", the ongoing exhibition "Then and Now: Selections from the Collection", and two exhibitions that feature the work of the artist collective the Guerrilla Girls — "Food for Thought" and "Complaints Department." All exhibitions will be on display through December 20 at the Neuberger Museum of Art, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY 10577. Museum hours are noon to 5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. Admission is always free.
  • The State University of New York at Stony Brook's Zuccaire Gallery will be hosting the exhibition "Noel W Anderson: Black Excellence" featuring tapestries, video, and works on paper exploring themes of Black success, labor, and performance, through October 24. Additionally, at the Charles B. Wang Center, the exhibition "Walking the World: Gareth Fuller's Art of Place," featuring the work of Gareth Fuller, a British artist and explorer whose practice transforms the act of walking into art, will be on display through December 18 at 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794.
  • Suffolk Community College's Sagtikos Art Gallery will feature the 2026 Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition on the college's Brentwood campus showcasing the creativity of Suffolk County Community College's Visual Arts Faculty across painting sculpture, photography, video, digital art, and installation. The exhibit will be on display through October 26 on the Michael J. Grant Campus, Sagtikos Arts and Sciences Building 150, Crooked Hill Road, Brentwood, NY 11717. Additionally, the college's Flecker Gallery located on the Selden campus will host the Visual Arts Faculty Exhibition will showcase the creative work of the college's visual arts faculty outside the classroom across a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, digital art, and installation. The exhibit will be on display through October 29, in the Maurice N. Flecker Memorial Gallery, Ammerman Campus, Southampton Building, 533 College Road, Selden, NY 11784. Additionally, The Lyceum Gallery, located in the Montaukett Learning Resource Center at the Suffolk County Community College Eastern Campus in Riverhead will feature "On / Line" featuring the work of Scott Bluedorn, JooLee Kang and Holly Wong, which is on display through October 30, 121 Speonk-Riverhead Road, Riverhead, NY 11901.
  • SUNY Ulster's Muroff-Kotler Visual Arts Gallery is featuring the exhibition "Altered Landscapes: At Risk — Forest & Field," which explores the changing relationship between people and the natural world. Featuring work by seven Hudson Valley artists, the exhibition uses painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography to examine the effects of climate change, ecological loss, and human activity on local landscapes. Curated by Kristin Flynn, the exhibition runs through November 20 at 491 Cottekill Road, Stone Ridge, NY 12401. 
  • SUNY Westchester Community College's WCC Art Gallery will feature "Beyond What Once Was," a solo exhibition by sculptor Kate Rusek, whose porcelain sculpture, reclaimed window blinds, textiles, and other discarded materials are transformed into intricate, tactile forms that explore accumulation, material memory, and the tension between the manufactured and the organic. Rusek will give an artist talk in the gallery on Wednesday, November 4 at 11:30 a.m. The exhibition will be on display through November 21 at the WCC Art Gallery, SUNY Westchester Community College, Valhalla, NY 10595.

Additionally, several SUNY campuses also maintain permanent collections for exhibition or study, featuring various objects or artwork. Among the items in campus collections are ancient art from around the world, early American, modern, and contemporary paintings, works on paper including 19th and 20th century photography and prints, artist-designed jewelry, arts and craft furniture, fashion drawings and garments, modern Japanese and Italian post-war art, and much more. To learn more about art galleries on SUNY campuses, or to visit a gallery at a campus near you, visit: suny.edu/about/museums-galleries/. 

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education, said, "Education does not stop at the classroom door; it can be a painting that stops a student in a hallway. SUNY's museums and galleries belong to the communities around them, and it's valuable precisely because anyone can walk in and explore history and art in many different forms. I know that a student who learns to look closely at a work of art begins to look more closely at the world. I thank Chancellor King and the SUNY Board of Trustees for opening these doors."

State Senator José M. Serrano, Chair of the Senate Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Committee, said, "In recognition of National Fine Arts Day, I applaud SUNY for celebrating artistic excellence and investing in the curation and exhibition of art across its campuses. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation, I recognize the importance of supporting the arts, elevating artists, and expanding access to arts education. SUNY's campus galleries provide valuable opportunities to engage students with the arts, showcase diverse artistic perspectives, and ensure that exhibitions are accessible to all."

State Assemblymember Alicia L. Hyndman, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, said, "Art shapes culture, communicates deep emotions that go beyond words, gives a voice to the disenfranchised and promotes cultural awareness. On National Fine Arts Appreciation Day, I hope the work featured at SUNY's museums, galleries and art departments inspire people and becomes an avenue for discussion on the past, our present and what we want for the future."

The recognition of National Fine Arts Day is part of SUNY's efforts to highlight excellence in the arts. In May, SUNY announced the recipients of the annual Thayer Fellowship of the Arts and the winner of the Patricia Kerr Ross Award, which provide post-graduate support for SUNY students pursuing careers in the arts. In 2025, SUNY announced the Best of SUNY art exhibit winners, which showcases artistic works by student artists from across the SUNY system. In addition, selected student artwork from the Best of SUNY competition is also displayed in the H. Carl McCall Building in Albany throughout the year.

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

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