Community Calendar

"i solemnly swear” is an exhibition about the consequences of conscription and deployment into combat. Syracuse artist Paul Pearce was drafted into the US Army in 1967 and deployed to Vietnam in 1968. “I should never have been a soldier, and yet I was a good soldier,” Pearce says. “For this reason, I am haunted by what I did and what I witnessed. When people say, ‘Thank you for your service,’ my reply is, ‘Don’t thank me for my service; you don’t know what I did. My country made me do it and I was just a kid.’”

Set in the layered world of Najee Dorsey’s Poor People’s Campaign is a powerful collection of work grounded in the environmental struggles of today’s impoverished communities. Blending Southern nostalgia with digitally collaged speculative futures, Dorsey’s work unveils a future shaped by environmental racism, industrial pollution, and the resilience of those who endure these atrocities. This exhibition challenges viewers to confront what’s hidden in plain sight—smokestacks on the horizon, decaying landscapes, and children at play in dystopian backdrops, unaware, just going about their lives.

Each candid portrayal of a child, each scar of environmental injustice plaguing the earth, is a symbol of ongoing corporate greed, and a masterful fusion of futures transforming the landscape into an intimate battleground. Through these works, Dorsey challenges us to consider the true cost of progress and unchecked power.

The Ballad of Human Movement is an exhibit that will fill your heart with pride for our little city. People have come from all over the world to make Utica their homes. Stories like The New York Times article "How Refugees Transformed a Dying Rust Belt Town" brought Utica into the spotlight, and the Gannett Gallery is thrilled to present a celebration of what makes our city so special. There will also be a free film screening of "Utica: The Last Refuge" on Saturday, October 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the Kunsela Hall Auditorium on the SUNY Poly campus.

Opening Reception: Friday, 10/10/2025 5:00-7:00
Event website: https//balladofhumanmovement.net

Lacuna presents new works from Alison Altafi that explore the space between presence and absence, form and dissolution, memory and dream. Inspired by the cosmos, fairytale, myth and the endless cycles of time, Lacuna invites viewers to consider the space not as emptiness, but as a site of possibility, memory and soft transformation.

Reception Date: October 3, 5-7 p.m.

Set in the layered world of Najee Dorsey’s Poor People’s Campaign is a powerful collection of work grounded in the environmental struggles of today’s impoverished communities. Blending Southern nostalgia with digitally collaged speculative futures, Dorsey’s work unveils a future shaped by environmental racism, industrial pollution, and the resilience of those who endure these atrocities. This exhibition challenges viewers to confront what’s hidden in plain sight—smokestacks on the horizon, decaying landscapes, and children at play in dystopian backdrops, unaware, just going about their lives.

Each candid portrayal of a child, each scar of environmental injustice plaguing the earth, is a symbol of ongoing corporate greed, and a masterful fusion of futures transforming the landscape into an intimate battleground. Through these works, Dorsey challenges us to consider the true cost of progress and unchecked power.

The Ballad of Human Movement is an exhibit that will fill your heart with pride for our little city. People have come from all over the world to make Utica their homes. Stories like The New York Times article "How Refugees Transformed a Dying Rust Belt Town" brought Utica into the spotlight, and the Gannett Gallery is thrilled to present a celebration of what makes our city so special. There will also be a free film screening of "Utica: The Last Refuge" on Saturday, October 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the Kunsela Hall Auditorium on the SUNY Poly campus.

Opening Reception: Friday, 10/10/2025 5:00-7:00
Event website: https//balladofhumanmovement.net

Lacuna presents new works from Alison Altafi that explore the space between presence and absence, form and dissolution, memory and dream. Inspired by the cosmos, fairytale, myth and the endless cycles of time, Lacuna invites viewers to consider the space not as emptiness, but as a site of possibility, memory and soft transformation.

Reception Date: October 3, 5-7 p.m.

Set in the layered world of Najee Dorsey’s Poor People’s Campaign is a powerful collection of work grounded in the environmental struggles of today’s impoverished communities. Blending Southern nostalgia with digitally collaged speculative futures, Dorsey’s work unveils a future shaped by environmental racism, industrial pollution, and the resilience of those who endure these atrocities. This exhibition challenges viewers to confront what’s hidden in plain sight—smokestacks on the horizon, decaying landscapes, and children at play in dystopian backdrops, unaware, just going about their lives.

Each candid portrayal of a child, each scar of environmental injustice plaguing the earth, is a symbol of ongoing corporate greed, and a masterful fusion of futures transforming the landscape into an intimate battleground. Through these works, Dorsey challenges us to consider the true cost of progress and unchecked power.

The Ballad of Human Movement is an exhibit that will fill your heart with pride for our little city. People have come from all over the world to make Utica their homes. Stories like The New York Times article "How Refugees Transformed a Dying Rust Belt Town" brought Utica into the spotlight, and the Gannett Gallery is thrilled to present a celebration of what makes our city so special. There will also be a free film screening of "Utica: The Last Refuge" on Saturday, October 25, at 2:00 p.m. in the Kunsela Hall Auditorium on the SUNY Poly campus.

Opening Reception: Friday, 10/10/2025 5:00-7:00
Event website: https//balladofhumanmovement.net