Mapping Albany’s hidden stories at ‘Compass Roses’ 📌

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Happy Monday, Capital Region! Today, we’re taking you to Opalka Gallery for its latest show, Compass Roses: Maps by Artists – Albany. Some 30 local artists (including Karley!) have been invited to draw their personal maps of the city with no limitations on where their creative wanderings take them. Fair warning—there are maps made from the smells of the city 😅 

Also, be sure to check out our new Live Music & More listings, now hosted separately on our website. You knew we had a whole website where we archive every story we’ve ever published, didn’t cha?

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

Mapping Albany’s hidden stories at ‘Compass Roses’ 📌 

We’re obsessed with maps. Especially old, archival maps. The background for our newsletter header is taken from this 1857 map of Albany. 

If you’re as fascinated with maps as we are, you need to make a beeline for Opalka Gallery to see its latest exhibition, Compass Roses: Maps by Artists–Albany.

Featuring 30 visual, audio and performing artists from across the Capital Region (including our very own Karley), the show invites us to reimagine Albany through maps drawn from local histories, personal memories, and community stories. 

This installment of Compass Roses is the third stop in a national project dreamed up by curators Renee Piechocki and Nadine Wasserman.

“There’s this idea that maps are objective,” Renee tells us, “but they’re not. They’re about choices—what gets included, and what gets erased.”

In fact, the project was born in 2020 in Pittsburgh, sparked by frustration over tourist maps that left out entire neighborhoods, especially Black and marginalized neighborhoods. Since then, Compass Roses has grown into a creative platform for artists to tell stories about the places they live, and to chart emotional, historical, and even sensory landscapes.

For instance, the Albany edition includes not one but two maps based on the smells of the city. Maura Jasper mapped out all the chairs she bought on Facebook Marketplace—and installed them in the gallery. Sarah Michelle Sherman maps out a "walking confessional" with stops for “heartbreak, trauma, grief, identity, and moments of transformation." Aiesha Turman traces Black Albany “across time, memory, and possibility.”

You can preview all of the maps here.

Nadine, who lived in Albany for a decade, championed the city for this iteration. “Albany is a place people outside the area often overlook,” she says. “But it’s beautiful, layered, and full of incredibly talented artists. This project is a way to highlight that.”

In a move that builds community into the project itself, half the artists were invited by the curators—and the other half were chosen by these same artists. The result is a cross-section of Albany’s creative scene, each offering their own intimate, powerful perspective of the city.

Each installation also has an accompanying hard-copy version for viewers to take away. And several of the artists are planning walking tours based on their maps.

Compass Roses runs through Oct. 11, with free takeaway maps, a map-making station, and related events, including a scavenger hunt (Sept. 13), artist talks, and a drag show with Typhoid Mary (Sept. 29). See the full schedule here.

The deets: See the maps and meet the artists this Friday at the opening reception for Compass Roses, 6-9p. Opalka Gallery at Russell Sage College, 140 New Scotland Ave, Albany.

The reception is part of Opalka’s Pop-Up Beer Garden Series. Friday’s event features performances by Sirsy and Charming Disaster, beverages by Mean Max and Allied Brewing, and good eats by La Capital Tacos, Euro Delicacies, and Kona Ice.

Btw, read this insightful interview with Opalka Gallery director Amy Griffin and Corey Aldrich of the Upstate Alliance for the Creative Economy.

WAMM Fest 2025 celebrates women making music

What started as a monthly jam in a small Troy gallery is now becoming one of the Capital Region’s most meaningful music events. On Sunday, WAMM Fest 2025 makes its debut at The Hangar on Hudson, celebrating the community of women in music.

Founded and produced by Niki Kaos, a lifelong Capital Region musician and organizer, WAMM Fest grew from the revived Women Are Making Music (WAMM) collective—a grassroots effort to create safer, more supportive spaces for women in the local music scene.

“I was just tired of the treatment I was receiving in certain spaces,” Niki tells us. “I heard other women saying the same thing. So we started gathering, sharing resources, lifting each other up. It was clear: We had to do more.”

The result is a genre-spanning festival spotlighting artists like Shannon Tehya and the Troupe, Kitty Rodeo, Luminous Crush, The Va Va Voodoos, Gloria Duo, Amy-Lin Slezak, and others—many of whom have grown directly out of the WAMM community. 

“They’re not just performing,” Niki says. “They’ve been building this with me.”

The event also features a vendor village of women-owned businesses, food, an acoustic stage, and voter education from the League of Women Voters.

🎟 WAMM Fest 2025
📍 The Hangar on the Hudson, 675 River St, Troy
🗓 Sunday, Sept. 14 | 1–7:30p
 💵 $25 presale at WAMM518.com or $20 cash by emailing Niki directly at [email protected].
 📣 Follow: facebook.com/groups/wamm518

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📍The Albany Business Review is out with its annual rankings of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the Capital Region. The publication also ranked the top 10 ZIP codes by college education and home values. And the award goes to… [Albany Business Review]

🐈️ Are you in the market to foster a feline pet? Get to Hoosick Falls, which is struggling to control a feral cat problem. The kitty surge is straining local shelters and cat rescues that are already under-resourced. One of those nonprofits, Kimmy’s Corner, is planning a craft fair fundraiser on Sept. 14 at Wood Park. [Times Union]

🏃‍♂️ Looking to lose a few pounds before the holidays? Register for the upcoming Troy Turkey Trot or the Oktoberfest 5K Albany.

🏋️‍♂️ Btw, we’ve partnered with CrossFit Beyond in Albany to offer our subscribers an exclusive free week of classes to jumpstart their fitness goals before the end of the year. Sign up here!

Built in 1871, this Italianate (arguably, the most elegant architectural style) home reminds us of our own beloved 1874 row house! Here, the original moldings, handsome built-in bookshelves, pocket doors, and marble mantels are complemented by modern upgrades like central A/C, skylights, and newer kitchen and laundry appliances. The upstairs bath combines cute with character, featuring vintage tile and a practical walk-in tub. The basement apartment (sorry folks, we just can’t call it a “garden” apartment) is great for extra income or when the in-laws come to town.

A rooftop perch offers sweeping views of sunsets and fireworks, while the backyard deck and courtyard is a quiet retreat bursting with mature hydrangea and forsythia. This is a charming home for the buyer who values both a sense of community and Albany’s architectural legacy.

The deets: 4 bd, 2 ba, 2394 sf. Asking: $380,000. Days on market: 5. See the full listing here.

Our full weekend roundup publishes every Thursday. Be sure to check your inboxes!

🎸 One of Albany’s biggest street festivals of the year returns Saturday with Pearlpalooza! This year’s headliners include Rubblebucket, Dave Gutter, The Happy Fits, and the Ky McClinton Band. And don’t forget about Yogapalooza, kicking off at 11 am. Be sure to register for the yoga!

🍷 The 31st annual Capital Apple & Wine Festival takes over the Columbia County Fairgrounds in Chatham this weekend. Celebrate the best that New York State has to offer, including apples, wines, artisan foods and handcrafted goods.

😂 Starting Tuesday, the Capital Region’s Funniest Comic attempts to crown a winner among the 50 best comedians in town.

🖼️ Natalie Boburka and Leslie Yolen invite you to “Primal Elements,” their new exhibition opening Tuesday at the new gallery at Hilltown Commons, 63 Huyck Road Rensselaerville.

🍺 On Wednesday, get to the Empire State Plaza for the annual Hops & Harvest Festival, featuring bluegrass legends Keller Williams' Grateful Grass, the folksy Old Hat Stringband, and The Slocan Ramblers, bluegrass band to watch! Oh, there’s also a pie-eating contest 🥧 

😆 On Thursday, Found Footage Fest presents Porcelain VHS Treasures, a live comedy show with thrift store VHS tapes, playing at Proctors.

☠️ The always worthwhile Albany Twilight Market returns to Quackenbush Square on Saturday.

🐕️🍺 Bring your pup to Grafton Lakes State Park for Bark ‘n Brew on Saturday, featuring a guided hike, agility course, assorted animal care vendors, live music, raffle, and more!

✈️ It’s not every day that you get to run on an actual airport tarmac. But you can do just that at Run the Runway at Schenectady County on Saturday.

🇺🇦 Also Saturday, get to the Ukrainian Festival for vareniki (stuffed dumplings), golubtsy (stuffed cabbage), and other iconic dishes.

🍺 SingleCut North Tap Room invites you to their Oktoberfest on Saturday.

🍎 The 2025 Tasting on the Hudson is at the beautiful Hudson Crossing Park in Schuylerville on Saturday.

🌮 Also Saturday, the Hispanic Heritage Celebration takes over the Empire State Plaza.

👨‍🎓 The Comeuppance at Cohoes Music Hall is a humorous look at a group of millennials on the occasion of their 20th high school reunion, playing Sept. 5-14.

🍁 This weekend, Shaker Heritage Society hosts its Fall Harvest Craft Fair.

🖼️ On view now: Liberation and For Life at the Albany Institute of History & Art celebrates 50 years of Black Dimensions in Art, showcasing 90+ artists and 100+ works that will surely open your mind and imagination. Meanwhile, the Tang Museum’s Up to Us highlights BDA’s powerful legacy with archival materials from 1975 to the future.

COMING UP

🌓 Get your tickets for next week’s The MoonCatcher Project Annual Wine and Cheese Party and help end period poverty in the Capital Region and abroad.

Our music listings are now published separately on The 518 website. Click here.

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