Opalka Gallery returns with big ideas & big block parties

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Hey, 518 readers! Today, we’re heading to one of the Capital Region’s real cultural gems: The Opalka Gallery at Russell Sage College. It consistently brings in smart, surprising contemporary art—and one of the best times to experience the gallery is during its annual Pop-Up Beer Garden Series, when bands, brews, and good food spill out onto the lawn.

🍸️ We’re also excited for this month’s 518 Dinner Club, happening Thursday in downtown Troy. Reservations are officially closed, but be sure to get on the list for the next gathering. This month’s dinner is generously sponsored by Emry’s Garden and The Berlin—two of our favorite spots in the heart of Troy.

—Phat X. Chiem & Karley Sullivan

Opalka’s new fall season: Big ideas and big block parties 🖼️ 🎸 

Opalka Gallery opens its fall season next week, with a packed schedule of events anchored by a new exhibition and the return of its hugely popular Pop-Up Beer Garden series.

Opening Sept. 1, Light and Transient Causes is a group exhibition curated by independent curator Marisa Espe and inspired by a line from the Declaration of Independence: “Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.”

Although the show is loosely tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary, Marisa says she wasn’t interested in making a sweeping statement about America. Instead, she assembled regional and national artists whose work approaches history, identity, resistance and resilience in more subtle ways.

“There could never be a singular, definitive statement about America,” says Marisa, who is also the director of communications at the Albany Institute of History and Art. “It’s pluralistic. It's multi-vocal. It’s confusing.”

With the intent of incorporating a multitude of perspectives, the 10-artist show includes painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, and video installations. Among the artists featured is Paul Miyamoto, a longtime RPI professor whose recent paintings draw inspiration from his Japanese grandparents. They worked as itinerant farmers in Central California, and endured the institutional racism of the internment camps during World War II.

His spare landscape paintings convey “the psychological barriers of the mountains and the kind of emptiness and loneliness of those conditions,” Marisa says.

Light and Transient Causes asks you to linger and consider the many conflicting meanings infused into the American experience. 

Opalka’s returning Pop-Up Beer Gardens also offers another reason to stay awhile.

The outdoor series runs three consecutive Fridays—Sept. 4, 11 and 18, from 6 to 9 pm—turning the gallery grounds into a block party with local bands, food trucks, lawn games and art. The exhibition’s opening reception is on Sept. 11, while the makers market is on Sept. 18.

The music lineup includes Super 400, Melora Creager with Ryder Cooley, Dust Bowl Faeries, Joseph Biss, Swamp Baby and JJ’s OK.

Opalka director Amy Griffin says the gallery’s new season is unusual for its scope.

“I'm excited for everyone to see the gorgeous and thought-provoking new exhibition that talented curator Marisa Espe has put together,” she says. “To complement it, we have loaded the semester with more events than ever, with expanded music and literary performances and collaborations with other arts organizations. And of course, it all kicks off with First Friday and our Pop-Up Beer Gardens outside the gallery on the first three Fridays of September!”

The deets: Light and Transient Causes opens Sept. 1 and runs through Dec. 5 at Opalka Gallery, on the Russell Sage campus, at 140 New Scotland Ave, Albany. There will be several events tied to the exhibition, including a collab event with the New York Writers Institute and a culinary experience with The Dishing Studio.

And don’t miss the Pop-Up Beer Garden Series:

Friday, Sept. 4: First Friday Albany
Bands: Super 400, Melora Creager with special guest Ryder Cooley
Brewers: Druthers, Frog Alley
Food: Dotty Lou’s BBQ, Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen

Friday, Sept. 11: Gallery Opening Reception
Bands: Dust Bowl Faeries, Joseph Biss
Brewers: Mean Max, Common Roots
Food: La Capital Tacos, Euro Delicacies

Friday, Sept. 18: Student Appreciation | Art Market
Bands: Swamp Baby, JJ’s OK
Brewers: Allied Brewing, Fort Orange Brewing
Food: Slidin Dirty, Mi Casa

A word from our sponsor

The Counter is a play by Meghan Kennedy about an unlikely friendship that develops between a lonely waitress, Katie, and a regular customer, Paul, a retired firefighter, at a small town diner in upstate New York.

Their casual morning conversations evolve into a deep, life-affirming bond as they share secrets, culminating in a shocking request from Paul that forces them both to confront their grief and find hope through human connection. Directed by Harbinger Theatre founder Patrick White, the play premiered Off-Broadway in 2024. It’s Harbinger Theater’s 21st Capital Region premiere, and is known for its intimate, moving, and provocative exploration of loneliness and connection. Runs Sept. 17-26.

🍪 The Cookie Factory has closed its retail locations in Clifton Park and Troy, but you can still get their cookies at Hannaford and Stewart’s Shops. [News10]

🔈️ Beginning Sept. 2 at EMPAC, TOPOS 2026 explores music as more than performance—it’s a way of making sense of memory, identity and the stories we tell about ourselves. Through concerts, films, podcasts and conversation, artists including Vijay Iyer, Wadada Leo Smith, Miho Hatori and Fred Moten create a festival built around deep listening and the possibility of imagining a less fractured future.

🎸 An entire festival dedicated to the paw paw? And it’s local? Count us in! The New York Paw Paw Festival takes place Sept. 26-27, at the Magic Forest Farm in Coeymans Hollow. There will be live music, workshops, and tastings, of course!

This noble Colonial on two acres is flush with refined details, including shining wood floors, natural slate, and wall-length windows. The whole family lives like royalty with 5 grand bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms, and the practical updates make this lovely home a solid investment for years to come. There’s a new roof, freshly concreted basement and foundation, and the garage just just been painted inside and out with its own concrete floor. There’s also a new boiler in the basement and fresh insulation in the attic. The cherry on top: downtown Troy’s cool shops and eateries are mere minutes away.

The deets: 5 bd, 4 ba, 5598 sq. ft. Asking: $750,000. Days on market: 7. See the full listing here.

TOP 5 PICKS

⭐️ 🖼️ Set a Scene: Places, Spaces, Without Spaces | This juried exhibition at Context Collective brings together Capital Region artists exploring how landscapes, interiors, architecture, maps and imagined environments can tell stories—all without depicting people. Opening reception on Friday, 6-9p, free. Exhibition runs through Oct. 10.

⭐️ 📚️ The Rough Notes Festival | This inaugural book fest turns Kinderhook into a three-day celebration of storytelling. Highlights include an opening-night performance with comedian Tig Notaro, plus an intimate evening of live music with Natalie Merchant. Unfortunately, those two marquee events are SOLD OUT but there are tickets available for the rest of the festival. Fri-Sun, various times & admission prices.

⭐️ 🏮 Autumn Glow Festival | The annual festival of lights returns to Mabee Farm in Rotterdam Junction on Thursday evening, transforming the historic site with hundreds of handcrafted Chinese lanterns, interactive light displays, live entertainment, vendors and food. The festival runs Thursdays through Sundays from 6:30-10p each night, through Nov. 1. Tix start at $14.99, and children under 3 are free.

⭐️ 🥃 Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy | This cocktail-focused experience brings four of Poe’s most famous tales—including The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven and The Masque of the Red Death—to life in a 90-minute immersive theater experience at The Egg. Each story is paired with a themed cocktail, with zero-proof options available, for a gothic night of storytelling, suspense and drinks. Guests must be 21+. Fri, 10p; Sat, 12p; Sun, 2p. $55/person.

⭐️ 🎡 Washington County Fair | Unlike other modern-day county fairs, this one still takes the “county” part seriously, with a heavy emphasis on livestock competitions, 4-H exhibits, farm demos and even the chance to see calves being born at its popular Big Push exhibit. Add demolition derbies, tractor pulls, live music, carnival rides and plenty of greasy fair food, and it’s an old-school county fair that’s worth the drive from Albany. Through Sunday. Tix: $15 adults; free for kids 13 and under; $30 all-you-can-ride bands.

🎭️ AT THE THEATER

• 13 The Musical explores the joys and agonies of being a teenager. At Cohoes Music Hall. Aug. 21-30.

• The Park Playhouse presents Elephant & Piggie: We Are in a Play. Free shows through Aug. 28.

• Get tix to Harbinger Theatre’s The Counter, about a lonely waitress who befriends a regular customer. Starting Sept. 17.

WEDNESDAY

🎬️ Bring some lawn chairs and a picnic, and watch the cult classic, The Goonies, under the stars at Albany’s West Capitol Park.

🍝 Join the Albany County Land Bank and the City of Albany for “Let’s Talk Over Dinner,” a casual evening of good food, conversation, and community.

💃 Line dancing at the New York State Museum? Yup. Everyone’s invited to try out their best country dance moves at this free event.

🍿 Albany’s Palace Theatre hosts a free screening of SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.

THURSDAY

🎉 Get to Arbor Hill for the free I Love Albany 2nd Street Block Party.

🧘‍♂️ Experience yoga during the golden hour at Evermore Hall’s Sunset Sessions.

FRIDAY

🍺 Allied Brewing Company invites you to a Full Moon Jam Party with cold beer and good music from Raisinhead.

🎸 Lost Radio Rounders performs at the Valley Falls Free Library.

SATURDAY

🧑🏾‍🌾 Tour Soul Fire Farms, an Afro-Indigenous-centered community farm and training center that connects regenerative agriculture with food justice, racial equity and land sovereignty.

🖼️ The Arkell Museum hosts an artists reception with free museum admission, light bites, prosecco, and live music.

🥒 Celebrate all things pickle at the popular Picklepalooza (say that 5 times) at Indian Ladder Farms. Sat & Sun.

🐎 It’s Travers Day at the Saratoga Race Course!

🎭️ Improv teams duke it out for laughs and bragging rights at Mopco’s Theatresports.

🎛️ The Allissa Show presents Ladies of the Arts Festival, featuring 12 vendors at KBK Studios in Troy.

SUNDAY

👕 Circus and Honest Weight Food Co-Op invite you to this free BYOS (bring-your-own-shirt) screening printing event.

MONDAY

Get to Albany’s Clinton Market for Beats & Eats, featuring DJ Hollyw8d and the Reel Hot Stuff and Butta food truck.

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

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Our rolling deadline is the Saturday before your event!

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