About the Exhibition  

What makes someone leave family, friends, and a familiar way of life behind? What would it take for you to say goodbye to the people you love and embark on a journey to a place you have never seen, many miles from your home? The decision to leave can be both the most frightening and the bravest step of a lifetime. Often such moves are seen as taking steps to improve one’s circumstances. Yet, for many people, the decision to relocate is often made because one’s survival depends on it. In those instances, our bodies carry us forward—our small steps, the breath rising and falling in our chests, build into a journey of significance. These physical movements can ultimately reverberate over generations, altering the fabric of societies, creating new communities, and melding cultures.  

Guest-curated by the artist ransome, the 2025 iteration of the Dorsky Museum’s annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibition explores the theme of “Movement” from multiple perspectives. Interested artists are invited to submit artwork in which they interpret movement through the lens of migration, immigration, place, political displacement, social change, isolation, or physical motion itself. 
 

About the Curator 

In both representational and abstract work, ransome’s mixed-media work imbues personal narratives with symbols alluding to larger social, racial, ancestral, economic, and political histories. Focusing on his family lineage of African-American sharecroppers who migrated to northeastern cities from the American South, ransome often combines acrylic paint with collage elements and found or handmade paper, incorporating the rhythmic properties and spontaneity of jazz and hip-hop music with the resourcefulness of Gee's Bend quilters. As a statement on the legacy and resilience of people who made something out of nothing, each piece speaks to the struggle, hope, pain, joy, and soul of folks in the black community. ransome's work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions and is in both private and public art collections. He has a BFA from Pratt Institute and an MFA from Lesley University. He has taught at Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, and Syracuse University, where he served as a tenured professor. 
 

Submission guidelines 

• The Hudson Valley Artists exhibition is open to all artists with a permanent mailing address and active fine art practice in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties.  
• Students and the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art staff, advisory board members, and their immediate families are not eligible.  
• Eligible artists are invited to submit a maximum of six images or video files of work created in 2021 or later.  
• All types of fine art and all art mediums will be considered.  
• Brief proposals for new works including installation, social practice, or performance may also be submitted. The Museum will not cover the material expenses related to producing a new work.  
• There is no application fee. 
• The Hudson Valley Artists Annual Purchase Award of $3,000 will be used to acquire one or more artworks from the exhibition for the Museum’s permanent collection. This Purchase Award is made possible thanks to the Alice and Horace Chandler Art Acquisition Fund.  

Submission Deadline: by midnight on Sunday, September 15. 

Artist submissions may only be made online by following this link or by copying the following URL into your browser:  dorskymuseum.submittable.com/submit/300774/movement-hudson-valley-artists-2025 
 

Delivery of Accepted Work 

All works must be hand-delivered by the artist, or a representative of the artist, according to the following schedule:  

• Drop Off: December 16 and 17, 2024  
• Pick Up: April 17 - 18, 2025  

Accepted artists will be advised of specific drop-off and pick-up times. Please note that all accepted artworks must be delivered and picked up in person. The museum cannot accept artwork from delivery services, FedEx, UPS, or USPS. Any artworks left in the museum after April 18 will be subject to a storage fee.  
 

Installation  

All works selected for display must be framed or delivered in a manner ready for installation. For works that have complicated installation and deinstallation procedures, it is the responsibility of the artist to complete all necessary tasks. While The Dorsky Museum has a limited supply of equipment, it is the responsibility of the artist to supply any equipment for video projects, performance pieces and the like. 
 

About The Dorsky Museum  

Through its collections, exhibitions, and public programs, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art supports and enriches the academic programs at the College and serves as a center for Hudson Valley arts and culture. With more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries, The Dorsky Museum is one of the largest museums in the SUNY system. Since its official dedication in 2001, The Dorsky has presented more than 100 exhibitions, including commissions, collection-based projects, and in-depth studies of contemporary artists including Robert Morris, Alice Neel, Judy Pfaff, Carolee Schneemann, and Ushio Shinohara.  

Museum Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, holidays and intersessions. For more information about The Dorsky Museum and its programs, visit www.newpaltz.edu/museum or call (845) 257-3844.