Prince,” an exhibit of prints by New York artist Nicole Eisenman (SHS 1983), remains on view in UMCA’s main exhibit area. But two smaller shows can also be seen through May 5, including “From My Heart to You — Dance and the Unifying Force of Social Consciousness,” and a new exhibit, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place — Transportive Art.”

“From My Heart to You” centers on photographs of Pearl Primus, the seminal African-American dancer and choreographer of the mid-20th century who danced at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket and lived in the Valley in the 1980s, when she taught ethnic studies at UMass. The show, which includes paintings, film and other work by other artists, reflects on the transformative nature of dance and “the role of imagination in creating positive social change,” as program notes put it.

And following months of COVID lockdowns, fears and related strife, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” offers a selection of work by various artists that’s designed to give viewers a means of escape — as exhibit notes put it, “taking us out of ourselves and into another realm.”

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