Saturday, December 3, 2011

Windows Project: Elisabeth Meyer: Black Night/White Night
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The Window Project features an installation by Elisabeth Meyer consisting of organic forms embroidered onto an organza fabric. The overall patterning evokes an association with ocean waves and a net. The transparent quality of the organza background allows the viewer to see through the piece that is hanging from the ceiling covering the entire window front. The work addresses the issue of displacement through traveling. Meyer, who is based in Ithaca, developed the concept for this exhibition while at a residency in Iceland, traveled to India to oversee the production of the embroidery, and created the work on site in Syracuse.

Learning to Write American: Works by Jennifer Drinkwater
Redhouse

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

These incredibly innovative pieces directly involve the viewer to create meaning, through imagining the missing term, through opening compartments of the painting to explore what is hidden beneath the surface, or by rearranging magnets to create a composition.

Read a review!

Sculpted Sound: From Art to Wood to Music -- Works of John & Sondra Bromka
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

For more information, phone 315-445-4153.

"Off the Wall" Holiday Art Sale
Associated Artists of Central New York

Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Dies Irae
Echo

745 N. Salina St. (formerly Craft Chemistry)
Syracuse

Dies Irae, a group show with Thomas Ward III, Heidi Josephine, and Nik Moore featuring a mix of collaborative and original paintings.

Untold Stories
Edgewood Gallery

Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Featuring the diverse works of Alison Fisher: acrylic and mixed media paintings; jewelry made of unique mixed metals and found objects; one-of-a-kind textiles including handbags, scarves, pillows, and throws.

26th Annual Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 children, members free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The museums transforms into a festive 1800s street scene with more than 40 gingerbread creations in storefront windows.

Festival of Trees: Inspiration
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $8 online presale, $10 at the door
Shoppingtown Mall
Dewitt

Entrance next to Library/Theater mall entrance.

The Everson Museum of Art Members' Council presents this 10-day festival featuring over 100 decorated trees, wreathes and special displays. Each item is generously donated by local businesses, community groups, and individuals, and all items are sold to benefit the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors take in the beautiful sights, purchase decorative items, and pick up tips for their own creations. Special events and live entertainment make the Festival truly special. All proceeds directly benefit the Everson Museum of Art.

From Here to There: Alec Soth's America
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $10 regular, $8 students/seniors/military, members and children under 5 free
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

"From Here to There: Alec Soth's America" provides a focused look at an extraordinary photographer whose compelling images of the American road and its unexpected turns form powerful narrative vignettes. The exhibition will be the artist's first major survey assembled in the United States, exploring over 15 years of his career, and including an extensive new body of work.

Since his inclusion in the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo biennials, Soth's reputation as one of the most interesting voices in contemporary photography has continued to grow. Though he has followed the itinerant path laid forth by photographers such as Robert Frank, William Eggleston, and Stephen Shore, Soth's is a distinct perspective, one in which the wandering, searching, and the process of telling is as resonant as the record of these remarkable encounters. When considered together, Soth's pictures probe the individualities of people, objects, and places he encounters; offer insight to broader sociologies, and in the process form a collective portrait of an unexpected America.

Featuring approximately 100 photographs made between 1994 and the present, "From Here to There" will include rarely-seen early black-and-white images as well as examples from Soth's best-known series "Sleeping by the Mississippi" and "Niagara." Interspersed throughout the exhibition will be a broad range of portraits made over the past 15 years. The exhibition will also include a new body of work the artist has been developing since 2006, exploring places of escape in America and individuals who seek to flee civilization for a life off the grid. To add insight into Soth's process, the exhibition additionally features a Library space, which includes a reading area for publications, a selection of maquettes for book and 'zine projects, short video works, and ephemera gathered on the road.

Margie Hughto: A Fired Landscape
Everson Museum of Art

Price: Suggested donation, $5, adults
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Internationally renowned ceramic artist Margie Hughto presents her first site-specific museum installation entitled A Fired Landscape, a "clay painting" spanning 50 feet of gallery wall space. Inspired by the artist's spectacular backyard gardens and natural landscape just steps from her studio, The Fired Landscape installation consists of Setting Sun, a brilliantly colored ceramic wall relief displayed continuously on five angled walls. The visitor encounter is reminiscent of what one experiences when surrounded by the natural environment. Overall, Setting Sun is a ceramic abstraction, but Hughto establishes a connection to the landscape that inspired it by adding impressions of natural objects such as native ferns, marine life and fossils, into the wet clay and then coating the surfaces with brilliant color. The rich palette of burnt oranges and fiery reds evoke the sun’s glowing light and radiating warmth. Tiny pieces of glass embedded in the clay prior to firing add sparkle to the glossy green and blue glazes used to suggest the artist's lily pond.

Expressions of Joy: Annual Holiday Show
Gallery 54

Gallery 54
54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Fine art and fine craft created by local artists.

Gifts for the Home
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of home décor? Then check out this exhibition featuring original watercolors, wooden clocks and spoons, ceramic mugs, blown glass vases, and other handcrafted gifts at a variety of price points.

Artists represented include:
Lucie Wellner, of Pompey, watercolor paintings
Dennis MacDonald, of Fabius, brooms
Emily Reason, of Marshall, N.C., porcelain pottery
Rick Barrick, of Lancaster, Pa., candles
Jonathan Simons, of Kempton, Pa., wooden spoons
Schlabaugh & Sons, of Kalona, Iowa, clocks

Holiday Crafts Spectacular

Price: $5
New York State Fairgrounds
581 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse

125 artisans and crafters.

41st Annual Plowshares Craftsfair

Price: $2-$5 sliding scale. under 16 and over 65 free.
Nottingham High School
3100 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Enjoy live entertainment and good food while you shop. Check out 120 local craftspeople and community groups in a family-friendly environment. Crafts are available at prices affordable for any budget.

Nature Inspired
Szozda Gallery

Szozda Gallery
Delavan Center, 501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Painter C. Wilkinson and husband, potter Bruce Thomas combine their dual talents in painting and clay to produce "Nature Inspired."

Cathy and Bruce Thomas are a husband and wife team of artists who often influence each other's paintings and pottery. "Nature Inspired" marks the third time the couple has shown together, though each has been at their crafts for most of their 37 married years. Early in their separate careers, each one was better known for their distinct styles. Cathy painted under the name of C. Wilkinson and her subject matter was rarely nature based. "Rather," she says, "I was more in the pop art/realism and sometimes trompe l'oeil style. My works were more like high heel shoes or lipsticks." Bruce was always a naturalist and had much success in publishing his nature photos in various magazines, such as National Wild Life, Audubon, Natural History Magazine and Sierra Club. His long-time interest in pottery eventually led him to study under noted ceramicist Vincent Clemente. Cathy says that inspiration from both Bruce's photography and pottery have influenced the couple's desire to combine efforts to work together in creating "many pieces based on his love of nature and my love for him."

Read a review!

African Diasporan Treasures: 40 Years of Community Folk Art Center
Community Folk Art Center

Price: Free
Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The exhibition will showcase pieces from CFAC's permanent collection. Featuring over 30 works by artists including Joel Gaines, Ellen Oppler, Jack White, Denise Cole and Kamiiron Pritchard, "African Diasporan Treasures" provides a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the rich artistic history of CFAC. In many cases, the pieces have not been displayed for decades. The show will also feature African art that was once part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection.

Holiday Show 2011
Gandee Gallery

Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

There will be an opening Reception this evening 6:00-8:00 pm.

The Holiday Show features jewelry, ceramics, photography, painting, and fiber art created by regionally and nationally recognized artists. Participating artists include Dana Stenson (Syracuse), Jen Gandee (Fabius), Jeanann Wieners (Syracuse), Elisabeth Groat (Syracuse), Sarah Saulson (Syracuse), Lucie Wellner (Pompey), and Errol Willett (Fabius).

The Holiday Group Show emphasizes the important role that handmade objects and fine art plays in domestic life, enriching living spaces and adorning the body.

57th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts, Inc.

City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Our gift shop of fine art and crafts handmade by local guild and independent artists is Syracuse's one-stop shopping haven during the holiday season. Find unique pottery, stained glass, paintings, jewelry, hand-crafted soaps and candles, and much more.

For more information, phone 315-243-6359 or 315-637-6562.

Landmarks of New York
Onondaga Historical Association

Price: Free
Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Landmarks of New York is a traveling exhibit of 90 stunning black and white photographs of New York City buildings that have been accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The exhibit is curated by Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, New York City's first director of cultural affairs and acclaimed author of the book that serves as the basis for the exhibit, The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Building. In conjunction with the show, Dennis Connors, OHA's Curator of History, selected over 20 contemporary and historic photographs to highlight Onondaga County's own architectural inheritance.

Sources & Structures: The Art of Robert Stackhouse
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

This 25-year retrospective, organized by the SUArt Galleries, surveys the development of Robert Stackhouse as an artist. In addition to investigating the roots of his best-known imagery -- Viking ships, whales, snakes, and wood A-frame constructs -- this exhibition examines how he conceives of these designs through his drawings, watercolors, and prints. "Sources and Structures" considers how Stackhouse has made a personal examination of these natural and man-made forms and developed a body of work that explores affinities between architecture and biological anatomy.

Emilio Sanchez: No Way Home--Images of the Caribbean and New York City
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"No Way Home" features a selection of 24 paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints drawn from the recently acquired collection of work by Cuban-American artist Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999). Best known for his brightly colored, strongly shadowed images of Caribbean and New York City architecture, this exhibition reveals the artist's ongoing interest in repetitive patterns. The show highlights a recent gift to the University Art Collection from the Emilio Sanchez Foundation of over 250 paintings, drawings and prints.

Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World
Syracuse University Art Museum

Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World" examines how depictions of the railroad transformed our perception of the railroad industry. Whether the purpose of an artistic work was to entertain the viewer, to provide cultural commentary, or to call attention to the railroad's impact on the economic climate, each one inevitably had an effect on the way the audience viewed and understood the railroad in modern society.

In partnership with the Syracuse University Art Galleries and the Special Collections Research Center, the students enrolled in the Advanced Curatorship course in the Graduate Program in Museum Studies have worked together to thematically demonstrate visual testimonies to the railroad's reign over the industrialized world.

Daughters of Ixchel: The Photography of Mary Lawyer O'Connor
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

"Daughters of Ixchel" is a collection of images of Maya women and their hand-woven textiles that brings awareness and understanding of vibrant Maya cultures and the challenges they face. The exhibit will be a look into the lives of women weavers from Guatemala and Southern Mexico. Portrait and documentary photography along with text will tell their stories and will include original textiles. We will highlight fair-trade, worker-owned cooperatives and the political history of Guatemala where, despite persecution and genocide, Maya weavers maintain traditional methods, patterns, colors and styles that flourish and evolve.

Mary Lawyer O'Connor lives in Pompey and is a founder and current head of the Montessori School of Syracuse.

Deng Guo Yuan
The Warehouse Gallery

Price: Free
The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

This exhibit will highlight ink brush paintings by Tianjin-based Chinese artist Deng Guo Yuan. His work reveals the tradition of Chinese landscape painting and a profound knowledge of modern and international contemporary aesthetics. The film "Deng Guo Yuan" (2010) by French filmmaker Pierre Creton, presented in the Gallery's vault, meticulously documents the creation of one of Deng Guo Yuan's ink paintings in his Tianjin studio. Widely exhibited in China and Europe, this will be the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. The show originated at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts Museum (Tianjin, China), and then traveled in modified form to the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), to the Provenance Center (New London, CT), and to its last venue, the Warehouse Gallery, for which Deng Guo Yuan will create additional site-specific works.

Sculpture Club Exhibition
XL Projects

Price: Free
XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

A collaborative group show displaying a wide variety of work done by the undergraduate members of SU's Sculpture Club. With more than 20 artists being shown, the exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to see the vast array of artwork students have been creating in the sculptural field. The show is curated by Alex Svoboda and Sarah Whitehouse.

Always After (the Glass House)
Urban Video Project

Price: Free
Everson Museum of Art Plaza
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Urban Video Project is pleased to present Always After (the Glass House), 2006, by internationally recognized multimedia artist, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle.

Employing footage shot on a high-speed film camera, Always After focuses on the broken glass accumulated after the windows of the Mies-designed Illinois Institute of Technology's Crown Hall were smashed by the architect's own grandson as part of a ceremony in advance of the building's renovation. Manglano-Ovalle scrupulously edits out all clear reference to this odd 'kill your fathers' ritual, leaving the viewer with a dream-like sequence in which well-shod anonymous masses eternally exit and equally anonymous custodians endlessly move in to sweep up the crystalline debris of modernism. The precise nature of the event--whether it is a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or just routine construction--never becomes clear. Instead, the narrative unfolds like a Jacob's ladder: never reaching the end, passing again and again through the point where modernist progress and crisis become indistinguishable--a point that is always already "after."

Nathaniel Sullivan: On the Way to the Theatre, We Egged a Trans-am
Urban Video Project

Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

In this 1 minute-23 second video, Sullivan depicts the pressures brought to bear in teenage boys--most of which are pressures to be pleased, injunctions to enjoy. While at first glance this looks like an easy row to hoe, the work makes it clear that in fact there are consequences to taking one's pleasures liberally, without reserve. As Plato said, pleasure deranges as efficiently as pain.

Nathaniel Sullivan is an artist and writer. He received his MFA degree from the Transmedia Department at Syracuse University in Spring 2011. His practice is a balance of artwork, critical writing, and curating. His work has been shown in exhibitions and screenings in Syracuse, New York City, and widely across Canada. In 2006, he was awarded a Special Mention from the prestigious Montreal Film Festival.

The Generic, No Holiday In Particular, Holiday Show
Salt City Improv Theater

Price: $5
Salt City Improv Theatre
Shoppingtown Mall, Sears Wing, Dewitt

It's that time of year, again, to celebrate...well...whatever it is you celebrate. Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, whatever it is Pagans do (we're pretty sure it has something to do with pregnant 'omen running naked, through the woods, during a full moon.) Heck, we're even inclined to give an ol’ shout-out to our Agnostic and Atheist friends ("Science!") So, join us for some holiday-like merriment. Featuring the short-form improv comedy of Pork Pie Hat (in the style of the hit TV show, Whose Line Is It, Anyway.) Also, the hilarious stand-up comedy of Tim O'Halloran.

For more information, phone 315-410-5471.

The Nutcracker
Syracuse City Ballet

Price: Adult tickets start at $15, child tickets $10
Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Tickets available through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 315-435-2121.

The Nutcracker
Syracuse City Ballet

Price: Adult tickets start at $15, child tickets $10
Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Tickets available through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 315-435-2121.

Le Moyne Student Dance Company
LeMoyne College

Price: $12 regular, $10 seniors, $4 students
Coyne Center for the Performing Arts
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

The Le Moyne Student Dance Company will present their end-of-semester performance, featuring the work of student and professional choreographers.

Reservations recommended. For more information, phone 315-445-4523.

Fractured Christmas Fairy Tale
Kellish Hill Farm

Price: $10
Kellish Hill Farm
3192 Pompey Center Rd., Pompey

This will not be your ordinary Christmas party! Everyone who attends will be involved. More details will be shared closer to the date, so keep this date open for this special event at Kellish Hill Farm.

SU Symphony Orchestra
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

Price: Free
Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Mozart Symphony No. 36 in C Major, KV 425, "Linz"
Gounod Ballet Music from "Faust"
Liszt Les préludes

Free parking is available in the Irving Garage; patrons should mention that they are attending the concert.

20 Years of Joy
Syracuse Gay and Lesbian Chorus
Glenn Kime, conductor

Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church
5299 Jamesville Rd., Dewitt

Come celebrate with us our commitment to bringing eclectic and entertaining choral music to the CNY community for the past 20 years!

A Christmas Carol
Open Hand Theater
The Puppet People

Price: $8 adults, $6 children
International Mask and Puppet Museum
518 Prospect Ave., Syracuse

Watch Mean Ol' Scrooge as he discovers Christmas is not a HUMBUG! This puppet spectacular features beautiful handcrafted marionettes, shadow puppets, gorgeous masks, lavish costumes, vivid sets, a professional soundtrack that includes many hoiday favorites, a giant 9-foot parade puppet and guaranteed smiles! Warm your hearts with Charles Dickens' holiday classic.

Read a review!

New Kid
Syracuse University Drama Department

Price: $5
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

New Kid promotes tolerance and compassion, and addresses racism, prejudice, peer pressure and conflict resolution from the perspective of Nick, who recently immigrated to America from a country called Homeland and is struggling with a new language and a new way of life. The kids at his new school make fun of him because of his customs and strange language. The twist is that the Americans speak a kind of gibberish which neither Nick nor the audience understand.

Performed in striking visual terms, New Kid offers an extraordinary opportunity for families to share a rich theatrical experience. The director, designers, performers, and production crew are students and professionals from Syracuse University's Department of Drama and Syracuse Stage.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at 315-443-3275. 45 minutes in length, New Kid is recommended for all ages.

Little Red Riding Hood
Magic Circle Children's Theatre

Price: $5
Spaghetti Warehouse
689 N. Clinton St., Syracuse

In this interactive version, the children in the audience are invited to come dressed up as fairytale characters, and become the witnesses, jury, and judge at the wolf's trial (for trying to trick Little Red and her Grandmother).

For reservations, phone 315-449-3823.

The Wiz
Redhouse

Price: $15 regular, $10 members
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

The award-winning musical based on the classic The Wizard of Oz, join Dorothy as she ventures from her home in Harlem to the funky, urban world of Oz. Presented in partnership with Hillside Family of Agencies.

Part of Redhouse's new "Theatre Experience" Program, this production of The Wiz is designed to provide experiential learning for students through production opportunities. Students participate in master classes and workshops taught by college professors and theater professionals which culminate in a professional production in which the students participate.

The Redhouse cast of The Wiz includes four professional actors from New York City in the lead roles: Joan Armstrong, Jasmine Torres, Evan Michael Smith, and Temar Underwood.

Local actors include Stephfond Brunson, Lonnie Lemar Johnson, H. Kevin Mobley, Jessica Skipper, Blondean Young, Brandon Martin and Lucy Di Genova.

The cast also includes young actors from the Hillside Agency. Hillside is an after school program for at-risk youth in need of support and guidance during the middle and high school years. Through a partnership with this organization, Redhouse now conducts an entire Arts Education curriculum for the Hillside facility and offers internship and performance opportunities for their kids.

Read a Review!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Linda Hartzell, director

Archbold Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Narnia comes to life in a mystical adventure, dramatized by Adrian Mitchell, with music composed by Shaun Davey.

London. The war is on and the bombs are falling. Four children -- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy -- flee the perils of the Blitz to the safety of the countryside. In an old wardrobe they discover a portal to the land of Narnia, where a fearsome White Witch holds the inhabitants spellbound in a winter lasting 100 years. There the children enter a deadly struggle, joining with the great lion, Aslan, to battle the White Witch and her army. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and rarely produced stateside, this thrilling musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis' inspiring tale delivers excitement for the whole family. Musical direction by Dianne Adams McDowell.

Read a Review!

Nuncrackers
Encore Presentations

Price: $37.25 dinner and show, $20 show only
Glen Loch Restaurant
4626 North St., Jamesville

Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical is the first "TV Special" taped by the sisters in their convent basement studio for Cable Access. It stars the nuns you love plus Father Virgil and some of Mt. Saint Helen's most talented students. It features all new songs including: Twelve Days Prior to Christmas, Santa Ain't Comin' To Our House, We Three Kings of Orient Are Us, and It's Better to Give Than To Receive. This show is filled with "Nunsense" humor, some of your favorite carols, a "Secret Santa," and an uproarious take on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet. Nuncrackers will make you laugh and maybe tug at your heartstrings. It's the perfect way to insure your holiday season is merry and bright.

Dinner begins at 6:30 pm; show at 8:00 pm.

Read a Review!

The Wiz
Redhouse

Price: $15 regular, $10 members
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

The award-winning musical based on the classic The Wizard of Oz, join Dorothy as she ventures from her home in Harlem to the funky, urban world of Oz. Presented in partnership with Hillside Family of Agencies.

Part of Redhouse's new "Theatre Experience" Program, this production of The Wiz is designed to provide experiential learning for students through production opportunities. Students participate in master classes and workshops taught by college professors and theater professionals which culminate in a professional production in which the students participate.

The Redhouse cast of The Wiz includes four professional actors from New York City in the lead roles: Joan Armstrong, Jasmine Torres, Evan Michael Smith, and Temar Underwood.

Local actors include Stephfond Brunson, Lonnie Lemar Johnson, H. Kevin Mobley, Jessica Skipper, Blondean Young, Brandon Martin and Lucy Di Genova.

The cast also includes young actors from the Hillside Agency. Hillside is an after school program for at-risk youth in need of support and guidance during the middle and high school years. Through a partnership with this organization, Redhouse now conducts an entire Arts Education curriculum for the Hillside facility and offers internship and performance opportunities for their kids.

Read a Review!

The Black Book
Black Box Players
Phil Blechman, director

Price: Free
Loft Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The Black Book is a suspense thriller that is, at its heart, a story about love and reason. Propelling audiences from the real world into the mind of the characters wherein we are forced to continuously question who is who and what is true. Black Box Players is very excited to produce this brand new original play, written and directed by a Syracuse student.

Read a review!

*SOLD OUT* Judy's Scary Little Christmas
Rarely Done Productions
Dan Tursi, director

Price: $20
Jazz Central
441 E. Washington St., Syracuse

Judy Garland is primed for her biggest comeback ever -- the dazzling star of her own TV special, broadcast live on Christmas Eve, 1959. Judy's guests include Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, and Liberace. However, mysterious snafus behind the scenes and cameo appearances by Vice President Richard Nixon and blacklisted writer, Lillian Hellman throw Judy's program off course.

The surprises climax when the arrival of Joan Crawford is interrupted by the spectral figure of...Death. The evening takes a detour into the twilight zone as the celebrities are forced to confront the lies behind their legends. Devastated and alone, Judy meets a special fan who ultimately proves that, despite her flaws, her shining legacy still endures. This show is intended for mature audiences only.

Written by James Webber and David Church, music and lyrics by Joe Patrick Ward, musical director Josh Smith

Read a Review!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Linda Hartzell, director

Archbold Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Narnia comes to life in a mystical adventure, dramatized by Adrian Mitchell, with music composed by Shaun Davey.

London. The war is on and the bombs are falling. Four children -- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy -- flee the perils of the Blitz to the safety of the countryside. In an old wardrobe they discover a portal to the land of Narnia, where a fearsome White Witch holds the inhabitants spellbound in a winter lasting 100 years. There the children enter a deadly struggle, joining with the great lion, Aslan, to battle the White Witch and her army. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and rarely produced stateside, this thrilling musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis' inspiring tale delivers excitement for the whole family. Musical direction by Dianne Adams McDowell.

Read a Review!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Windows Project: Elisabeth Meyer: Black Night/White Night
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The Window Project features an installation by Elisabeth Meyer consisting of organic forms embroidered onto an organza fabric. The overall patterning evokes an association with ocean waves and a net. The transparent quality of the organza background allows the viewer to see through the piece that is hanging from the ceiling covering the entire window front. The work addresses the issue of displacement through traveling. Meyer, who is based in Ithaca, developed the concept for this exhibition while at a residency in Iceland, traveled to India to oversee the production of the embroidery, and created the work on site in Syracuse.

26th Annual Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 children, members free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The museums transforms into a festive 1800s street scene with more than 40 gingerbread creations in storefront windows.

Festival of Trees: Inspiration
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $8 online presale, $10 at the door
Shoppingtown Mall
Dewitt

Entrance next to Library/Theater mall entrance.

The Everson Museum of Art Members' Council presents this 10-day festival featuring over 100 decorated trees, wreathes and special displays. Each item is generously donated by local businesses, community groups, and individuals, and all items are sold to benefit the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors take in the beautiful sights, purchase decorative items, and pick up tips for their own creations. Special events and live entertainment make the Festival truly special. All proceeds directly benefit the Everson Museum of Art.

VisualBooks: Works by Scott McCarney
Light Work Gallery

Price: Free
Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

This unique and beautiful exhibition explores the book as a sculptural object that employs a variety of image-making processes. McCarney's carefully hand-bound editions and found-altered books incorporate photographic imagery and utilize the space of the gallery to explore reading as display (on pedestals and shelves, hanging from the ceiling, mounted on the wall).

McCarney creates his sculptural objects and photo-based editions as one-of-a-kind, hand-made pieces as well as small runs of print-on-demand books. According to Hannah Frieser, director of Light Work, "Scott McCarney rethinks the book form, considering books as a starting point rather than a mere vehicle for information and images."

Read a review!

Holiday Crafts Spectacular

Price: $5
New York State Fairgrounds
581 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse

125 artisans and crafters.

Nature Inspired
Szozda Gallery

Szozda Gallery
Delavan Center, 501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Painter C. Wilkinson and husband, potter Bruce Thomas combine their dual talents in painting and clay to produce "Nature Inspired."

Cathy and Bruce Thomas are a husband and wife team of artists who often influence each other's paintings and pottery. "Nature Inspired" marks the third time the couple has shown together, though each has been at their crafts for most of their 37 married years. Early in their separate careers, each one was better known for their distinct styles. Cathy painted under the name of C. Wilkinson and her subject matter was rarely nature based. "Rather," she says, "I was more in the pop art/realism and sometimes trompe l'oeil style. My works were more like high heel shoes or lipsticks." Bruce was always a naturalist and had much success in publishing his nature photos in various magazines, such as National Wild Life, Audubon, Natural History Magazine and Sierra Club. His long-time interest in pottery eventually led him to study under noted ceramicist Vincent Clemente. Cathy says that inspiration from both Bruce's photography and pottery have influenced the couple's desire to combine efforts to work together in creating "many pieces based on his love of nature and my love for him."

Read a review!

Expressions of Joy: Annual Holiday Show
Gallery 54

Gallery 54
54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Fine art and fine craft created by local artists.

Holiday Show 2011
Gandee Gallery

Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

The Holiday Show features jewelry, ceramics, photography, painting, and fiber art created by regionally and nationally recognized artists. Participating artists include Dana Stenson (Syracuse), Jen Gandee (Fabius), Jeanann Wieners (Syracuse), Elisabeth Groat (Syracuse), Sarah Saulson (Syracuse), Lucie Wellner (Pompey), and Errol Willett (Fabius).

The Holiday Group Show emphasizes the important role that handmade objects and fine art plays in domestic life, enriching living spaces and adorning the body.

Gifts for the Home
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of home décor? Then check out this exhibition featuring original watercolors, wooden clocks and spoons, ceramic mugs, blown glass vases, and other handcrafted gifts at a variety of price points.

Artists represented include:
Lucie Wellner, of Pompey, watercolor paintings
Dennis MacDonald, of Fabius, brooms
Emily Reason, of Marshall, N.C., porcelain pottery
Rick Barrick, of Lancaster, Pa., candles
Jonathan Simons, of Kempton, Pa., wooden spoons
Schlabaugh & Sons, of Kalona, Iowa, clocks

41st Annual Plowshares Craftsfair

Price: $2-$5 sliding scale. under 16 and over 65 free.
Nottingham High School
3100 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Enjoy live entertainment and good food while you shop. Check out 120 local craftspeople and community groups in a family-friendly environment. Crafts are available at prices affordable for any budget.

Landmarks of New York
Onondaga Historical Association

Price: Free
Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Landmarks of New York is a traveling exhibit of 90 stunning black and white photographs of New York City buildings that have been accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The exhibit is curated by Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, New York City's first director of cultural affairs and acclaimed author of the book that serves as the basis for the exhibit, The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Building. In conjunction with the show, Dennis Connors, OHA's Curator of History, selected over 20 contemporary and historic photographs to highlight Onondaga County's own architectural inheritance.

Emilio Sanchez: No Way Home--Images of the Caribbean and New York City
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"No Way Home" features a selection of 24 paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints drawn from the recently acquired collection of work by Cuban-American artist Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999). Best known for his brightly colored, strongly shadowed images of Caribbean and New York City architecture, this exhibition reveals the artist's ongoing interest in repetitive patterns. The show highlights a recent gift to the University Art Collection from the Emilio Sanchez Foundation of over 250 paintings, drawings and prints.

Sources & Structures: The Art of Robert Stackhouse
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

This 25-year retrospective, organized by the SUArt Galleries, surveys the development of Robert Stackhouse as an artist. In addition to investigating the roots of his best-known imagery -- Viking ships, whales, snakes, and wood A-frame constructs -- this exhibition examines how he conceives of these designs through his drawings, watercolors, and prints. "Sources and Structures" considers how Stackhouse has made a personal examination of these natural and man-made forms and developed a body of work that explores affinities between architecture and biological anatomy.

Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World
Syracuse University Art Museum

Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World" examines how depictions of the railroad transformed our perception of the railroad industry. Whether the purpose of an artistic work was to entertain the viewer, to provide cultural commentary, or to call attention to the railroad's impact on the economic climate, each one inevitably had an effect on the way the audience viewed and understood the railroad in modern society.

In partnership with the Syracuse University Art Galleries and the Special Collections Research Center, the students enrolled in the Advanced Curatorship course in the Graduate Program in Museum Studies have worked together to thematically demonstrate visual testimonies to the railroad's reign over the industrialized world.

Margie Hughto: A Fired Landscape
Everson Museum of Art

Price: Suggested donation, $5, adults
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Internationally renowned ceramic artist Margie Hughto presents her first site-specific museum installation entitled A Fired Landscape, a "clay painting" spanning 50 feet of gallery wall space. Inspired by the artist's spectacular backyard gardens and natural landscape just steps from her studio, The Fired Landscape installation consists of Setting Sun, a brilliantly colored ceramic wall relief displayed continuously on five angled walls. The visitor encounter is reminiscent of what one experiences when surrounded by the natural environment. Overall, Setting Sun is a ceramic abstraction, but Hughto establishes a connection to the landscape that inspired it by adding impressions of natural objects such as native ferns, marine life and fossils, into the wet clay and then coating the surfaces with brilliant color. The rich palette of burnt oranges and fiery reds evoke the sun’s glowing light and radiating warmth. Tiny pieces of glass embedded in the clay prior to firing add sparkle to the glossy green and blue glazes used to suggest the artist's lily pond.

From Here to There: Alec Soth's America
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $10 regular, $8 students/seniors/military, members and children under 5 free
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

"From Here to There: Alec Soth's America" provides a focused look at an extraordinary photographer whose compelling images of the American road and its unexpected turns form powerful narrative vignettes. The exhibition will be the artist's first major survey assembled in the United States, exploring over 15 years of his career, and including an extensive new body of work.

Since his inclusion in the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo biennials, Soth's reputation as one of the most interesting voices in contemporary photography has continued to grow. Though he has followed the itinerant path laid forth by photographers such as Robert Frank, William Eggleston, and Stephen Shore, Soth's is a distinct perspective, one in which the wandering, searching, and the process of telling is as resonant as the record of these remarkable encounters. When considered together, Soth's pictures probe the individualities of people, objects, and places he encounters; offer insight to broader sociologies, and in the process form a collective portrait of an unexpected America.

Featuring approximately 100 photographs made between 1994 and the present, "From Here to There" will include rarely-seen early black-and-white images as well as examples from Soth's best-known series "Sleeping by the Mississippi" and "Niagara." Interspersed throughout the exhibition will be a broad range of portraits made over the past 15 years. The exhibition will also include a new body of work the artist has been developing since 2006, exploring places of escape in America and individuals who seek to flee civilization for a life off the grid. To add insight into Soth's process, the exhibition additionally features a Library space, which includes a reading area for publications, a selection of maquettes for book and 'zine projects, short video works, and ephemera gathered on the road.

Sculpted Sound: From Art to Wood to Music -- Works of John & Sondra Bromka
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

For more information, phone 315-445-4153.

Sculpture Club Exhibition
XL Projects

Price: Free
XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

A collaborative group show displaying a wide variety of work done by the undergraduate members of SU's Sculpture Club. With more than 20 artists being shown, the exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to see the vast array of artwork students have been creating in the sculptural field. The show is curated by Alex Svoboda and Sarah Whitehouse.

"Off the Wall" Holiday Art Sale
Associated Artists of Central New York

Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Learning to Write American: Works by Jennifer Drinkwater
Redhouse

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

These incredibly innovative pieces directly involve the viewer to create meaning, through imagining the missing term, through opening compartments of the painting to explore what is hidden beneath the surface, or by rearranging magnets to create a composition.

Read a review!

Always After (the Glass House)
Urban Video Project

Price: Free
Everson Museum of Art Plaza
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Urban Video Project is pleased to present Always After (the Glass House), 2006, by internationally recognized multimedia artist, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle.

Employing footage shot on a high-speed film camera, Always After focuses on the broken glass accumulated after the windows of the Mies-designed Illinois Institute of Technology's Crown Hall were smashed by the architect's own grandson as part of a ceremony in advance of the building's renovation. Manglano-Ovalle scrupulously edits out all clear reference to this odd 'kill your fathers' ritual, leaving the viewer with a dream-like sequence in which well-shod anonymous masses eternally exit and equally anonymous custodians endlessly move in to sweep up the crystalline debris of modernism. The precise nature of the event--whether it is a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or just routine construction--never becomes clear. Instead, the narrative unfolds like a Jacob's ladder: never reaching the end, passing again and again through the point where modernist progress and crisis become indistinguishable--a point that is always already "after."

Nathaniel Sullivan: On the Way to the Theatre, We Egged a Trans-am
Urban Video Project

Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

In this 1 minute-23 second video, Sullivan depicts the pressures brought to bear in teenage boys--most of which are pressures to be pleased, injunctions to enjoy. While at first glance this looks like an easy row to hoe, the work makes it clear that in fact there are consequences to taking one's pleasures liberally, without reserve. As Plato said, pleasure deranges as efficiently as pain.

Nathaniel Sullivan is an artist and writer. He received his MFA degree from the Transmedia Department at Syracuse University in Spring 2011. His practice is a balance of artwork, critical writing, and curating. His work has been shown in exhibitions and screenings in Syracuse, New York City, and widely across Canada. In 2006, he was awarded a Special Mention from the prestigious Montreal Film Festival.

Great Russian Nutcracker
Moscow Ballet

Price: $27.50 - $79.40
Landmark Theatre
362 S. Salina St., Syracuse

For tickets, phone 800-745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.

*CANCELLED* Great Russian Nutcracker
Moscow Ballet

Price: $27.50 - $79.40
Landmark Theatre
362 S. Salina St., Syracuse

This performance only has been cancelled. Please call the box office for refunds or more information.

For tickets, phone 800-745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com.

Regional Theatre: Building Shows From the Ground Up
University Neighbors Lecture Series
Featuring Timothy Bond

Price: $10 regular, $5 with student ID
Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse

Timothy Bond is the Producing Artistic Director of Syracuse Stage and the Syracuse University Department of Drama. He has more than 20 years' experience in leading regional theatres throughout the country. Most recently, he served for 11 years as Associate Artistic Director of the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival where he directed 12 productions, including works by Shakespeare, August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Edward Albee, Lorraine Hansberry, Lynn Nottage, Octavio Soliz and Pearl Cleage. Prior to that, Bond spent 13 years with the Seattle Group Theatre, serving as Artistic Director from 1991–1996. Bond has also directed at such prestigious theatres as The Guthrie, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Repertory Theatre and Arena Stage. Bond holds a BFA from Howard University and an MFA (magna cum laude) from the University of Washington. He has served on the faculties of the University of Washington and University of Wisconsin (Lorraine Hansberry Professorship Award). He has been a guest director at Juilliard and Seattle's Cornish Institute.

David Baker Sings Here's to the Guys
Arts Alive in Liverpool

Price: Free
Liverpool Public Library
310 Tulip St., Liverpool

Belle Aire: Holiday Bell Ringers, with the Rene Herbert Trio
Fayetteville Free Library

Price: $5 suggested donation
Fayetteville Free Library
300 Orchard St., Fayetteville

Winter Concert I
Onondaga Community College

Price: Free
Storer Auditorium
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

Wind ensemble, concert choir and strings

A Magnificat Christmas
Syracuse Chorale
Warren Ottey, conductor

Price: $15 regular, $12 seniors and advance purchase
St. Paul's Syracuse
220 E. Fayette St., Syracuse

J.S. Bach Magnificat
Glenn Rudolph The Dream Isaiah Saw
John Rutter What Sweeter Music
Samuel Adler A Song of Hanukkah
Irving Berlin White Christmas
Parish & Anderson Sleigh Ride

Carols with audience and brass ensemble, and more.

The Nine Lessons and Carols
Syracuse Children's Chorus
Stephanie Mowery, conductor
Featuring Dr. Patrick Jones, guest narrator

Price: $15, $19 regular; $13, $17 students/seniors
Most Holy Rosary Church
111 Roberts Ave., Syracuse

Experience the joy and wonder of the season with the Syracuse Children's Chorus at the 17th presentation of the beloved The Nine Lessons and Carols, narrated by Dr. Patrick Jones, Director of the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University. The angelic voices of the choristers will fill Most Holy Rosary Church from the traditional Once in Royal David's City, to celebrated yuletide carols, to our traditional candlelight singing of Stille Nacht (Silent Night) dedicated in honor and in memory of those we hold dear. You'll want to include this evening as part of your holiday tradition!

Morton B. Schiff Jazz Ensemble
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

Price: Free
Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College
Syracuse University, Syracuse

The program will include "Cute" by Neal Hefti, "Groove Blues" by Don Menza, "Manteca" and "Con Alma" by Dizzy Gillespie, "Down Basie Street" by David Wolpe and other jazz standards. The concert will feature many of the ensemble's jazz soloists, and will be performed under the direction of Joseph Riposo.

Free parking is available in the Irving Garage; patrons should mention that they are attending the concert.

Holidays at Hendricks
Hendricks Chapel

Price: Free
Hendricks Chapel
Syracuse University, Syracuse

During the concert, the three groups will perform both individually and in combination. The Chapel Choir will be directed by John Warren, the SU Brass Ensemble by James Spencer, and the handbell ringers by Emily B. Cirillo. Organist Kola Owolabi and guitarist Kenneth Meyer will provide accompaniment.

The Hendricks Chapel Choir will perform traditional carols, including "Gloria" by John Rutter for brass, organ and choir, and selections by Bach, Gabrieli, Tchaikovsky, Venezuelan composer César Carrillo and Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo.

The SU Brass Ensemble will perform Gabrieli's "Canzon a 12," the Nutcracker Suite, "Christmas Joy" and "Sleigh Ride."

The concert will close with the traditional candle lighting and singing of "Silent Night."

The Hendricks Chapel Choir is a select, voice-mixed choir of about 40 students that provides music for the Sunday morning interdenominational Protestant service at SU, as well as for various campus events. The choir presents annual holiday and spring concerts, and tours internationally every four years.

The SUBE, part of SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, is composed of members of the SU faculty, staff and students, the SUNY Upstate Medical University faculty and staff, and accomplished musicians from surrounding communities. The SUBE presents about 18 performances per year. The ensemble’s repertoire includes music from all major musical periods and often features new compositions commissioned by nationally known composers.

The Hendricks Chapel Handbell Ringers ensemble is a group of students, faculty and staff from the SU community. The ensemble rings five octaves of Schulmerich handbells and four octaves of Schulmerich MelodyChimes. The Handbell Ringers perform at the Protestant Worship Services in the chapel throughout the academic year, as well as at other churches and venues throughout Central New York.

LeMoyne Jazz Ensemble
LeMoyne College

Price: $15 regular, $10 seniors, students free
Jazz Central
441 E. Washington St., Syracuse

The college ensemble will be joined by the Young Lions of Central New York, performing a Christmas jazz suite; Bye Bye, Blackbird; My Funny Valentine, and much more!

For tickets or more information, phone 315-445-4523.

SU Saxophone Quartet
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

Price: Free
Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Free parking is available in the Irving Garage; patrons should mention that they are attending the concert.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Linda Hartzell, director

Archbold Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Narnia comes to life in a mystical adventure, dramatized by Adrian Mitchell, with music composed by Shaun Davey.

London. The war is on and the bombs are falling. Four children -- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy -- flee the perils of the Blitz to the safety of the countryside. In an old wardrobe they discover a portal to the land of Narnia, where a fearsome White Witch holds the inhabitants spellbound in a winter lasting 100 years. There the children enter a deadly struggle, joining with the great lion, Aslan, to battle the White Witch and her army. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and rarely produced stateside, this thrilling musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis' inspiring tale delivers excitement for the whole family. Musical direction by Dianne Adams McDowell.

Read a Review!

The Black Book
Black Box Players
Phil Blechman, director

Price: Free
Loft Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The Black Book is a suspense thriller that is, at its heart, a story about love and reason. Propelling audiences from the real world into the mind of the characters wherein we are forced to continuously question who is who and what is true. Black Box Players is very excited to produce this brand new original play, written and directed by a Syracuse student.

Read a review!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Windows Project: Elisabeth Meyer: Black Night/White Night
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The Window Project features an installation by Elisabeth Meyer consisting of organic forms embroidered onto an organza fabric. The overall patterning evokes an association with ocean waves and a net. The transparent quality of the organza background allows the viewer to see through the piece that is hanging from the ceiling covering the entire window front. The work addresses the issue of displacement through traveling. Meyer, who is based in Ithaca, developed the concept for this exhibition while at a residency in Iceland, traveled to India to oversee the production of the embroidery, and created the work on site in Syracuse.

Sculpted Sound: From Art to Wood to Music -- Works of John & Sondra Bromka
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

For more information, phone 315-445-4153.

Pile-Stratra: Work s of Mikyung Kim
Onondaga Community College

Price: Free
Ann Felton Multicultural Center and Gallery
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

Mikyung Kim's conceptual "Pile-Stratra" exhibit is an intrinsic exploration of the relationship between game and rite. Kim's work is deeply rooted in Eastern Ceremony, especially ancestor worship by creating the tableau as an altar setting. Each work is a product of random and composed elements, producing a form of controlled spontaneity that mirrors the interplay between the fleeting mind and metamorphic nature.

The most convenient lots for the Gallery and Storer Auditorium is Lots 2 directly behind Ferrante Hall.

Spanglish: Drawing, Collage, Photography and Video
Point of Contact Gallery

Price: Free
Point of Contact Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Spanglish is a project made specifically for the Point of Contact Gallery by New York City artist Celeste Fichter, based on Point of Contact's work in the verbal and the visual arts, and its ties to the Latin American literary and visual arts. Comprised of drawing, collage, photography and video, Spanglish is based solely on the artist's understanding and misunderstanding of the Spanish language.

For several months Fichter studied the Spanish/English dictionary page by page, definition by definition in alphabetical order, pronouncing each word aloud in search of words that sound like other words (in either English or Spanish), and looking for definitions that have intriguing double meanings or spellings that can be manipulated. As a non-Spanish speaker, the attempt to learn a new language through a list of definitions presented many limitations; however it is within the narrow confines of these limitations, and maybe because of them, that new understanding is created.

Fichter is interested in the fluidity of language in general as a tool of expression and visual language specifically. Spanglish is beyond a spoken language, beyond a hybrid of the English and Spanish languages — a visual language made up of words, images, signs and symbols.

Open Apple Steve. Memoriam: an aesthetic homage to Steve Jobs
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

Price: Free
Syracuse Technology Garden
235 Harrison St., Syracuse

Exhibit features works by local artists Vicki Harris, Matthew Keeney, Ellen Leahy, Paul Melnikow, and Kathryn Petrillo, plus works from artists in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah, Washington DC, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, and Portugal

Read a review!

Just One Word: Plastics
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

Price: Free
Bird Library, 6th Floor
Syracuse University, Syracuse

For more than a century, plastics have transformed our lives -- from bathroom to battlefield; from supermarket to spacecraft. Begun as a 19th-century replacement material for billiard balls and piano keys, plastics spurred 20th century developments in industry, transportation, medicine, entertainment, and other aspects of contemporary life. The original objects of "Just One Word: Plastics" represent a material history of the modern world.

This exhibition features a representative sample of the Plastics Collection at the Syracuse University Library and presents an overview of major trends in the development of plastics in everyday life. The exhibit focuses on personal and household objects rather than the use of plastics in industry where they are also widely used. Approximately 250 objects divided into 12 categories will be on view. In addition, a small selection of manuscripts and printed materials will be included.

Specific objects to be featured in the exhibition are:
* ornate celluloid combs and a wide variety of plastic toiletries
* phenolic (Bakelite) objects from the 1920s and 30s including jewelry, radios, and other appliances and games
* musical instruments
* post-war toys, dishes, and household items
* original patent books of John Wesley Hyatt, inventor of Celluloid
* product catalogues from the 1930s and 1950s for popular items such as DuPont French Ivory dresser sets, Boltaware molded "stoneware" dishes, and Tupperware, and
* the Pleur-evac, a revolutionary plastic medical device for draining fluid and maintaining pressure in the lungs that helped save the life of President Ronald Reagan.

The Plastics Collection was begun in 2007 as a joint project of the Syracuse University Library and the Plastics History & Artifacts Committee of the Plastics Pioneers Association. The Collection expanded dramatically when the National Plastics Center and Museum in Leominster, MA, closed and transferred its artifacts, books, and manuscripts to Syracuse University's care in 2008.

Whereas I Took the Butterfly: Works by Deloss McGraw
YMCA Arts Branch GallerY

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

This exhibit of literary "poster paintings" features Deloss McGraw's reflections/interpretations of such writers as Dickinson, Hemingway, Snodgrass and others, often using photographs of the authors, book covers, or other borrowed images.

"Off the Wall" Holiday Art Sale
Associated Artists of Central New York

Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

26th Annual Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 children, members free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The museums transforms into a festive 1800s street scene with more than 40 gingerbread creations in storefront windows.

Festival of Trees: Inspiration
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $8 online presale, $10 at the door
Shoppingtown Mall
Dewitt

Entrance next to Library/Theater mall entrance.

The Everson Museum of Art Members' Council presents this 10-day festival featuring over 100 decorated trees, wreathes and special displays. Each item is generously donated by local businesses, community groups, and individuals, and all items are sold to benefit the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors take in the beautiful sights, purchase decorative items, and pick up tips for their own creations. Special events and live entertainment make the Festival truly special. All proceeds directly benefit the Everson Museum of Art.

Gifts for the Home
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of home décor? Then check out this exhibition featuring original watercolors, wooden clocks and spoons, ceramic mugs, blown glass vases, and other handcrafted gifts at a variety of price points.

Artists represented include:
Lucie Wellner, of Pompey, watercolor paintings
Dennis MacDonald, of Fabius, brooms
Emily Reason, of Marshall, N.C., porcelain pottery
Rick Barrick, of Lancaster, Pa., candles
Jonathan Simons, of Kempton, Pa., wooden spoons
Schlabaugh & Sons, of Kalona, Iowa, clocks

VisualBooks: Works by Scott McCarney
Light Work Gallery

Price: Free
Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

This unique and beautiful exhibition explores the book as a sculptural object that employs a variety of image-making processes. McCarney's carefully hand-bound editions and found-altered books incorporate photographic imagery and utilize the space of the gallery to explore reading as display (on pedestals and shelves, hanging from the ceiling, mounted on the wall).

McCarney creates his sculptural objects and photo-based editions as one-of-a-kind, hand-made pieces as well as small runs of print-on-demand books. According to Hannah Frieser, director of Light Work, "Scott McCarney rethinks the book form, considering books as a starting point rather than a mere vehicle for information and images."

Read a review!

Six Sides of Japanese Package Design
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Genet Design Gallery
The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The exhibition focuses on the way the design of the package relates to Japanese culture and consumerism.

Based on a collection of different Japanese products, "Six Sides of Japanese Package Design" is the result of a collaboration between undergraduate communications design students in the class Problem-Solving Strategies, taught by Roderick Martinez, and graduate museum studies students in the class Museum Studies Practicum, taught by Bradley Hudson. Divided into six groups, the students selected themes that each highlight a different dimension of package design in Japan. Each section of the gallery is a realization of the groups' respective themes in the form of a museum exhibition.

The Design Gallery is located on the first floor of The Warehouse. Patrons should enter The Warehouse via the ground-floor door, adjacent to the café on West Fayette Street or the first-floor door on West Washington Street.

The Butterfly Effect
601 Tully

601 Tully St.
Syracuse

The Butterfly Effect is the first multimedia exhibition at 601 Tully. The actual and conceptual life of a butterfly is a departure point for a collaborative exhibition that places humans and butterflies together in a micro-habitat inside an art space.

The Butterfly Effect presents a variety of interpretations of the butterfly structure and the butterfly as a symbol as addressed by contemporary visual artists and will include work by local artists, Syracuse University students and professors, and Syracuse youth. The centerpiece of The Butterfly Effect is a living butterfly habitat constructed by SU students using materials reclaimed from local sites. The interior butterfly garden provides the opportunity for exhibition visitors to observe living butterflies while surrounded by artworks that explore or feature the butterfly metaphorically.

Expressions of Joy: Annual Holiday Show
Gallery 54

Gallery 54
54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Fine art and fine craft created by local artists.

57th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts, Inc.

City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Our gift shop of fine art and crafts handmade by local guild and independent artists is Syracuse's one-stop shopping haven during the holiday season. Find unique pottery, stained glass, paintings, jewelry, hand-crafted soaps and candles, and much more.

For more information, phone 315-243-6359 or 315-637-6562.

O. Henry's Full House (1952)
Syracuse Cinephile Society

Price: $3.50 non-members, $3 members
Spaghetti Warehouse
689 N. Clinton St., Syracuse

Directors: Howard Hawks, Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Henry Koster, Jean Negulesco
Cast: Charles Laughton, Fred Allen, Richard Widmark, Oscar Levant, Farley Granger, Jeanne Crain, Anne Baxter, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Peters, David Wayne, Gregory Ratoff.

Our season concludes with this enjoyable all-star anthology of five short stories by O. Henry, including the charming holiday tale Gift of the Magi, plus The Clarion Call, Last Leaf, Ransom of Red Chief and Cop and the Anthem.

Alexandra Fuller
Friends of the Central Library Author Series

Price: $25
Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Alexandra Fuller was born in Glossop, England in 1969, during a brief attempt by her parents to live outside of Africa. The family moved back to Africa in 1972, and Fuller was educated in Zimbabwe until she was 18. Her debut book, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, was a New York Times Notable Book for 2002, the 2002 Booksense Best Non-fiction book, a finalist for the Guardian's First Book Award and the winner of the 2002 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. Her 2004 Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier won the Ulysses Prize for Art of Reportage. Her latest book is The Legend of Colton H. Bryant. She has also written extensively for magazines and newspapers including The New Yorker and National Geographic magazine. Fuller is currently at work on a book titled Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, a prequel/sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Windows Project: Elisabeth Meyer: Black Night/White Night
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The Window Project features an installation by Elisabeth Meyer consisting of organic forms embroidered onto an organza fabric. The overall patterning evokes an association with ocean waves and a net. The transparent quality of the organza background allows the viewer to see through the piece that is hanging from the ceiling covering the entire window front. The work addresses the issue of displacement through traveling. Meyer, who is based in Ithaca, developed the concept for this exhibition while at a residency in Iceland, traveled to India to oversee the production of the embroidery, and created the work on site in Syracuse.

Sculpted Sound: From Art to Wood to Music -- Works of John & Sondra Bromka
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

For more information, phone 315-445-4153.

Pile-Stratra: Work s of Mikyung Kim
Onondaga Community College

Price: Free
Ann Felton Multicultural Center and Gallery
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

Mikyung Kim's conceptual "Pile-Stratra" exhibit is an intrinsic exploration of the relationship between game and rite. Kim's work is deeply rooted in Eastern Ceremony, especially ancestor worship by creating the tableau as an altar setting. Each work is a product of random and composed elements, producing a form of controlled spontaneity that mirrors the interplay between the fleeting mind and metamorphic nature.

The most convenient lots for the Gallery and Storer Auditorium is Lots 2 directly behind Ferrante Hall.

Spanglish: Drawing, Collage, Photography and Video
Point of Contact Gallery

Price: Free
Point of Contact Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Spanglish is a project made specifically for the Point of Contact Gallery by New York City artist Celeste Fichter, based on Point of Contact's work in the verbal and the visual arts, and its ties to the Latin American literary and visual arts. Comprised of drawing, collage, photography and video, Spanglish is based solely on the artist's understanding and misunderstanding of the Spanish language.

For several months Fichter studied the Spanish/English dictionary page by page, definition by definition in alphabetical order, pronouncing each word aloud in search of words that sound like other words (in either English or Spanish), and looking for definitions that have intriguing double meanings or spellings that can be manipulated. As a non-Spanish speaker, the attempt to learn a new language through a list of definitions presented many limitations; however it is within the narrow confines of these limitations, and maybe because of them, that new understanding is created.

Fichter is interested in the fluidity of language in general as a tool of expression and visual language specifically. Spanglish is beyond a spoken language, beyond a hybrid of the English and Spanish languages — a visual language made up of words, images, signs and symbols.

Open Apple Steve. Memoriam: an aesthetic homage to Steve Jobs
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

Price: Free
Syracuse Technology Garden
235 Harrison St., Syracuse

Exhibit features works by local artists Vicki Harris, Matthew Keeney, Ellen Leahy, Paul Melnikow, and Kathryn Petrillo, plus works from artists in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah, Washington DC, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, and Portugal

Read a review!

Just One Word: Plastics
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

Price: Free
Bird Library, 6th Floor
Syracuse University, Syracuse

For more than a century, plastics have transformed our lives -- from bathroom to battlefield; from supermarket to spacecraft. Begun as a 19th-century replacement material for billiard balls and piano keys, plastics spurred 20th century developments in industry, transportation, medicine, entertainment, and other aspects of contemporary life. The original objects of "Just One Word: Plastics" represent a material history of the modern world.

This exhibition features a representative sample of the Plastics Collection at the Syracuse University Library and presents an overview of major trends in the development of plastics in everyday life. The exhibit focuses on personal and household objects rather than the use of plastics in industry where they are also widely used. Approximately 250 objects divided into 12 categories will be on view. In addition, a small selection of manuscripts and printed materials will be included.

Specific objects to be featured in the exhibition are:
* ornate celluloid combs and a wide variety of plastic toiletries
* phenolic (Bakelite) objects from the 1920s and 30s including jewelry, radios, and other appliances and games
* musical instruments
* post-war toys, dishes, and household items
* original patent books of John Wesley Hyatt, inventor of Celluloid
* product catalogues from the 1930s and 1950s for popular items such as DuPont French Ivory dresser sets, Boltaware molded "stoneware" dishes, and Tupperware, and
* the Pleur-evac, a revolutionary plastic medical device for draining fluid and maintaining pressure in the lungs that helped save the life of President Ronald Reagan.

The Plastics Collection was begun in 2007 as a joint project of the Syracuse University Library and the Plastics History & Artifacts Committee of the Plastics Pioneers Association. The Collection expanded dramatically when the National Plastics Center and Museum in Leominster, MA, closed and transferred its artifacts, books, and manuscripts to Syracuse University's care in 2008.

Whereas I Took the Butterfly: Works by Deloss McGraw
YMCA Arts Branch GallerY

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

This exhibit of literary "poster paintings" features Deloss McGraw's reflections/interpretations of such writers as Dickinson, Hemingway, Snodgrass and others, often using photographs of the authors, book covers, or other borrowed images.

Untold Stories
Edgewood Gallery

Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Featuring the diverse works of Alison Fisher: acrylic and mixed media paintings; jewelry made of unique mixed metals and found objects; one-of-a-kind textiles including handbags, scarves, pillows, and throws.

"Off the Wall" Holiday Art Sale
Associated Artists of Central New York

Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

African Diasporan Treasures: 40 Years of Community Folk Art Center
Community Folk Art Center

Price: Free
Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The exhibition will showcase pieces from CFAC's permanent collection. Featuring over 30 works by artists including Joel Gaines, Ellen Oppler, Jack White, Denise Cole and Kamiiron Pritchard, "African Diasporan Treasures" provides a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the rich artistic history of CFAC. In many cases, the pieces have not been displayed for decades. The show will also feature African art that was once part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection.

26th Annual Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 children, members free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The museums transforms into a festive 1800s street scene with more than 40 gingerbread creations in storefront windows.

Festival of Trees: Inspiration
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $8 online presale, $10 at the door
Shoppingtown Mall
Dewitt

Entrance next to Library/Theater mall entrance.

The Everson Museum of Art Members' Council presents this 10-day festival featuring over 100 decorated trees, wreathes and special displays. Each item is generously donated by local businesses, community groups, and individuals, and all items are sold to benefit the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors take in the beautiful sights, purchase decorative items, and pick up tips for their own creations. Special events and live entertainment make the Festival truly special. All proceeds directly benefit the Everson Museum of Art.

Gifts for the Home
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of home décor? Then check out this exhibition featuring original watercolors, wooden clocks and spoons, ceramic mugs, blown glass vases, and other handcrafted gifts at a variety of price points.

Artists represented include:
Lucie Wellner, of Pompey, watercolor paintings
Dennis MacDonald, of Fabius, brooms
Emily Reason, of Marshall, N.C., porcelain pottery
Rick Barrick, of Lancaster, Pa., candles
Jonathan Simons, of Kempton, Pa., wooden spoons
Schlabaugh & Sons, of Kalona, Iowa, clocks

VisualBooks: Works by Scott McCarney
Light Work Gallery

Price: Free
Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

This unique and beautiful exhibition explores the book as a sculptural object that employs a variety of image-making processes. McCarney's carefully hand-bound editions and found-altered books incorporate photographic imagery and utilize the space of the gallery to explore reading as display (on pedestals and shelves, hanging from the ceiling, mounted on the wall).

McCarney creates his sculptural objects and photo-based editions as one-of-a-kind, hand-made pieces as well as small runs of print-on-demand books. According to Hannah Frieser, director of Light Work, "Scott McCarney rethinks the book form, considering books as a starting point rather than a mere vehicle for information and images."

Read a review!

Six Sides of Japanese Package Design
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Genet Design Gallery
The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The exhibition focuses on the way the design of the package relates to Japanese culture and consumerism.

Based on a collection of different Japanese products, "Six Sides of Japanese Package Design" is the result of a collaboration between undergraduate communications design students in the class Problem-Solving Strategies, taught by Roderick Martinez, and graduate museum studies students in the class Museum Studies Practicum, taught by Bradley Hudson. Divided into six groups, the students selected themes that each highlight a different dimension of package design in Japan. Each section of the gallery is a realization of the groups' respective themes in the form of a museum exhibition.

The Design Gallery is located on the first floor of The Warehouse. Patrons should enter The Warehouse via the ground-floor door, adjacent to the café on West Fayette Street or the first-floor door on West Washington Street.

The Butterfly Effect
601 Tully

601 Tully St.
Syracuse

The Butterfly Effect is the first multimedia exhibition at 601 Tully. The actual and conceptual life of a butterfly is a departure point for a collaborative exhibition that places humans and butterflies together in a micro-habitat inside an art space.

The Butterfly Effect presents a variety of interpretations of the butterfly structure and the butterfly as a symbol as addressed by contemporary visual artists and will include work by local artists, Syracuse University students and professors, and Syracuse youth. The centerpiece of The Butterfly Effect is a living butterfly habitat constructed by SU students using materials reclaimed from local sites. The interior butterfly garden provides the opportunity for exhibition visitors to observe living butterflies while surrounded by artworks that explore or feature the butterfly metaphorically.

Expressions of Joy: Annual Holiday Show
Gallery 54

Gallery 54
54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Fine art and fine craft created by local artists.

57th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts, Inc.

City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Our gift shop of fine art and crafts handmade by local guild and independent artists is Syracuse's one-stop shopping haven during the holiday season. Find unique pottery, stained glass, paintings, jewelry, hand-crafted soaps and candles, and much more.

For more information, phone 315-243-6359 or 315-637-6562.

Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World
Syracuse University Art Museum

Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World" examines how depictions of the railroad transformed our perception of the railroad industry. Whether the purpose of an artistic work was to entertain the viewer, to provide cultural commentary, or to call attention to the railroad's impact on the economic climate, each one inevitably had an effect on the way the audience viewed and understood the railroad in modern society.

In partnership with the Syracuse University Art Galleries and the Special Collections Research Center, the students enrolled in the Advanced Curatorship course in the Graduate Program in Museum Studies have worked together to thematically demonstrate visual testimonies to the railroad's reign over the industrialized world.

Sources & Structures: The Art of Robert Stackhouse
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

This 25-year retrospective, organized by the SUArt Galleries, surveys the development of Robert Stackhouse as an artist. In addition to investigating the roots of his best-known imagery -- Viking ships, whales, snakes, and wood A-frame constructs -- this exhibition examines how he conceives of these designs through his drawings, watercolors, and prints. "Sources and Structures" considers how Stackhouse has made a personal examination of these natural and man-made forms and developed a body of work that explores affinities between architecture and biological anatomy.

Emilio Sanchez: No Way Home--Images of the Caribbean and New York City
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"No Way Home" features a selection of 24 paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints drawn from the recently acquired collection of work by Cuban-American artist Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999). Best known for his brightly colored, strongly shadowed images of Caribbean and New York City architecture, this exhibition reveals the artist's ongoing interest in repetitive patterns. The show highlights a recent gift to the University Art Collection from the Emilio Sanchez Foundation of over 250 paintings, drawings and prints.

From Here to There: Alec Soth's America
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $10 regular, $8 students/seniors/military, members and children under 5 free
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

"From Here to There: Alec Soth's America" provides a focused look at an extraordinary photographer whose compelling images of the American road and its unexpected turns form powerful narrative vignettes. The exhibition will be the artist's first major survey assembled in the United States, exploring over 15 years of his career, and including an extensive new body of work.

Since his inclusion in the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo biennials, Soth's reputation as one of the most interesting voices in contemporary photography has continued to grow. Though he has followed the itinerant path laid forth by photographers such as Robert Frank, William Eggleston, and Stephen Shore, Soth's is a distinct perspective, one in which the wandering, searching, and the process of telling is as resonant as the record of these remarkable encounters. When considered together, Soth's pictures probe the individualities of people, objects, and places he encounters; offer insight to broader sociologies, and in the process form a collective portrait of an unexpected America.

Featuring approximately 100 photographs made between 1994 and the present, "From Here to There" will include rarely-seen early black-and-white images as well as examples from Soth's best-known series "Sleeping by the Mississippi" and "Niagara." Interspersed throughout the exhibition will be a broad range of portraits made over the past 15 years. The exhibition will also include a new body of work the artist has been developing since 2006, exploring places of escape in America and individuals who seek to flee civilization for a life off the grid. To add insight into Soth's process, the exhibition additionally features a Library space, which includes a reading area for publications, a selection of maquettes for book and 'zine projects, short video works, and ephemera gathered on the road.

Margie Hughto: A Fired Landscape
Everson Museum of Art

Price: Suggested donation, $5, adults
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Internationally renowned ceramic artist Margie Hughto presents her first site-specific museum installation entitled A Fired Landscape, a "clay painting" spanning 50 feet of gallery wall space. Inspired by the artist's spectacular backyard gardens and natural landscape just steps from her studio, The Fired Landscape installation consists of Setting Sun, a brilliantly colored ceramic wall relief displayed continuously on five angled walls. The visitor encounter is reminiscent of what one experiences when surrounded by the natural environment. Overall, Setting Sun is a ceramic abstraction, but Hughto establishes a connection to the landscape that inspired it by adding impressions of natural objects such as native ferns, marine life and fossils, into the wet clay and then coating the surfaces with brilliant color. The rich palette of burnt oranges and fiery reds evoke the sun’s glowing light and radiating warmth. Tiny pieces of glass embedded in the clay prior to firing add sparkle to the glossy green and blue glazes used to suggest the artist's lily pond.

Deng Guo Yuan
The Warehouse Gallery

Price: Free
The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

This exhibit will highlight ink brush paintings by Tianjin-based Chinese artist Deng Guo Yuan. His work reveals the tradition of Chinese landscape painting and a profound knowledge of modern and international contemporary aesthetics. The film "Deng Guo Yuan" (2010) by French filmmaker Pierre Creton, presented in the Gallery's vault, meticulously documents the creation of one of Deng Guo Yuan's ink paintings in his Tianjin studio. Widely exhibited in China and Europe, this will be the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. The show originated at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts Museum (Tianjin, China), and then traveled in modified form to the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), to the Provenance Center (New London, CT), and to its last venue, the Warehouse Gallery, for which Deng Guo Yuan will create additional site-specific works.

Dies Irae
Echo

745 N. Salina St. (formerly Craft Chemistry)
Syracuse

Dies Irae, a group show with Thomas Ward III, Heidi Josephine, and Nik Moore featuring a mix of collaborative and original paintings.

Ernest and Alice Muzquiz (marimba and piano)
Temple Society of Concord

Temple Society of Concord
910 Madison St., Syracuse

Percussionist with the former Syracuse Symphony, Mr. Muzquiz has performed with the Pittsburg Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Eastern Philharmonic. In 1978 he was appointed conductor of the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra and served 16 years in that position.

Le Moyne College Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Singers
LeMoyne College

Price: $15 regular, $10 seniors, students free
Coyne Center for the Performing Arts
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

The orchestra, under the baton of Travis Newton, will present the music of Gustav Holst, a full orchestral medley of classic carols, and a holiday audience sing-along. The Chamber Singers, a newly formed a cappella ensemble under the direction of Jocelyn Rauch, will perform holiday carols both new and old, including I Saw Three Ships, Carol of the Bells, and many more.

For tickets or more information, phone 315-445-4523.

Windjammer Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

Price: Free
Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Zeds Dead, with Chemicals of Creation
Westcott Theater

Westcott Theater
524 Westcott St., Syracuse

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Windows Project: Elisabeth Meyer: Black Night/White Night
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The Window Project features an installation by Elisabeth Meyer consisting of organic forms embroidered onto an organza fabric. The overall patterning evokes an association with ocean waves and a net. The transparent quality of the organza background allows the viewer to see through the piece that is hanging from the ceiling covering the entire window front. The work addresses the issue of displacement through traveling. Meyer, who is based in Ithaca, developed the concept for this exhibition while at a residency in Iceland, traveled to India to oversee the production of the embroidery, and created the work on site in Syracuse.

Learning to Write American: Works by Jennifer Drinkwater
Redhouse

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

These incredibly innovative pieces directly involve the viewer to create meaning, through imagining the missing term, through opening compartments of the painting to explore what is hidden beneath the surface, or by rearranging magnets to create a composition.

Read a review!

Sculpted Sound: From Art to Wood to Music -- Works of John & Sondra Bromka
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

For more information, phone 315-445-4153.

Pile-Stratra: Work s of Mikyung Kim
Onondaga Community College

Price: Free
Ann Felton Multicultural Center and Gallery
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

Mikyung Kim's conceptual "Pile-Stratra" exhibit is an intrinsic exploration of the relationship between game and rite. Kim's work is deeply rooted in Eastern Ceremony, especially ancestor worship by creating the tableau as an altar setting. Each work is a product of random and composed elements, producing a form of controlled spontaneity that mirrors the interplay between the fleeting mind and metamorphic nature.

The most convenient lots for the Gallery and Storer Auditorium is Lots 2 directly behind Ferrante Hall.

Spanglish: Drawing, Collage, Photography and Video
Point of Contact Gallery

Price: Free
Point of Contact Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Spanglish is a project made specifically for the Point of Contact Gallery by New York City artist Celeste Fichter, based on Point of Contact's work in the verbal and the visual arts, and its ties to the Latin American literary and visual arts. Comprised of drawing, collage, photography and video, Spanglish is based solely on the artist's understanding and misunderstanding of the Spanish language.

For several months Fichter studied the Spanish/English dictionary page by page, definition by definition in alphabetical order, pronouncing each word aloud in search of words that sound like other words (in either English or Spanish), and looking for definitions that have intriguing double meanings or spellings that can be manipulated. As a non-Spanish speaker, the attempt to learn a new language through a list of definitions presented many limitations; however it is within the narrow confines of these limitations, and maybe because of them, that new understanding is created.

Fichter is interested in the fluidity of language in general as a tool of expression and visual language specifically. Spanglish is beyond a spoken language, beyond a hybrid of the English and Spanish languages — a visual language made up of words, images, signs and symbols.

Open Apple Steve. Memoriam: an aesthetic homage to Steve Jobs
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

Price: Free
Syracuse Technology Garden
235 Harrison St., Syracuse

Exhibit features works by local artists Vicki Harris, Matthew Keeney, Ellen Leahy, Paul Melnikow, and Kathryn Petrillo, plus works from artists in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah, Washington DC, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, and Portugal

Read a review!

Just One Word: Plastics
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

Price: Free
Bird Library, 6th Floor
Syracuse University, Syracuse

For more than a century, plastics have transformed our lives -- from bathroom to battlefield; from supermarket to spacecraft. Begun as a 19th-century replacement material for billiard balls and piano keys, plastics spurred 20th century developments in industry, transportation, medicine, entertainment, and other aspects of contemporary life. The original objects of "Just One Word: Plastics" represent a material history of the modern world.

This exhibition features a representative sample of the Plastics Collection at the Syracuse University Library and presents an overview of major trends in the development of plastics in everyday life. The exhibit focuses on personal and household objects rather than the use of plastics in industry where they are also widely used. Approximately 250 objects divided into 12 categories will be on view. In addition, a small selection of manuscripts and printed materials will be included.

Specific objects to be featured in the exhibition are:
* ornate celluloid combs and a wide variety of plastic toiletries
* phenolic (Bakelite) objects from the 1920s and 30s including jewelry, radios, and other appliances and games
* musical instruments
* post-war toys, dishes, and household items
* original patent books of John Wesley Hyatt, inventor of Celluloid
* product catalogues from the 1930s and 1950s for popular items such as DuPont French Ivory dresser sets, Boltaware molded "stoneware" dishes, and Tupperware, and
* the Pleur-evac, a revolutionary plastic medical device for draining fluid and maintaining pressure in the lungs that helped save the life of President Ronald Reagan.

The Plastics Collection was begun in 2007 as a joint project of the Syracuse University Library and the Plastics History & Artifacts Committee of the Plastics Pioneers Association. The Collection expanded dramatically when the National Plastics Center and Museum in Leominster, MA, closed and transferred its artifacts, books, and manuscripts to Syracuse University's care in 2008.

Whereas I Took the Butterfly: Works by Deloss McGraw
YMCA Arts Branch GallerY

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

This exhibit of literary "poster paintings" features Deloss McGraw's reflections/interpretations of such writers as Dickinson, Hemingway, Snodgrass and others, often using photographs of the authors, book covers, or other borrowed images.

Untold Stories
Edgewood Gallery

Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Featuring the diverse works of Alison Fisher: acrylic and mixed media paintings; jewelry made of unique mixed metals and found objects; one-of-a-kind textiles including handbags, scarves, pillows, and throws.

"Off the Wall" Holiday Art Sale
Associated Artists of Central New York

Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

African Diasporan Treasures: 40 Years of Community Folk Art Center
Community Folk Art Center

Price: Free
Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The exhibition will showcase pieces from CFAC's permanent collection. Featuring over 30 works by artists including Joel Gaines, Ellen Oppler, Jack White, Denise Cole and Kamiiron Pritchard, "African Diasporan Treasures" provides a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the rich artistic history of CFAC. In many cases, the pieces have not been displayed for decades. The show will also feature African art that was once part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection.

26th Annual Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 children, members free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The museums transforms into a festive 1800s street scene with more than 40 gingerbread creations in storefront windows.

Festival of Trees: Inspiration
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $8 online presale, $10 at the door
Shoppingtown Mall
Dewitt

Entrance next to Library/Theater mall entrance.

The Everson Museum of Art Members' Council presents this 10-day festival featuring over 100 decorated trees, wreathes and special displays. Each item is generously donated by local businesses, community groups, and individuals, and all items are sold to benefit the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors take in the beautiful sights, purchase decorative items, and pick up tips for their own creations. Special events and live entertainment make the Festival truly special. All proceeds directly benefit the Everson Museum of Art.

Gifts for the Home
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of home décor? Then check out this exhibition featuring original watercolors, wooden clocks and spoons, ceramic mugs, blown glass vases, and other handcrafted gifts at a variety of price points.

Artists represented include:
Lucie Wellner, of Pompey, watercolor paintings
Dennis MacDonald, of Fabius, brooms
Emily Reason, of Marshall, N.C., porcelain pottery
Rick Barrick, of Lancaster, Pa., candles
Jonathan Simons, of Kempton, Pa., wooden spoons
Schlabaugh & Sons, of Kalona, Iowa, clocks

VisualBooks: Works by Scott McCarney
Light Work Gallery

Price: Free
Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

This unique and beautiful exhibition explores the book as a sculptural object that employs a variety of image-making processes. McCarney's carefully hand-bound editions and found-altered books incorporate photographic imagery and utilize the space of the gallery to explore reading as display (on pedestals and shelves, hanging from the ceiling, mounted on the wall).

McCarney creates his sculptural objects and photo-based editions as one-of-a-kind, hand-made pieces as well as small runs of print-on-demand books. According to Hannah Frieser, director of Light Work, "Scott McCarney rethinks the book form, considering books as a starting point rather than a mere vehicle for information and images."

Read a review!

Landmarks of New York
Onondaga Historical Association

Price: Free
Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Landmarks of New York is a traveling exhibit of 90 stunning black and white photographs of New York City buildings that have been accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The exhibit is curated by Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, New York City's first director of cultural affairs and acclaimed author of the book that serves as the basis for the exhibit, The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Building. In conjunction with the show, Dennis Connors, OHA's Curator of History, selected over 20 contemporary and historic photographs to highlight Onondaga County's own architectural inheritance.

Six Sides of Japanese Package Design
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Genet Design Gallery
The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The exhibition focuses on the way the design of the package relates to Japanese culture and consumerism.

Based on a collection of different Japanese products, "Six Sides of Japanese Package Design" is the result of a collaboration between undergraduate communications design students in the class Problem-Solving Strategies, taught by Roderick Martinez, and graduate museum studies students in the class Museum Studies Practicum, taught by Bradley Hudson. Divided into six groups, the students selected themes that each highlight a different dimension of package design in Japan. Each section of the gallery is a realization of the groups' respective themes in the form of a museum exhibition.

The Design Gallery is located on the first floor of The Warehouse. Patrons should enter The Warehouse via the ground-floor door, adjacent to the café on West Fayette Street or the first-floor door on West Washington Street.

The Art of Gift Giving
Szozda Gallery

Szozda Gallery
Delavan Center, 501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

This group show of new works by favorite artists includes an eclectic mix of photography, paintings, drawings and mixed media, with as varied a host of subject matter as the techniques used to create them. Featured artists includ Rob Glisson, Harry-Freeman Jones, Kwangpyo (Steve) Koh, Emily Elizabeth, Ray Trudell, Phil Parsons, Barbara Conte-Gaugel, R.L. Mercer, C. J. Hodge, Roscha Folger, Diana Godfrey, Dona Flaherty and Linda Esterley. These are artists who have successfully shown before and now, in the spirit of giving, have produced new art especially for this show as a way of thanking the many audiences who continue to enjoy and appreciate their particular creations.

The Butterfly Effect
601 Tully

601 Tully St.
Syracuse

The Butterfly Effect is the first multimedia exhibition at 601 Tully. The actual and conceptual life of a butterfly is a departure point for a collaborative exhibition that places humans and butterflies together in a micro-habitat inside an art space.

The Butterfly Effect presents a variety of interpretations of the butterfly structure and the butterfly as a symbol as addressed by contemporary visual artists and will include work by local artists, Syracuse University students and professors, and Syracuse youth. The centerpiece of The Butterfly Effect is a living butterfly habitat constructed by SU students using materials reclaimed from local sites. The interior butterfly garden provides the opportunity for exhibition visitors to observe living butterflies while surrounded by artworks that explore or feature the butterfly metaphorically.

Expressions of Joy: Annual Holiday Show
Gallery 54

Gallery 54
54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Fine art and fine craft created by local artists.

57th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts, Inc.

City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Our gift shop of fine art and crafts handmade by local guild and independent artists is Syracuse's one-stop shopping haven during the holiday season. Find unique pottery, stained glass, paintings, jewelry, hand-crafted soaps and candles, and much more.

For more information, phone 315-243-6359 or 315-637-6562.

Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World
Syracuse University Art Museum

Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"Engineered Perspectives: Railroad Culture in the Modern World" examines how depictions of the railroad transformed our perception of the railroad industry. Whether the purpose of an artistic work was to entertain the viewer, to provide cultural commentary, or to call attention to the railroad's impact on the economic climate, each one inevitably had an effect on the way the audience viewed and understood the railroad in modern society.

In partnership with the Syracuse University Art Galleries and the Special Collections Research Center, the students enrolled in the Advanced Curatorship course in the Graduate Program in Museum Studies have worked together to thematically demonstrate visual testimonies to the railroad's reign over the industrialized world.

Emilio Sanchez: No Way Home--Images of the Caribbean and New York City
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

"No Way Home" features a selection of 24 paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints drawn from the recently acquired collection of work by Cuban-American artist Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999). Best known for his brightly colored, strongly shadowed images of Caribbean and New York City architecture, this exhibition reveals the artist's ongoing interest in repetitive patterns. The show highlights a recent gift to the University Art Collection from the Emilio Sanchez Foundation of over 250 paintings, drawings and prints.

Sources & Structures: The Art of Robert Stackhouse
Syracuse University Art Museum

Price: Free
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

This 25-year retrospective, organized by the SUArt Galleries, surveys the development of Robert Stackhouse as an artist. In addition to investigating the roots of his best-known imagery -- Viking ships, whales, snakes, and wood A-frame constructs -- this exhibition examines how he conceives of these designs through his drawings, watercolors, and prints. "Sources and Structures" considers how Stackhouse has made a personal examination of these natural and man-made forms and developed a body of work that explores affinities between architecture and biological anatomy.

Margie Hughto: A Fired Landscape
Everson Museum of Art

Price: Suggested donation, $5, adults
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Internationally renowned ceramic artist Margie Hughto presents her first site-specific museum installation entitled A Fired Landscape, a "clay painting" spanning 50 feet of gallery wall space. Inspired by the artist's spectacular backyard gardens and natural landscape just steps from her studio, The Fired Landscape installation consists of Setting Sun, a brilliantly colored ceramic wall relief displayed continuously on five angled walls. The visitor encounter is reminiscent of what one experiences when surrounded by the natural environment. Overall, Setting Sun is a ceramic abstraction, but Hughto establishes a connection to the landscape that inspired it by adding impressions of natural objects such as native ferns, marine life and fossils, into the wet clay and then coating the surfaces with brilliant color. The rich palette of burnt oranges and fiery reds evoke the sun’s glowing light and radiating warmth. Tiny pieces of glass embedded in the clay prior to firing add sparkle to the glossy green and blue glazes used to suggest the artist's lily pond.

From Here to There: Alec Soth's America
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $10 regular, $8 students/seniors/military, members and children under 5 free
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

"From Here to There: Alec Soth's America" provides a focused look at an extraordinary photographer whose compelling images of the American road and its unexpected turns form powerful narrative vignettes. The exhibition will be the artist's first major survey assembled in the United States, exploring over 15 years of his career, and including an extensive new body of work.

Since his inclusion in the 2004 Whitney and São Paulo biennials, Soth's reputation as one of the most interesting voices in contemporary photography has continued to grow. Though he has followed the itinerant path laid forth by photographers such as Robert Frank, William Eggleston, and Stephen Shore, Soth's is a distinct perspective, one in which the wandering, searching, and the process of telling is as resonant as the record of these remarkable encounters. When considered together, Soth's pictures probe the individualities of people, objects, and places he encounters; offer insight to broader sociologies, and in the process form a collective portrait of an unexpected America.

Featuring approximately 100 photographs made between 1994 and the present, "From Here to There" will include rarely-seen early black-and-white images as well as examples from Soth's best-known series "Sleeping by the Mississippi" and "Niagara." Interspersed throughout the exhibition will be a broad range of portraits made over the past 15 years. The exhibition will also include a new body of work the artist has been developing since 2006, exploring places of escape in America and individuals who seek to flee civilization for a life off the grid. To add insight into Soth's process, the exhibition additionally features a Library space, which includes a reading area for publications, a selection of maquettes for book and 'zine projects, short video works, and ephemera gathered on the road.

Deng Guo Yuan
The Warehouse Gallery

Price: Free
The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

This exhibit will highlight ink brush paintings by Tianjin-based Chinese artist Deng Guo Yuan. His work reveals the tradition of Chinese landscape painting and a profound knowledge of modern and international contemporary aesthetics. The film "Deng Guo Yuan" (2010) by French filmmaker Pierre Creton, presented in the Gallery's vault, meticulously documents the creation of one of Deng Guo Yuan's ink paintings in his Tianjin studio. Widely exhibited in China and Europe, this will be the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. The show originated at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts Museum (Tianjin, China), and then traveled in modified form to the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), to the Provenance Center (New London, CT), and to its last venue, the Warehouse Gallery, for which Deng Guo Yuan will create additional site-specific works.

Sculpture Club Exhibition
XL Projects

Price: Free
XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

A collaborative group show displaying a wide variety of work done by the undergraduate members of SU's Sculpture Club. With more than 20 artists being shown, the exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to see the vast array of artwork students have been creating in the sculptural field. The show is curated by Alex Svoboda and Sarah Whitehouse.

Dies Irae
Echo

745 N. Salina St. (formerly Craft Chemistry)
Syracuse

Dies Irae, a group show with Thomas Ward III, Heidi Josephine, and Nik Moore featuring a mix of collaborative and original paintings.

Daughters of Ixchel: The Photography of Mary Lawyer O'Connor
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

"Daughters of Ixchel" is a collection of images of Maya women and their hand-woven textiles that brings awareness and understanding of vibrant Maya cultures and the challenges they face. The exhibit will be a look into the lives of women weavers from Guatemala and Southern Mexico. Portrait and documentary photography along with text will tell their stories and will include original textiles. We will highlight fair-trade, worker-owned cooperatives and the political history of Guatemala where, despite persecution and genocide, Maya weavers maintain traditional methods, patterns, colors and styles that flourish and evolve.

Mary Lawyer O'Connor lives in Pompey and is a founder and current head of the Montessori School of Syracuse.

SU Symphony Band
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

Price: Free
Setnor Auditorium, Crouse College
Syracuse University, Syracuse

The Symphony Band performs under the direction of Bradley P. Ethington, associate director of bands, and Justin J. Mertz, assistant director of bands. The band will perform works by Maslanka, Zdechlik, Iannaccone, Balmages and Nelhybel.

Free parking is available in the Irving Garage; patrons should mention that they are attending the concert.

Christopher Kennedy, poetry
Raymond Carver Reading Series

Price: Free
Gifford Auditorium, Huntington Beard Crouse Hall
Syracuse University, Syracuse

The reading will be preceded by a question and answer session from 3:45-4:30. The public is welcome.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Linda Hartzell, director

Archbold Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Narnia comes to life in a mystical adventure, dramatized by Adrian Mitchell, with music composed by Shaun Davey.

London. The war is on and the bombs are falling. Four children -- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy -- flee the perils of the Blitz to the safety of the countryside. In an old wardrobe they discover a portal to the land of Narnia, where a fearsome White Witch holds the inhabitants spellbound in a winter lasting 100 years. There the children enter a deadly struggle, joining with the great lion, Aslan, to battle the White Witch and her army. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and rarely produced stateside, this thrilling musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis' inspiring tale delivers excitement for the whole family. Musical direction by Dianne Adams McDowell.

Read a Review!

The Wiz
Redhouse

Price: $15 regular, $10 members, children under 10 free (this performance only)
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

The award-winning musical based on the classic The Wizard of Oz, join Dorothy as she ventures from her home in Harlem to the funky, urban world of Oz. Presented in partnership with Hillside Family of Agencies.

Part of Redhouse's new "Theatre Experience" Program, this production of The Wiz is designed to provide experiential learning for students through production opportunities. Students participate in master classes and workshops taught by college professors and theater professionals which culminate in a professional production in which the students participate.

The Redhouse cast of The Wiz includes four professional actors from New York City in the lead roles: Joan Armstrong, Jasmine Torres, Evan Michael Smith, and Temar Underwood.

Local actors include Stephfond Brunson, Lonnie Lemar Johnson, H. Kevin Mobley, Jessica Skipper, Blondean Young, Brandon Martin and Lucy Di Genova.

The cast also includes young actors from the Hillside Agency. Hillside is an after school program for at-risk youth in need of support and guidance during the middle and high school years. Through a partnership with this organization, Redhouse now conducts an entire Arts Education curriculum for the Hillside facility and offers internship and performance opportunities for their kids.

Read a Review!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Linda Hartzell, director

Archbold Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Narnia comes to life in a mystical adventure, dramatized by Adrian Mitchell, with music composed by Shaun Davey.

London. The war is on and the bombs are falling. Four children -- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy -- flee the perils of the Blitz to the safety of the countryside. In an old wardrobe they discover a portal to the land of Narnia, where a fearsome White Witch holds the inhabitants spellbound in a winter lasting 100 years. There the children enter a deadly struggle, joining with the great lion, Aslan, to battle the White Witch and her army. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and rarely produced stateside, this thrilling musical adaptation of C.S. Lewis' inspiring tale delivers excitement for the whole family. Musical direction by Dianne Adams McDowell.

Read a Review!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Windows Project: Elisabeth Meyer: Black Night/White Night
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The Window Project features an installation by Elisabeth Meyer consisting of organic forms embroidered onto an organza fabric. The overall patterning evokes an association with ocean waves and a net. The transparent quality of the organza background allows the viewer to see through the piece that is hanging from the ceiling covering the entire window front. The work addresses the issue of displacement through traveling. Meyer, who is based in Ithaca, developed the concept for this exhibition while at a residency in Iceland, traveled to India to oversee the production of the embroidery, and created the work on site in Syracuse.

Learning to Write American: Works by Jennifer Drinkwater
Redhouse

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

These incredibly innovative pieces directly involve the viewer to create meaning, through imagining the missing term, through opening compartments of the painting to explore what is hidden beneath the surface, or by rearranging magnets to create a composition.

Read a review!

Sculpted Sound: From Art to Wood to Music -- Works of John & Sondra Bromka
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

For more information, phone 315-445-4153.

Pile-Stratra: Work s of Mikyung Kim
Onondaga Community College

Price: Free
Ann Felton Multicultural Center and Gallery
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

Mikyung Kim's conceptual "Pile-Stratra" exhibit is an intrinsic exploration of the relationship between game and rite. Kim's work is deeply rooted in Eastern Ceremony, especially ancestor worship by creating the tableau as an altar setting. Each work is a product of random and composed elements, producing a form of controlled spontaneity that mirrors the interplay between the fleeting mind and metamorphic nature.

The most convenient lots for the Gallery and Storer Auditorium is Lots 2 directly behind Ferrante Hall.

Spanglish: Drawing, Collage, Photography and Video
Point of Contact Gallery

Price: Free
Point of Contact Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Spanglish is a project made specifically for the Point of Contact Gallery by New York City artist Celeste Fichter, based on Point of Contact's work in the verbal and the visual arts, and its ties to the Latin American literary and visual arts. Comprised of drawing, collage, photography and video, Spanglish is based solely on the artist's understanding and misunderstanding of the Spanish language.

For several months Fichter studied the Spanish/English dictionary page by page, definition by definition in alphabetical order, pronouncing each word aloud in search of words that sound like other words (in either English or Spanish), and looking for definitions that have intriguing double meanings or spellings that can be manipulated. As a non-Spanish speaker, the attempt to learn a new language through a list of definitions presented many limitations; however it is within the narrow confines of these limitations, and maybe because of them, that new understanding is created.

Fichter is interested in the fluidity of language in general as a tool of expression and visual language specifically. Spanglish is beyond a spoken language, beyond a hybrid of the English and Spanish languages — a visual language made up of words, images, signs and symbols.

Open Apple Steve. Memoriam: an aesthetic homage to Steve Jobs
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

Price: Free
Syracuse Technology Garden
235 Harrison St., Syracuse

Exhibit features works by local artists Vicki Harris, Matthew Keeney, Ellen Leahy, Paul Melnikow, and Kathryn Petrillo, plus works from artists in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah, Washington DC, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, and Portugal

Read a review!

Just One Word: Plastics
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

Price: Free
Bird Library, 6th Floor
Syracuse University, Syracuse

For more than a century, plastics have transformed our lives -- from bathroom to battlefield; from supermarket to spacecraft. Begun as a 19th-century replacement material for billiard balls and piano keys, plastics spurred 20th century developments in industry, transportation, medicine, entertainment, and other aspects of contemporary life. The original objects of "Just One Word: Plastics" represent a material history of the modern world.

This exhibition features a representative sample of the Plastics Collection at the Syracuse University Library and presents an overview of major trends in the development of plastics in everyday life. The exhibit focuses on personal and household objects rather than the use of plastics in industry where they are also widely used. Approximately 250 objects divided into 12 categories will be on view. In addition, a small selection of manuscripts and printed materials will be included.

Specific objects to be featured in the exhibition are:
* ornate celluloid combs and a wide variety of plastic toiletries
* phenolic (Bakelite) objects from the 1920s and 30s including jewelry, radios, and other appliances and games
* musical instruments
* post-war toys, dishes, and household items
* original patent books of John Wesley Hyatt, inventor of Celluloid
* product catalogues from the 1930s and 1950s for popular items such as DuPont French Ivory dresser sets, Boltaware molded "stoneware" dishes, and Tupperware, and
* the Pleur-evac, a revolutionary plastic medical device for draining fluid and maintaining pressure in the lungs that helped save the life of President Ronald Reagan.

The Plastics Collection was begun in 2007 as a joint project of the Syracuse University Library and the Plastics History & Artifacts Committee of the Plastics Pioneers Association. The Collection expanded dramatically when the National Plastics Center and Museum in Leominster, MA, closed and transferred its artifacts, books, and manuscripts to Syracuse University's care in 2008.

Whereas I Took the Butterfly: Works by Deloss McGraw
YMCA Arts Branch GallerY

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

This exhibit of literary "poster paintings" features Deloss McGraw's reflections/interpretations of such writers as Dickinson, Hemingway, Snodgrass and others, often using photographs of the authors, book covers, or other borrowed images.

Untold Stories
Edgewood Gallery

Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Featuring the diverse works of Alison Fisher: acrylic and mixed media paintings; jewelry made of unique mixed metals and found objects; one-of-a-kind textiles including handbags, scarves, pillows, and throws.

"Off the Wall" Holiday Art Sale
Associated Artists of Central New York

Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

African Diasporan Treasures: 40 Years of Community Folk Art Center
Community Folk Art Center

Price: Free
Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The exhibition will showcase pieces from CFAC's permanent collection. Featuring over 30 works by artists including Joel Gaines, Ellen Oppler, Jack White, Denise Cole and Kamiiron Pritchard, "African Diasporan Treasures" provides a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the rich artistic history of CFAC. In many cases, the pieces have not been displayed for decades. The show will also feature African art that was once part of the Smithsonian Museum's collection.

26th Annual Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 children, members free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The museums transforms into a festive 1800s street scene with more than 40 gingerbread creations in storefront windows.

Happy Holidays Happy Hour: Festival of Trees: Inspiration
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $8 online presale, $10 at the door
Shoppingtown Mall
Dewitt

There will be a holiday happy hour this evening 5:00-8:00 pm, free with festival admission. Check out the special exhibits, nibble on hors d'oeuvres, and buy a drink at the cash bar while enjoying musical entertainment.

Entrance next to Library/Theater mall entrance.

The Everson Museum of Art Members' Council presents this 10-day festival featuring over 100 decorated trees, wreathes and special displays. Each item is generously donated by local businesses, community groups, and individuals, and all items are sold to benefit the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors take in the beautiful sights, purchase decorative items, and pick up tips for their own creations. Special events and live entertainment make the Festival truly special. All proceeds directly benefit the Everson Museum of Art.

Gifts for the Home
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of home décor? Then check out this exhibition featuring original watercolors, wooden clocks and spoons, ceramic mugs, blown glass vases, and other handcrafted gifts at a variety of price points.

Artists represented include:
Lucie Wellner, of Pompey, watercolor paintings
Dennis MacDonald, of Fabius, brooms
Emily Reason, of Marshall, N.C., porcelain pottery
Rick Barrick, of Lancaster, Pa., candles
Jonathan Simons, of Kempton, Pa., wooden spoons
Schlabaugh & Sons, of Kalona, Iowa, clocks

VisualBooks: Works by Scott McCarney
Light Work Gallery

Price: Free
Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

This unique and beautiful exhibition explores the book as a sculptural object that employs a variety of image-making processes. McCarney's carefully hand-bound editions and found-altered books incorporate photographic imagery and utilize the space of the gallery to explore reading as display (on pedestals and shelves, hanging from the ceiling, mounted on the wall).

McCarney creates his sculptural objects and photo-based editions as one-of-a-kind, hand-made pieces as well as small runs of print-on-demand books. According to Hannah Frieser, director of Light Work, "Scott McCarney rethinks the book form, considering books as a starting point rather than a mere vehicle for information and images."

Read a review!

Landmarks of New York
Onondaga Historical Association

Price: Free
Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Landmarks of New York is a traveling exhibit of 90 stunning black and white photographs of New York City buildings that have been accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The exhibit is curated by Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, New York City's first director of cultural affairs and acclaimed author of the book that serves as the basis for the exhibit, The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Building. In conjunction with the show, Dennis Connors, OHA's Curator of History, selected over 20 contemporary and historic photographs to highlight Onondaga County's own architectural inheritance.

Six Sides of Japanese Package Design
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Genet Design Gallery
The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

The exhibition focuses on the way the design of the package relates to Japanese culture and consumerism.

Based on a collection of different Japanese products, "Six Sides of Japanese Package Design" is the result of a collaboration between undergraduate communications design students in the class Problem-Solving Strategies, taught by Roderick Martinez, and graduate museum studies students in the class Museum Studies Practicum, taught by Bradley Hudson. Divided into six groups, the students selected themes that each highlight a different dimension of package design in Japan. Each section of the gallery is a realization of the groups' respective themes in the form of a museum exhibition.

The Design Gallery is located on the first floor of The Warehouse. Patrons should enter The Warehouse via the ground-floor door, adjacent to the café on West Fayette Street or the first-floor door on West Washington Street.

The Art of Gift Giving
Szozda Gallery

Szozda Gallery
Delavan Center, 501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

This group show of new works by favorite artists includes an eclectic mix of photography, paintings, drawings and mixed media, with as varied a host of subject matter as the techniques used to create them. Featured artists includ Rob Glisson, Harry-Freeman Jones, Kwangpyo (Steve) Koh, Emily Elizabeth, Ray Trudell, Phil Parsons, Barbara Conte-Gaugel, R.L. Mercer, C. J. Hodge, Roscha Folger, Diana Godfrey, Dona Flaherty and Linda Esterley. These are artists who have successfully shown before and now, in the spirit of giving, have produced new art especially for this show as a way of thanking the many audiences who continue to enjoy and appreciate their particular creations.

The Butterfly Effect
601 Tully

601 Tully St.
Syracuse

The Butterfly Effect is the first multimedia exhibition at 601 Tully. The actual and conceptual life of a butterfly is a departure point for a collaborative exhibition that places humans and butterflies together in a micro-habitat inside an art space.

The Butterfly Effect presents a variety of interpretations of the butterfly structure and the butterfly as a symbol as addressed by contemporary visual artists and will include work by local artists, Syracuse University students and professors, and Syracuse youth. The centerpiece of The Butterfly Effect is a living butterfly habitat constructed by SU students using materials reclaimed from local sites. The interior butterfly garden provides the opportunity for exhibition visitors to observe living butterflies while surrounded by artworks that explore or feature the butterfly metaphorically.

Expressions of Joy: Annual Holiday Show
Gallery 54

Gallery 54
54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

Fine art and fine craft created by local artists.