Thursday, December 10, 2009

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Sanarás mañana: An exhibit of works by Aimee Lee
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Artist Statement:

I am an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, and book arts media, interested in personal storytelling. My work has covered topics of human intimacy, internal defenses, and the isolating properties of language. Because my work thrives in moments of vulnerability, its manifestations occur subtly and often go unnoticed: a survival kit buried in the ground, a sound recording of whistles tied to a football goalpost, a book whose prints darken and fade to mimic the life cycle of a bruise. I relate to what falls between the cracks, and seek quiet sanctuaries to process the outside world and how humans participate in it.

Storytelling: An Experiment In Visual Narrative -- Works by Pedro Roth
Point of Contact Gallery

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

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, following two superbly triumphant solo exhibitions at the Sivori Museum and at the prestigious Recoleta Center this year, Pedro Roth comes to The Point of Contact Gallery to present "Storytelling...an experiment in visual narrative.

For this rich display of drawings that is a development of the work he presented in Argentina, "Roth invents a world of multiple figures, drawn to life in a Buenos Aires café while listening to stories about lost loves, departed pets, and friends, and the refusal to go out and love again..." writes the show's curator, Pedro Cuperman.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Works by Marianne Smith Dalton
Redhouse

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Through a combination of techniques utilizing traditional oil, acrylic, spray paint and marker, stories unfold from deep within my own consciousness, each relating to a memory, image or event that haunts and intrigues me. - Marianne Smith Dalton

The Power of Four
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium
2 Clinton Square, Syracuse

The Power of Four features recent work by Judith Benedict, Lindsey Guile, Mary Pierce, and Carla Senecal. From abstract to representational, conceptual to narrative, traditional to emerging, this group of artist produces something for everyone.

Howard Bond Retrospective
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Twenty-two pieces of Bond's work was donated to the SU's Bird Library by alumnus Carl Armani. The exhibition, which includes these works, is a retrospective of 30 years of Bond's creative work highlighting the photographer's mastery of abstraction, proximity, pattern, texture, and landscape.

Presented in conjunction with the 2009 Syracuse Symposium, "Light".

Viewpoints II 16" x 20": 2nd Collaborative Collection of the Syracuse Photographers Association
Westcott Community Art Gallery

Price: Free
Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse

The Syracuse Photography Association proudly presents a collection of photographic images at their 2nd Annual collaborative gallery exhibit.

Creatively capturing images from the commonplace to the unexpected, photographers catch the light and special moments in time. This collection of images, all 16" x 20", will serve to captivate your eye and draw you in closer to view a new world in each color or black and white photo.

Celebrating 20 Years
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

A diverse show of 56 creative artists who have previously exhibited at Edgewood Gallery.

Power and Pride: An Elizabeth Catlett Retrospective
Community Folk Art Center

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

"Power and Pride: An Elizabeth Catlett Retrospective" features 50 years of prints, drawings, collages and sculptures by Catlett, who is an icon of American art. The exhibition was organized with the assistance of Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA.

Born in Washington, DC, Elizabeth Catlett graduated from Howard University with a degree in painting and was the first student to receive an M.F.A. degree in sculpture from the University of Iowa in 1940. She later studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago, and lithography at the Art Students League in New York. In 1943, she studied with sculptor Ossip Zadkine in New York. Catlett was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1946, under which she travelled to Mexico to study sculpture, mural painting and printmaking. In Mexico, she worked at the Escuela de Pintura y Escultura and at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Popular Graphic Arts Workshop), a group of artists who created art that expressed desire for social change. In 1947, she married Mexican artist Francisco Mora, and became a naturalized Mexican citizen in 1962. A lifelong artist, activist and educator, Catlett is known for her depiction of social and political issues, in particular those relating to African American and women's themes.

Elizabeth Catlett has taught at Dillard University, Hampton University, the George Washington Carver School, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she became the first female professor and first female department chair at the School of Fine Arts.

She retired in 1976 and makes her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she continues to work in her studio. Her work is featured in many public and private collections around the world, and she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Catlett has been the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.

Read a review!

Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 ages 12 and younger
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The delicious aroma of ginger and candy waft through the air as the second floor gallery is transformed into a festive 1800s street scene, with over 40 gingerbread creations on display in storefront windows. These sweet creations are made locally by professional and amateur bakers.

Merry Bells Ring: The Festival of Trees
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $5 regular, free for children 5 and under
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This Syracuse tradition features more than 100 artfully decorated trees, wreathes, and special displays creating a magical holiday wonderland. The decorations and displays are all for sale. Enjoy live entertainment provided by local school and musical groups. Stop into the special holiday store where you're sure to find the perfect gift.

The Beauty Is in the Details
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

The gallery will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December.

Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.

Corporeal: Works by Deana Lawson
Light Work Gallery

Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

Deana Lawson's photographs examine how the body informs personal, political, and historical identities. Her psychological portraits seem to start out in one shape before morphing into something unexpected. Their apparent transparency at first glance dissolves into a complex set of questions about the people who are imaged and the nature of photographing, questions that will never have clear and finite answers, no matter how hard and long we look.

Lawson calls the people she photographs her family, whether they are in fact related or whether they met as friends in church, at the grocery store, or in a club. The ties that bind her images together are not in the blood but rather in the shared experience of representation.

If the personal is political, then the portrait may present the most intense form in which to control the message of the self. In viewing Lawson's portraits, as we come to terms with the body and the sometimes uncomfortable intimacy of a stranger's personal truth, we see flesh, beauty, pain, salvation, life, and death all performed within the context of the frame. As bare identities emerge from these photographs, we may reassess the often easily avoided questions of what we are willing to look at and why.

The rooms and faces in the photographs may change, but the gaze and gesture of Lawson's subjects consistently telegraph a unified refrain: The beauty of this moment in front of the lens belongs to them. The people in her photographs offer an unrelenting intention to be seen as they want to be seen. Just as important, they possess an unbridled courage to reveal that fleeting truth to others. Although Lawson is a collaborator and co-adventurer in the making of each picture, her subjects make the key contributions that give the photographs in Corporeal their power.

Artists at Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty
Light Work Gallery

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

For many years Light Work has enjoyed a close affiliation with the art photography department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The faculty and students of art photo interact with Light Work's roster of international artists through lectures, internships, and classroom visits. In addition, they utilize the Community Darkrooms facilities and take full advantage of the expertise of the Light Work staff. Together we share an energy, passion, and commitment to contemporary art and photography. The exhibition "Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty" highlights this relationship by featuring work by Doug Dubois, Laura Heyman, Yasser Aggour, John Wesley Mannion, Aaron Hraba, Jennifer Wilkey, Sara Zamecnik, Kelli Pennington, Jeffrey Einhorn, and Shimpei Shirafuji.

Intimacy & Vastness
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Price: Free
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

A show of paintings by Sharon Gordon and Aida Khalil and ceramic works by Errol Willett.

Sharon Gordon's new oil paintings feature her ongoing exploration of the dynamic relationship of earth and sky. Her dreamlike landscape paintings engage the play of light over vast surfaces and suspended water droplets.

Aida Khalil's mixed media paintings are from her "Boat of Hours" series. Through the intimate scale of er small canvases, the artist transforms vistas into personal landscapes of slowed down moments of light and weather.

Errol Willett's pottery and ceramic forms are influenced by painting, sculpture and architecture. The artist is interested in how art can forge ahead, from being something other than our known world, and crosses into a new locus.

Read a review!

Syracuse During the Time of Impressionism
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

A complementary exhibit to the Everson Museum of Art's "From Turner To Cezanne", OHA's exhibit will look at what was happening in Syracuse at the time of the European Impressionist painters, 1880-1916. The exhibit will feature artwork, clothing, products, archival material, and other items that will interpret the Syracuse scene during this time impressionist painters were viewed by their contemporaries as "outrageously modern."

Holiday Show 09
Gandee Gallery

Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., 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. The Gandee Gallery encourages art lovers to celebrate the holidays by giving gifts that embody the creative spirit.

The exhibition will feature photography, ceramics, painting, and fiber art created by regionally and nationally recognized artists. Participating artists include: Jen Allen (Morgantown, WV), Ed Feldman (Cortland), Shanna Fliegel (Tarrytown, NY), Bob Gates (Jamesville), Shawn O'Connor (Syracuse), Davie Reneau (Glasgow, KY), Brenda Edwards (Oswego), Kathy Barry (Syracuse), Nancy Kramer (Skaneateles), Brooke Noble (Saranac Lake, NY), Erin Murphy (Syracuse), Lucy Mink (Syracuse), Jeremy Randall (Tully), Lucie Wellner (Pompey), Forrest Lesch-Middelton (Fairfax, CA), and Jen Gandee (Fabius).

35th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts

Price: Free
City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Original crafts and fine arts by more than 50 artists and craftspeople from Central New York. For more information, phone 315-468-2616.

John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

This retrospective exhibition highlights the work of mixed media photography pioneer John Wood. Over 100 works that chronicle the artist's work from the 1960s to the present will be on display in his first major retrospective exhibition.

Well known as a photographer who routinely broke the barriers of "pure photography," Wood's work is credited as being the foundation for the mixed media and digital imagery processes of the last two decades. A master of processes from straight photography, collage, cliché verre, solarization, mixed media, offset lithography to drawing, he has a unique ability to work decisively across a variety of media with ease.

Wood's early influences as a photographer stem from his time served in the Army Air Corps as a B-17 pilot, as seen in his multiple frame landscapes and time-lapse collages. After the war, Wood trained as a visual designer and photographer at the Institute of Design in Chicago. Wood spent 35 years teaching photography and printmaking at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Like the work of Jasper Johns, John Wood is relentless in pushing the boundaries of traditional media. His work has laid the groundwork for the multi process, cross disciplinary artwork being created for years.

Paid parking is available for weekday visitors in any SU pay lot. Free parking for weekend and evening visitors is available in the Q4 lot, located on College Place. Patrons should notify the attendant that they are visiting the SUArt Galleries. Evening and weekend parking is on a space-available basis and may be restricted during events held at the Carrier Dome.

Wild Card Exhibition: Syracuse Ceramic Guild
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

A collective display of members' works is part of the organization's mission to promote awareness and understanding of the ceramic medium. Featured artists include Carol Adamec, Lory Black, Walt Black, Sue Canizares, Megan Connor, Miyo Hirano, Amy Komar, Sabrina Nedell, and Wes Weiss.

Elements
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Paintings by Lynette Blake, ceramics by Amy Haven, and paintings by James Van Hoven

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Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $15 non-members, $12 students/seniors, $10 Everson members, children 5 and under free, $50 family rate (maximum two adults and four dependent children)
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This collection is comprised of an extraordinary group of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings collected largely between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Margaret and Gwendoline Davies. By 1914, the Davies sisters had assembled one of the finest collections of European modern art in Britain, with works from artists such as Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Joseph M.W. Turner, among several others.

Turner to Cézanne speaks volumes about taste, patronage and philanthropy. The 53 original works by 29 artists included also a present survey of modern art, ranging from Turner's Romantic naturalism to Cézanne's modern aesthetic innovations. This exhibition serves as a reminder of the value of creativity, and of persistence, as many of the artists were, at first, either misunderstood or scorned.

Docent-led tours are available Tuesday-Thursday at 2:00 pm and Saturdays at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. These tours are complimentary with exhibition admission, and no reservation is required. A complimentary cell phone audio tour is available to all visitors.

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Women of Rookwood: The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection
Everson Museum of Art

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

The Rookwood Pottery, founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880, established itself as a commercial pottery that successfully elevated ordinary ceramic objects to a fine art status during the heyday of art pottery in America. Each unique piece was hand-painted and signed by the artist, many of whom were young women. This exhibition, which includes examples by several of these women including Sarah Sax, Fannie Auckland, Sadie Markland, Grace Young, and Rookwood founder Maria Longworth Nichols, was selected from The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection in conjunction with the "Women as Visionaries, Women as Participants" Symposium scheduled for October 17.

Arts & Crafts of New York State
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Arts & Crafts movement that blossomed in Europe in the late 19th century and rapidly spread to America not only has deep roots in New York State, but it is still very much alive in the upstate region today. Gustav Stickley and Adelaide Robineau, significant figures on the national Arts & Crafts scene at the turn of the century, were based in Syracuse. Elbert Hubbard established the Roycrofters in East Aurora in the 1880s and the Byrdcliffe Colony flourished in Woodstock, New York at the same time. This exhibition showcases paintings, furniture, ceramics, and metal work created by these masters of the Arts & Crafts movement from 1890 to 1920.

Alyson Shotz: Drawing Through Space
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

With the assistance of Syracuse University students, Brooklyn-based Shotz created her works on site, thus turning The Warehouse Gallery into a form of laboratory. Shotz is one of today's ground-breaking artists transforming contemporary art through a fusion of technology and handcrafted steel wire and yarn artworks. Her use of this material is a means of combining sculpture with drawing to address issues of light, space, time and motion. Strikingly beautiful, her wire sculpture in the vault and three wall drawings project optical experiences where questions of perception and misperception lead to further examination of the impact of 21st-century technology on the arts.

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Windows Project: Confederacy of Dunces
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Hamilton-based Lynette K. Stephenson created an installation about New Orleans consisting of 60 hand-felted wool dunce caps. This exhibition is inspired by John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) set in New Orleans, where Stephenson's family home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and based on her previous body of paintings, The Red Cross Series, which led to the idea for this site-specific project. In this work Stephenson engages in a dialogue about present-day social issues referring to New Orleans, the tragedy of the Hurricane and the universal symbol of the Red Cross.

The Picture Man: Photographs of Milton Rogovin
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Milton Rogovin is a social documentary photographer, with a focus of photographing the poor and working class for 50 years. His choice of subject was summed up in his words, "The rich have their own photographers. I have chosen to photograph the poor." Rogovin has photographed miners in 10 nations, collaborated with the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, photographed a six-square block neighborhood in Buffalo for 30 years, and so much more. In 1957, he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Because he refused to "name names" he was blacklisted and his optometry practice in Buffalo suffered. "My voice was essentially silenced, so I decided to speak out through photography." In 1969, the Library of Congress accepted Rogovin's entire body of work.

Opening: Fresh: First-Year Students in the School of Art and Design Juried Exhibition 2009
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

an opening reception will be held from 6:00-8:00 pm.

The exhibition showcases a variety of work from approximately 100 students in the Department of Foundation, which offers the first-year program for students in the School of Art and Design. Works shown include video, sound, digital art, sculpture, design, books, collage, animation and drawing from the four studio areas of the foundation program: drawing, creative processes, time arts and dimensional arts.

For more information, contact Andrew Havenhand, the colleges program exhibitions coordinator, at adhavenh@syr.edu. XL Projects may be contacted at 315-442-2542 during gallery hours.

Nuit Blanche
Redhouse
Corpus

Price: $25 regular, $20 students/seniors
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Toronto based dance troupe CORPUS brings the acclaimed Nuit blanche to the Red House stage for an enchanting weekend of dance, theatre, comedy and clowning. CORPUS has toured throughout Canada and around the world and has chosen Syracuse and the Red House to make their U.S. premiere.

Nuit blanche follows six insomniacs into a night of broken sleep and waking dreams. Combining contemporary dance, physical theatre, and comedy, Nuit blanche will take you on a fantastical journey through the bizarre and familiar territory of the sleeping subconscious. Nuit blanche was nominated for the 2002 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography and was rated one of 2002's best dance shows by The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

Co-founded by Sylvie Bouchard and artistic director David Danzon, CORPUS is known for its precise and surrealist humor that combines movement with theatrical imagery. CORPUS' unique and engaging performances have been presented in both traditional and unusual locations, for large and diverse audiences, since 1997.

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The Rich Have Their Own Photographers
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

This new documentary, by filmmaker Ezra Bookstein, about the life and work of Milton Rogovin will be introduced by his son, Mark Rogovin. Mark is here from Chicago for this event and to celebrate his father's 100th birthday in Buffalo on December 12th. This is your only chance to see the film in the CNY area and if you haven't already seen the Rogovin exhibit, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

Milton Rogovin is one of the foremost social documentary photographers of the 20th century. He photographed low income and working class people for 50 years and often said: "The rich have their own photographers. I have chosen to photograph the poor." As Milton returned, decade after decade, to Buffalo's Lower West Side he was often greeted with tears and the salutation, "The Picture Man is back!" Milton Rogovin's photographs celebrate community, legitimize and make visible the lives of common people, and bring dignity and hope to all our lives.

Holiday Harp Concert
Featuring Jennifer Byrne, harp

Fayetteville Free Library
300 Orchard St., Fayetteville

For more information, phone 315-637-6374, ext. 319.

SU Wind Ensemble
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

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

The ensemble will premiere a piece by Basler and Tommasini and perform works by Husa and Sparke. Ronald L. Caravan will appear as guest soloist on the saxophone.

The Wind Ensemble performs under the direction of John M. Laverty. Bradley P. Ethington and Justin J. Mertz will appear as guest conductors.

Free parking is available in the Irving Garage. For more information, contact the University Band Office at 315-443-2194 or fmmoore@syr.edu.

Bad Kitty: A Holiday Whodunnit
Acme Mystery Company

Price: $25.95 plus tax and gratuities (includes meal and show)
Spaghetti Warehouse
689 N. Clinton St., Syracuse

Everyone who is anyone in the high-stakes, competitive world of professional cat showing is here tonight for the annual Catalina Cat Club holiday dinner and awards banquet. This once tiny event has grown from a friendly competition into an international frenzy of flying fur and flashing claws: and that's just the owners (especially Marielle Ann DeVozz). Founder and host, Cy Ameze, invites you to come and raise a glass to this year's winner of the prestigious, jewel-encrusted Kitty Cup. That is, if you're still alive by the end of the evening.

High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Little Women
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Anthony Salatino, director

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

What we cherish most—family, sacrifice, determination, hope, and love—never goes out of style. All of Louisa May Alcott's classic characters are here: warm and loving Marmee, vivacious Amy, sweet and dreamy Meg, tender-hearted Beth, handsome and charming Laurie, Aunt March, Professor Bhaer, and of course, the passionate and funny Jo. Brimming with 20 beautiful songs, this new musical captures all the struggle, romance and deep emotions of Alcott's beloved tale. Celebrate your holidays with the March family.

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This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $30 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

Read a Review!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Sanarás mañana: An exhibit of works by Aimee Lee
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Artist Statement:

I am an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, and book arts media, interested in personal storytelling. My work has covered topics of human intimacy, internal defenses, and the isolating properties of language. Because my work thrives in moments of vulnerability, its manifestations occur subtly and often go unnoticed: a survival kit buried in the ground, a sound recording of whistles tied to a football goalpost, a book whose prints darken and fade to mimic the life cycle of a bruise. I relate to what falls between the cracks, and seek quiet sanctuaries to process the outside world and how humans participate in it.

Storytelling: An Experiment In Visual Narrative -- Works by Pedro Roth
Point of Contact Gallery

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

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, following two superbly triumphant solo exhibitions at the Sivori Museum and at the prestigious Recoleta Center this year, Pedro Roth comes to The Point of Contact Gallery to present "Storytelling...an experiment in visual narrative.

For this rich display of drawings that is a development of the work he presented in Argentina, "Roth invents a world of multiple figures, drawn to life in a Buenos Aires café while listening to stories about lost loves, departed pets, and friends, and the refusal to go out and love again..." writes the show's curator, Pedro Cuperman.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Works by Marianne Smith Dalton
Redhouse

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Through a combination of techniques utilizing traditional oil, acrylic, spray paint and marker, stories unfold from deep within my own consciousness, each relating to a memory, image or event that haunts and intrigues me. - Marianne Smith Dalton

The Power of Four
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium
2 Clinton Square, Syracuse

The Power of Four features recent work by Judith Benedict, Lindsey Guile, Mary Pierce, and Carla Senecal. From abstract to representational, conceptual to narrative, traditional to emerging, this group of artist produces something for everyone.

Howard Bond Retrospective
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Twenty-two pieces of Bond's work was donated to the SU's Bird Library by alumnus Carl Armani. The exhibition, which includes these works, is a retrospective of 30 years of Bond's creative work highlighting the photographer's mastery of abstraction, proximity, pattern, texture, and landscape.

Presented in conjunction with the 2009 Syracuse Symposium, "Light".

Viewpoints II 16" x 20": 2nd Collaborative Collection of the Syracuse Photographers Association
Westcott Community Art Gallery

Price: Free
Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse

The Syracuse Photography Association proudly presents a collection of photographic images at their 2nd Annual collaborative gallery exhibit.

Creatively capturing images from the commonplace to the unexpected, photographers catch the light and special moments in time. This collection of images, all 16" x 20", will serve to captivate your eye and draw you in closer to view a new world in each color or black and white photo.

Celebrating 20 Years
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

A diverse show of 56 creative artists who have previously exhibited at Edgewood Gallery.

Power and Pride: An Elizabeth Catlett Retrospective
Community Folk Art Center

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

"Power and Pride: An Elizabeth Catlett Retrospective" features 50 years of prints, drawings, collages and sculptures by Catlett, who is an icon of American art. The exhibition was organized with the assistance of Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA.

Born in Washington, DC, Elizabeth Catlett graduated from Howard University with a degree in painting and was the first student to receive an M.F.A. degree in sculpture from the University of Iowa in 1940. She later studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago, and lithography at the Art Students League in New York. In 1943, she studied with sculptor Ossip Zadkine in New York. Catlett was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1946, under which she travelled to Mexico to study sculpture, mural painting and printmaking. In Mexico, she worked at the Escuela de Pintura y Escultura and at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Popular Graphic Arts Workshop), a group of artists who created art that expressed desire for social change. In 1947, she married Mexican artist Francisco Mora, and became a naturalized Mexican citizen in 1962. A lifelong artist, activist and educator, Catlett is known for her depiction of social and political issues, in particular those relating to African American and women's themes.

Elizabeth Catlett has taught at Dillard University, Hampton University, the George Washington Carver School, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she became the first female professor and first female department chair at the School of Fine Arts.

She retired in 1976 and makes her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she continues to work in her studio. Her work is featured in many public and private collections around the world, and she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Catlett has been the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.

Read a review!

Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 ages 12 and younger
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The delicious aroma of ginger and candy waft through the air as the second floor gallery is transformed into a festive 1800s street scene, with over 40 gingerbread creations on display in storefront windows. These sweet creations are made locally by professional and amateur bakers.

Merry Bells Ring: The Festival of Trees
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $5 regular, free for children 5 and under
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This Syracuse tradition features more than 100 artfully decorated trees, wreathes, and special displays creating a magical holiday wonderland. The decorations and displays are all for sale. Enjoy live entertainment provided by local school and musical groups. Stop into the special holiday store where you're sure to find the perfect gift.

The Beauty Is in the Details
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

The gallery will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December.

Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.

Artists at Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty
Light Work Gallery

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

For many years Light Work has enjoyed a close affiliation with the art photography department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The faculty and students of art photo interact with Light Work's roster of international artists through lectures, internships, and classroom visits. In addition, they utilize the Community Darkrooms facilities and take full advantage of the expertise of the Light Work staff. Together we share an energy, passion, and commitment to contemporary art and photography. The exhibition "Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty" highlights this relationship by featuring work by Doug Dubois, Laura Heyman, Yasser Aggour, John Wesley Mannion, Aaron Hraba, Jennifer Wilkey, Sara Zamecnik, Kelli Pennington, Jeffrey Einhorn, and Shimpei Shirafuji.

Corporeal: Works by Deana Lawson
Light Work Gallery

Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

Deana Lawson's photographs examine how the body informs personal, political, and historical identities. Her psychological portraits seem to start out in one shape before morphing into something unexpected. Their apparent transparency at first glance dissolves into a complex set of questions about the people who are imaged and the nature of photographing, questions that will never have clear and finite answers, no matter how hard and long we look.

Lawson calls the people she photographs her family, whether they are in fact related or whether they met as friends in church, at the grocery store, or in a club. The ties that bind her images together are not in the blood but rather in the shared experience of representation.

If the personal is political, then the portrait may present the most intense form in which to control the message of the self. In viewing Lawson's portraits, as we come to terms with the body and the sometimes uncomfortable intimacy of a stranger's personal truth, we see flesh, beauty, pain, salvation, life, and death all performed within the context of the frame. As bare identities emerge from these photographs, we may reassess the often easily avoided questions of what we are willing to look at and why.

The rooms and faces in the photographs may change, but the gaze and gesture of Lawson's subjects consistently telegraph a unified refrain: The beauty of this moment in front of the lens belongs to them. The people in her photographs offer an unrelenting intention to be seen as they want to be seen. Just as important, they possess an unbridled courage to reveal that fleeting truth to others. Although Lawson is a collaborator and co-adventurer in the making of each picture, her subjects make the key contributions that give the photographs in Corporeal their power.

Intimacy & Vastness
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Price: Free
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

A show of paintings by Sharon Gordon and Aida Khalil and ceramic works by Errol Willett.

Sharon Gordon's new oil paintings feature her ongoing exploration of the dynamic relationship of earth and sky. Her dreamlike landscape paintings engage the play of light over vast surfaces and suspended water droplets.

Aida Khalil's mixed media paintings are from her "Boat of Hours" series. Through the intimate scale of er small canvases, the artist transforms vistas into personal landscapes of slowed down moments of light and weather.

Errol Willett's pottery and ceramic forms are influenced by painting, sculpture and architecture. The artist is interested in how art can forge ahead, from being something other than our known world, and crosses into a new locus.

Read a review!

Syracuse During the Time of Impressionism
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

A complementary exhibit to the Everson Museum of Art's "From Turner To Cezanne", OHA's exhibit will look at what was happening in Syracuse at the time of the European Impressionist painters, 1880-1916. The exhibit will feature artwork, clothing, products, archival material, and other items that will interpret the Syracuse scene during this time impressionist painters were viewed by their contemporaries as "outrageously modern."

Holiday Show 09
Gandee Gallery

Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., 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. The Gandee Gallery encourages art lovers to celebrate the holidays by giving gifts that embody the creative spirit.

The exhibition will feature photography, ceramics, painting, and fiber art created by regionally and nationally recognized artists. Participating artists include: Jen Allen (Morgantown, WV), Ed Feldman (Cortland), Shanna Fliegel (Tarrytown, NY), Bob Gates (Jamesville), Shawn O'Connor (Syracuse), Davie Reneau (Glasgow, KY), Brenda Edwards (Oswego), Kathy Barry (Syracuse), Nancy Kramer (Skaneateles), Brooke Noble (Saranac Lake, NY), Erin Murphy (Syracuse), Lucy Mink (Syracuse), Jeremy Randall (Tully), Lucie Wellner (Pompey), Forrest Lesch-Middelton (Fairfax, CA), and Jen Gandee (Fabius).

35th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts

Price: Free
City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Original crafts and fine arts by more than 50 artists and craftspeople from Central New York. For more information, phone 315-468-2616.

John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

This retrospective exhibition highlights the work of mixed media photography pioneer John Wood. Over 100 works that chronicle the artist's work from the 1960s to the present will be on display in his first major retrospective exhibition.

Well known as a photographer who routinely broke the barriers of "pure photography," Wood's work is credited as being the foundation for the mixed media and digital imagery processes of the last two decades. A master of processes from straight photography, collage, cliché verre, solarization, mixed media, offset lithography to drawing, he has a unique ability to work decisively across a variety of media with ease.

Wood's early influences as a photographer stem from his time served in the Army Air Corps as a B-17 pilot, as seen in his multiple frame landscapes and time-lapse collages. After the war, Wood trained as a visual designer and photographer at the Institute of Design in Chicago. Wood spent 35 years teaching photography and printmaking at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Like the work of Jasper Johns, John Wood is relentless in pushing the boundaries of traditional media. His work has laid the groundwork for the multi process, cross disciplinary artwork being created for years.

Paid parking is available for weekday visitors in any SU pay lot. Free parking for weekend and evening visitors is available in the Q4 lot, located on College Place. Patrons should notify the attendant that they are visiting the SUArt Galleries. Evening and weekend parking is on a space-available basis and may be restricted during events held at the Carrier Dome.

Wild Card Exhibition: Syracuse Ceramic Guild
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

A collective display of members' works is part of the organization's mission to promote awareness and understanding of the ceramic medium. Featured artists include Carol Adamec, Lory Black, Walt Black, Sue Canizares, Megan Connor, Miyo Hirano, Amy Komar, Sabrina Nedell, and Wes Weiss.

Elements
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Paintings by Lynette Blake, ceramics by Amy Haven, and paintings by James Van Hoven

Read a review!

Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $15 non-members, $12 students/seniors, $10 Everson members, children 5 and under free, $50 family rate (maximum two adults and four dependent children)
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This collection is comprised of an extraordinary group of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings collected largely between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Margaret and Gwendoline Davies. By 1914, the Davies sisters had assembled one of the finest collections of European modern art in Britain, with works from artists such as Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Joseph M.W. Turner, among several others.

Turner to Cézanne speaks volumes about taste, patronage and philanthropy. The 53 original works by 29 artists included also a present survey of modern art, ranging from Turner's Romantic naturalism to Cézanne's modern aesthetic innovations. This exhibition serves as a reminder of the value of creativity, and of persistence, as many of the artists were, at first, either misunderstood or scorned.

Docent-led tours are available Tuesday-Thursday at 2:00 pm and Saturdays at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. These tours are complimentary with exhibition admission, and no reservation is required. A complimentary cell phone audio tour is available to all visitors.

Read a review!

Arts & Crafts of New York State
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Arts & Crafts movement that blossomed in Europe in the late 19th century and rapidly spread to America not only has deep roots in New York State, but it is still very much alive in the upstate region today. Gustav Stickley and Adelaide Robineau, significant figures on the national Arts & Crafts scene at the turn of the century, were based in Syracuse. Elbert Hubbard established the Roycrofters in East Aurora in the 1880s and the Byrdcliffe Colony flourished in Woodstock, New York at the same time. This exhibition showcases paintings, furniture, ceramics, and metal work created by these masters of the Arts & Crafts movement from 1890 to 1920.

Women of Rookwood: The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection
Everson Museum of Art

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

The Rookwood Pottery, founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880, established itself as a commercial pottery that successfully elevated ordinary ceramic objects to a fine art status during the heyday of art pottery in America. Each unique piece was hand-painted and signed by the artist, many of whom were young women. This exhibition, which includes examples by several of these women including Sarah Sax, Fannie Auckland, Sadie Markland, Grace Young, and Rookwood founder Maria Longworth Nichols, was selected from The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection in conjunction with the "Women as Visionaries, Women as Participants" Symposium scheduled for October 17.

Fresh: First-Year Students in the School of Art and Design Juried Exhibition 2009
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

The exhibition showcases a variety of work from approximately 100 students in the Department of Foundation, which offers the first-year program for students in the School of Art and Design. Works shown include video, sound, digital art, sculpture, design, books, collage, animation and drawing from the four studio areas of the foundation program: drawing, creative processes, time arts and dimensional arts.

For more information, contact Andrew Havenhand, the colleges program exhibitions coordinator, at adhavenh@syr.edu. XL Projects may be contacted at 315-442-2542 during gallery hours.

Alyson Shotz: Drawing Through Space
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

With the assistance of Syracuse University students, Brooklyn-based Shotz created her works on site, thus turning The Warehouse Gallery into a form of laboratory. Shotz is one of today's ground-breaking artists transforming contemporary art through a fusion of technology and handcrafted steel wire and yarn artworks. Her use of this material is a means of combining sculpture with drawing to address issues of light, space, time and motion. Strikingly beautiful, her wire sculpture in the vault and three wall drawings project optical experiences where questions of perception and misperception lead to further examination of the impact of 21st-century technology on the arts.

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Windows Project: Confederacy of Dunces
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Hamilton-based Lynette K. Stephenson created an installation about New Orleans consisting of 60 hand-felted wool dunce caps. This exhibition is inspired by John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) set in New Orleans, where Stephenson's family home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and based on her previous body of paintings, The Red Cross Series, which led to the idea for this site-specific project. In this work Stephenson engages in a dialogue about present-day social issues referring to New Orleans, the tragedy of the Hurricane and the universal symbol of the Red Cross.

The Picture Man: Photographs of Milton Rogovin
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Milton Rogovin is a social documentary photographer, with a focus of photographing the poor and working class for 50 years. His choice of subject was summed up in his words, "The rich have their own photographers. I have chosen to photograph the poor." Rogovin has photographed miners in 10 nations, collaborated with the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, photographed a six-square block neighborhood in Buffalo for 30 years, and so much more. In 1957, he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Because he refused to "name names" he was blacklisted and his optometry practice in Buffalo suffered. "My voice was essentially silenced, so I decided to speak out through photography." In 1969, the Library of Congress accepted Rogovin's entire body of work.

Christmas Around the World

Ska-nonh Great Law of Peace Center
6680 Onondaga Lake Parkway, Liverpool

A magnificent collection of international Santas and decorated trees, celebrating the holidays of the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, and more. Enjoy entertainment, visit the mission site (weather permitting), and browse in the holiday gift shop.

Nuit Blanche
Redhouse
Corpus

Price: $25 regular, $20 students/seniors
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Toronto based dance troupe CORPUS brings the acclaimed Nuit blanche to the Red House stage for an enchanting weekend of dance, theatre, comedy and clowning. CORPUS has toured throughout Canada and around the world and has chosen Syracuse and the Red House to make their U.S. premiere.

Nuit blanche follows six insomniacs into a night of broken sleep and waking dreams. Combining contemporary dance, physical theatre, and comedy, Nuit blanche will take you on a fantastical journey through the bizarre and familiar territory of the sleeping subconscious. Nuit blanche was nominated for the 2002 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography and was rated one of 2002's best dance shows by The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

Co-founded by Sylvie Bouchard and artistic director David Danzon, CORPUS is known for its precise and surrealist humor that combines movement with theatrical imagery. CORPUS' unique and engaging performances have been presented in both traditional and unusual locations, for large and diverse audiences, since 1997.

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OCC Saxophone and Guiter Ensembles
Onondaga Community College

Price: Free
Storer Auditorium
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

SU Guitar Ensemble
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

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

For more information, phone 315-443-2191.

Black Nativity
Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company
William H. Rowland II and Annette Adams-Brown, director

CFAC Black Box Theater
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Black Nativity, by Langston Hughes, is a foot stomping, hand clapping, jump to your feet shouting gospel drama that will delight the entire family, regardless of religious affiliations or beliefs. Hughes called it a "gospel song play." Black Nativity is a re-telling of the classic nativity story with a non-traditional cast. Traditional Christmas carols along with a few musical numbers created especially for the show are sung in gospel style by The PRpac Choral Ensemble. The show has a multi-generational cast of singers, narrators, poets, dancers and soloists that will fill the theater with jubilation and praise. Through the vibrations of African drums and percussion, the birth of Jesus becomes one of the most dramatic scenes of the show. Mary and Joseph will dance right into your hearts. Marcia L. Hagan will serve as musical director. The show was first performed on Broadway on December 11, 1961, and was one of the first plays written by an African-American to do so.

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High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Little Women
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Anthony Salatino, director

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

What we cherish most—family, sacrifice, determination, hope, and love—never goes out of style. All of Louisa May Alcott's classic characters are here: warm and loving Marmee, vivacious Amy, sweet and dreamy Meg, tender-hearted Beth, handsome and charming Laurie, Aunt March, Professor Bhaer, and of course, the passionate and funny Jo. Brimming with 20 beautiful songs, this new musical captures all the struggle, romance and deep emotions of Alcott's beloved tale. Celebrate your holidays with the March family.

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Della's Diner: Blue Plate Special
Appleseed Productions
Moe Harrington, director

Price: $18 regular; $15 students/seniors (price includes dessert and beverage at intermission)
Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse

See where it all began...the very first episode of Tom Edward's Della's Diner musical country soap opera series. The lights come up on Christmas Eve at Della's diner and by the time they go down, you'll have learned a few things, including: Who IS Joey's real daddy? And who is Ramona's mama? Will Ronnie Frank and Ramona D-I-V-O-R-C-E? Will Preacher Larry marry? Even amid the excitement of a visit from a famous country-music-singing star and brain surgery, there's still time to visit the jukebox and sing the greatest country standards. This karaoke-style musical country soap opera will leave you laughing in the aisles.

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A Christmas Survival Guide
Rarely Done Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

This intimate revue takes a wry and knowing look at a stressful season. Armed with a copy of "A Christmas Survival Guide" and an optimistic attitude, the characters charge into an urban holiday landscape searching for the true essence of Christmas.

Written by James Hindman and Ray Roderick. Music arranged by John Glaudin. Musical Director Jeff Unaitis. Cast includes Jimmy Curtin, Sunny Hernandez, Peter Irwin, Dana Sovocool, Sara Weiler, and Kathleen Wrinn.

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This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $40 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

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White Christmas
The Talent Company
Dan Tursi, director

Price: $30 regular, $25 seniors/students, $20 children 12 and under
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

The tale of a couple of song-and-dance men who meet up with a sister act to make sparks fly is based on the beloved 1954 movie musical that starred Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. The Broadway hit is full of dancing, romance, laughter, and some of the greatest songs ever written, including Happy Holiday, Sisters, I Love a Piano, Blue Skies, How Deep is the Ocean, I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing, Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun, Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me, Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep), and the unforgettable title song, White Christmas.

White Christmas stars Bob Brown as Bob Wallace and Gary Troy as Phil Davis, the song-and-dance men, and Brandi Ozark Weston as Judy Haynes and Colleen Wager as Betty Haynes, the "sister act." The show also features Bill Coughlin as General Henry Waverly and Christine Lightcap as Martha Watson, with Julia Goodman as Susan Waverly, Lou Leonardo as Ralph Sheldrake and Gennaro Parlato as Ezekiel Foster. Rounding out the cast are Jim Baxter, Molly Brown, Camille Chace, Zachary Chase, Cruz Gonzalez, Kimberly Grader, Bobby Hall, Kaleigh Pfohl, Eddie Powers, Korrie Strodel, Josh Taylor, and Rashad Williams.

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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Women of Rookwood: The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection
Everson Museum of Art

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

The Rookwood Pottery, founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880, established itself as a commercial pottery that successfully elevated ordinary ceramic objects to a fine art status during the heyday of art pottery in America. Each unique piece was hand-painted and signed by the artist, many of whom were young women. This exhibition, which includes examples by several of these women including Sarah Sax, Fannie Auckland, Sadie Markland, Grace Young, and Rookwood founder Maria Longworth Nichols, was selected from The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection in conjunction with the "Women as Visionaries, Women as Participants" Symposium scheduled for October 17.

Arts & Crafts of New York State
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Arts & Crafts movement that blossomed in Europe in the late 19th century and rapidly spread to America not only has deep roots in New York State, but it is still very much alive in the upstate region today. Gustav Stickley and Adelaide Robineau, significant figures on the national Arts & Crafts scene at the turn of the century, were based in Syracuse. Elbert Hubbard established the Roycrofters in East Aurora in the 1880s and the Byrdcliffe Colony flourished in Woodstock, New York at the same time. This exhibition showcases paintings, furniture, ceramics, and metal work created by these masters of the Arts & Crafts movement from 1890 to 1920.

Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $15 non-members, $12 students/seniors, $10 Everson members, children 5 and under free, $50 family rate (maximum two adults and four dependent children)
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This collection is comprised of an extraordinary group of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings collected largely between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Margaret and Gwendoline Davies. By 1914, the Davies sisters had assembled one of the finest collections of European modern art in Britain, with works from artists such as Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Joseph M.W. Turner, among several others.

Turner to Cézanne speaks volumes about taste, patronage and philanthropy. The 53 original works by 29 artists included also a present survey of modern art, ranging from Turner's Romantic naturalism to Cézanne's modern aesthetic innovations. This exhibition serves as a reminder of the value of creativity, and of persistence, as many of the artists were, at first, either misunderstood or scorned.

Docent-led tours are available Tuesday-Thursday at 2:00 pm and Saturdays at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. These tours are complimentary with exhibition admission, and no reservation is required. A complimentary cell phone audio tour is available to all visitors.

Read a review!

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Elements
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Paintings by Lynette Blake, ceramics by Amy Haven, and paintings by James Van Hoven

Read a review!

Wild Card Exhibition: Syracuse Ceramic Guild
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

A collective display of members' works is part of the organization's mission to promote awareness and understanding of the ceramic medium. Featured artists include Carol Adamec, Lory Black, Walt Black, Sue Canizares, Megan Connor, Miyo Hirano, Amy Komar, Sabrina Nedell, and Wes Weiss.

Celebrating 20 Years
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

A diverse show of 56 creative artists who have previously exhibited at Edgewood Gallery.

Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 ages 12 and younger
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The delicious aroma of ginger and candy waft through the air as the second floor gallery is transformed into a festive 1800s street scene, with over 40 gingerbread creations on display in storefront windows. These sweet creations are made locally by professional and amateur bakers.

Merry Bells Ring: The Festival of Trees
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $5 regular, free for children 5 and under
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This Syracuse tradition features more than 100 artfully decorated trees, wreathes, and special displays creating a magical holiday wonderland. The decorations and displays are all for sale. Enjoy live entertainment provided by local school and musical groups. Stop into the special holiday store where you're sure to find the perfect gift.

The Beauty Is in the Details
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

The gallery will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December.

Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.

Intimacy & Vastness
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Price: Free
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

A show of paintings by Sharon Gordon and Aida Khalil and ceramic works by Errol Willett.

Sharon Gordon's new oil paintings feature her ongoing exploration of the dynamic relationship of earth and sky. Her dreamlike landscape paintings engage the play of light over vast surfaces and suspended water droplets.

Aida Khalil's mixed media paintings are from her "Boat of Hours" series. Through the intimate scale of er small canvases, the artist transforms vistas into personal landscapes of slowed down moments of light and weather.

Errol Willett's pottery and ceramic forms are influenced by painting, sculpture and architecture. The artist is interested in how art can forge ahead, from being something other than our known world, and crosses into a new locus.

Read a review!

Power and Pride: An Elizabeth Catlett Retrospective
Community Folk Art Center

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

"Power and Pride: An Elizabeth Catlett Retrospective" features 50 years of prints, drawings, collages and sculptures by Catlett, who is an icon of American art. The exhibition was organized with the assistance of Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA.

Born in Washington, DC, Elizabeth Catlett graduated from Howard University with a degree in painting and was the first student to receive an M.F.A. degree in sculpture from the University of Iowa in 1940. She later studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago, and lithography at the Art Students League in New York. In 1943, she studied with sculptor Ossip Zadkine in New York. Catlett was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1946, under which she travelled to Mexico to study sculpture, mural painting and printmaking. In Mexico, she worked at the Escuela de Pintura y Escultura and at the Taller de Gráfica Popular (Popular Graphic Arts Workshop), a group of artists who created art that expressed desire for social change. In 1947, she married Mexican artist Francisco Mora, and became a naturalized Mexican citizen in 1962. A lifelong artist, activist and educator, Catlett is known for her depiction of social and political issues, in particular those relating to African American and women's themes.

Elizabeth Catlett has taught at Dillard University, Hampton University, the George Washington Carver School, and the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she became the first female professor and first female department chair at the School of Fine Arts.

She retired in 1976 and makes her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she continues to work in her studio. Her work is featured in many public and private collections around the world, and she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Catlett has been the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.

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Holiday Show 09
Gandee Gallery

Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., 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. The Gandee Gallery encourages art lovers to celebrate the holidays by giving gifts that embody the creative spirit.

The exhibition will feature photography, ceramics, painting, and fiber art created by regionally and nationally recognized artists. Participating artists include: Jen Allen (Morgantown, WV), Ed Feldman (Cortland), Shanna Fliegel (Tarrytown, NY), Bob Gates (Jamesville), Shawn O'Connor (Syracuse), Davie Reneau (Glasgow, KY), Brenda Edwards (Oswego), Kathy Barry (Syracuse), Nancy Kramer (Skaneateles), Brooke Noble (Saranac Lake, NY), Erin Murphy (Syracuse), Lucy Mink (Syracuse), Jeremy Randall (Tully), Lucie Wellner (Pompey), Forrest Lesch-Middelton (Fairfax, CA), and Jen Gandee (Fabius).

35th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts

Price: Free
City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Original crafts and fine arts by more than 50 artists and craftspeople from Central New York. For more information, phone 315-468-2616.

Syracuse During the Time of Impressionism
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

A complementary exhibit to the Everson Museum of Art's "From Turner To Cezanne", OHA's exhibit will look at what was happening in Syracuse at the time of the European Impressionist painters, 1880-1916. The exhibit will feature artwork, clothing, products, archival material, and other items that will interpret the Syracuse scene during this time impressionist painters were viewed by their contemporaries as "outrageously modern."

John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

This retrospective exhibition highlights the work of mixed media photography pioneer John Wood. Over 100 works that chronicle the artist's work from the 1960s to the present will be on display in his first major retrospective exhibition.

Well known as a photographer who routinely broke the barriers of "pure photography," Wood's work is credited as being the foundation for the mixed media and digital imagery processes of the last two decades. A master of processes from straight photography, collage, cliché verre, solarization, mixed media, offset lithography to drawing, he has a unique ability to work decisively across a variety of media with ease.

Wood's early influences as a photographer stem from his time served in the Army Air Corps as a B-17 pilot, as seen in his multiple frame landscapes and time-lapse collages. After the war, Wood trained as a visual designer and photographer at the Institute of Design in Chicago. Wood spent 35 years teaching photography and printmaking at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Like the work of Jasper Johns, John Wood is relentless in pushing the boundaries of traditional media. His work has laid the groundwork for the multi process, cross disciplinary artwork being created for years.

Paid parking is available for weekday visitors in any SU pay lot. Free parking for weekend and evening visitors is available in the Q4 lot, located on College Place. Patrons should notify the attendant that they are visiting the SUArt Galleries. Evening and weekend parking is on a space-available basis and may be restricted during events held at the Carrier Dome.

The Picture Man: Photographs of Milton Rogovin
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Milton Rogovin is a social documentary photographer, with a focus of photographing the poor and working class for 50 years. His choice of subject was summed up in his words, "The rich have their own photographers. I have chosen to photograph the poor." Rogovin has photographed miners in 10 nations, collaborated with the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, photographed a six-square block neighborhood in Buffalo for 30 years, and so much more. In 1957, he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Because he refused to "name names" he was blacklisted and his optometry practice in Buffalo suffered. "My voice was essentially silenced, so I decided to speak out through photography." In 1969, the Library of Congress accepted Rogovin's entire body of work.

Fresh: First-Year Students in the School of Art and Design Juried Exhibition 2009
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

The exhibition showcases a variety of work from approximately 100 students in the Department of Foundation, which offers the first-year program for students in the School of Art and Design. Works shown include video, sound, digital art, sculpture, design, books, collage, animation and drawing from the four studio areas of the foundation program: drawing, creative processes, time arts and dimensional arts.

For more information, contact Andrew Havenhand, the colleges program exhibitions coordinator, at adhavenh@syr.edu. XL Projects may be contacted at 315-442-2542 during gallery hours.

Alyson Shotz: Drawing Through Space
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

With the assistance of Syracuse University students, Brooklyn-based Shotz created her works on site, thus turning The Warehouse Gallery into a form of laboratory. Shotz is one of today's ground-breaking artists transforming contemporary art through a fusion of technology and handcrafted steel wire and yarn artworks. Her use of this material is a means of combining sculpture with drawing to address issues of light, space, time and motion. Strikingly beautiful, her wire sculpture in the vault and three wall drawings project optical experiences where questions of perception and misperception lead to further examination of the impact of 21st-century technology on the arts.

Read a review!

Windows Project: Confederacy of Dunces
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Hamilton-based Lynette K. Stephenson created an installation about New Orleans consisting of 60 hand-felted wool dunce caps. This exhibition is inspired by John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) set in New Orleans, where Stephenson's family home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and based on her previous body of paintings, The Red Cross Series, which led to the idea for this site-specific project. In this work Stephenson engages in a dialogue about present-day social issues referring to New Orleans, the tragedy of the Hurricane and the universal symbol of the Red Cross.

Christmas Around the World

Ska-nonh Great Law of Peace Center
6680 Onondaga Lake Parkway, Liverpool

A magnificent collection of international Santas and decorated trees, celebrating the holidays of the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, and more. Enjoy entertainment, visit the mission site (weather permitting), and browse in the holiday gift shop.

The Adventures of Rudolph
CNY Arts
Center of Ballet and Dance Arts

Price: $9.50 to $18.00
Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Join Rudolph and friends on their unforgettable adventure as Evil Witch Winter Grey tries to ruin Christmas. The Adventures of Rudolph is a product of the creative team of Deborah Boughton and Vince Tunbiolo. She's the Director of the Center of Ballet and Dance Arts. He wrote the original story that she's staged to the dynamic music of Prokofiev. Bring the whole family to enjoy this holiday treat.

For more information, contact 315-435-2155.

Dancin' Through the Holidays
Syracuse Dance Arts and Syracuse Dance Alloy

Price: $8
Palace Theater
2384 James St., Syracuse

Ballet, pointe, jazz, and modern dance.

Nuit Blanche
Redhouse
Corpus

Price: $25 regular, $20 students/seniors
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Toronto based dance troupe CORPUS brings the acclaimed Nuit blanche to the Red House stage for an enchanting weekend of dance, theatre, comedy and clowning. CORPUS has toured throughout Canada and around the world and has chosen Syracuse and the Red House to make their U.S. premiere.

Nuit blanche follows six insomniacs into a night of broken sleep and waking dreams. Combining contemporary dance, physical theatre, and comedy, Nuit blanche will take you on a fantastical journey through the bizarre and familiar territory of the sleeping subconscious. Nuit blanche was nominated for the 2002 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography and was rated one of 2002's best dance shows by The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

Co-founded by Sylvie Bouchard and artistic director David Danzon, CORPUS is known for its precise and surrealist humor that combines movement with theatrical imagery. CORPUS' unique and engaging performances have been presented in both traditional and unusual locations, for large and diverse audiences, since 1997.

Read a review!

SaturdaySCREENINGS: Harlan County USA (1976)
ArtRage Gallery

Price: $5 suggested donation
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

This documentary recounts a 1974 strike of Kentucky coal mine workers, and is a searing exposé of the personal struggles of families mired in shocking poverty, hazardous working conditions, and exploitation by mining companies. Oscar: Best Documentary. Selected for the National Film Registry. Directed by Barbara Koppel.

Holiday Concert
Syracuse University Brass Ensemble
James T. Spencer, conductor

Price: Free
United Church of Fayetteville
310 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville

For more information, phone 315-637-3186.

Winter Solstice Concert: Deep Peace
Syracuse Community Choir
Karen Mihalyi, conductor

Price: $10-$20 sliding scale
Plymouth Church
232 E. Onondaga St., Syracuse

The choir, composed of singers of all ages, will present the annual People'’s Peace Award to Marjorie W. Wilkins, photographer and beloved grandmother/mother to many in the community. Jackie Warren-Moore, community poet, will present a piece especially written for Mrs. Wilkins. The event also celebrates the earth, the turning of the seasons, and the work of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to repair the world. A reception will follow. For more information, phone 315-428-8151.

My Soul Doth Magnify: A Christmas Pie of Magnificats
Syracuse Vocal Ensemble
Robert Cowles, conductor

Price: $17 regular, $14 students/seniors
Cicero United Methodist Church
8416 North Main St., Cicero

The well-known scripture passage from the Gospel of Luke known as the "Magnificat" or "Song of Mary" describes Mary's response to the Angel Gabriel's announcement that she will bear God's son. This program will explore a diverse assortment of Magnificat settings, including music by Thomas Tomkins, Heinrich Schutz, Felix Mendelssohn, Kenneth Leighton, and Sergei Rakhmaninov. Antonio Vivaldi's Magnificat accompanied by chamber strings will conclude the program. And be sure to stay for the famous pie reception following the concert.

Second Saturday Series: Dan Duggan and Peggy Eyres and Friends
Westcott Community Center

Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse

Dan Duggan, nationally touring performer and teacher, is rapidly being acknowledged as one of the finest dulcimer players and composers in the country. As recipient of the prestigious National Hammered Dulcimer Championship, Dan's accomplishment, though based on technical merit, is even more considerable as he is the first winner to have performed all original compositions. Although pioneering innovative compositional work for the dulcimer, Dan's renditions of traditional Irish and American tunes reflect his study and understanding of their original context. Whether re-creating 18th century harp pieces or vibrant 19th century dance tunes, Dan has engaged audiences nationwide in an excursion of musical styles and moods.

Peggy Lynn, referred to by poet Maurice Kenny as "The Voice of the Mountains", is recognized for her soulful songwriting and extraordinary vocal versatility. Her work has been featured at the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville, and in 1996, Peggy was selected "Adirondack Woman of the Year". Peggys song about Mary Brown, the wife of abolitionist John Brown, was selected as the cover piece in Songs for Peace Magazine and was also recorded by the folk duo Magpie on their Sword of the Spirit album. Peggy has recently co-authored a book with Sandra Weber titled Breaking Trail: Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks and released an album of new ballads about strong women called "Stand a Chance," produced by Dan Duggan. In 2005, the Adirondack Mountain Club honored Peggy with their Arthur E. Newkirk Education Award.

This duo combines original and traditional songs and tunes with masterful harmonies and inventive arrangements. Dan and Peggy have developed programs for children, quilters, museums, libraries, and schools. On stage, they have found a chemistry rarely seen in traditional music circles. The couple's gift of insight is matched with dynamic songwriting and instrumental virtuosity. Their concerts have been enjoyed from Maine to California.

High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

A Christmas Carol
Open Hand Theater
The Puppet People

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

This Dickens holiday favorite is beautifully performed with The Puppet People's exquisite marionettes. Mark Carrigan and Michelle Smith-Carrigan of the Puppet People have been entertaining for over 20 years throughout New York State, Massachusetts and Vermont. They toured nationally and performed at Lincoln Center with the Bennington Marionettes. They are currently in production of their own television show.

The Little Mermaid
Magic Circle Children's Theatre

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

Interaction adaptation of this children's favorite. The audience helps the Mermaid foil the Seawitch and get her voice back.

High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Black Nativity
Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company
William H. Rowland II and Annette Adams-Brown, director

CFAC Black Box Theater
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Black Nativity, by Langston Hughes, is a foot stomping, hand clapping, jump to your feet shouting gospel drama that will delight the entire family, regardless of religious affiliations or beliefs. Hughes called it a "gospel song play." Black Nativity is a re-telling of the classic nativity story with a non-traditional cast. Traditional Christmas carols along with a few musical numbers created especially for the show are sung in gospel style by The PRpac Choral Ensemble. The show has a multi-generational cast of singers, narrators, poets, dancers and soloists that will fill the theater with jubilation and praise. Through the vibrations of African drums and percussion, the birth of Jesus becomes one of the most dramatic scenes of the show. Mary and Joseph will dance right into your hearts. Marcia L. Hagan will serve as musical director. The show was first performed on Broadway on December 11, 1961, and was one of the first plays written by an African-American to do so.

Read a review!

White Christmas
The Talent Company
Dan Tursi, director

Price: $30 regular, $25 seniors/students, $20 children 12 and under
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

The tale of a couple of song-and-dance men who meet up with a sister act to make sparks fly is based on the beloved 1954 movie musical that starred Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. The Broadway hit is full of dancing, romance, laughter, and some of the greatest songs ever written, including Happy Holiday, Sisters, I Love a Piano, Blue Skies, How Deep is the Ocean, I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing, Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun, Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me, Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep), and the unforgettable title song, White Christmas.

White Christmas stars Bob Brown as Bob Wallace and Gary Troy as Phil Davis, the song-and-dance men, and Brandi Ozark Weston as Judy Haynes and Colleen Wager as Betty Haynes, the "sister act." The show also features Bill Coughlin as General Henry Waverly and Christine Lightcap as Martha Watson, with Julia Goodman as Susan Waverly, Lou Leonardo as Ralph Sheldrake and Gennaro Parlato as Ezekiel Foster. Rounding out the cast are Jim Baxter, Molly Brown, Camille Chace, Zachary Chase, Cruz Gonzalez, Kimberly Grader, Bobby Hall, Kaleigh Pfohl, Eddie Powers, Korrie Strodel, Josh Taylor, and Rashad Williams.

Read a Review!

Little Women
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Anthony Salatino, director

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

What we cherish most—family, sacrifice, determination, hope, and love—never goes out of style. All of Louisa May Alcott's classic characters are here: warm and loving Marmee, vivacious Amy, sweet and dreamy Meg, tender-hearted Beth, handsome and charming Laurie, Aunt March, Professor Bhaer, and of course, the passionate and funny Jo. Brimming with 20 beautiful songs, this new musical captures all the struggle, romance and deep emotions of Alcott's beloved tale. Celebrate your holidays with the March family.

Read a Review!

This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $35 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

Read a Review!

High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Black Nativity
Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company
William H. Rowland II and Annette Adams-Brown, director

CFAC Black Box Theater
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Black Nativity, by Langston Hughes, is a foot stomping, hand clapping, jump to your feet shouting gospel drama that will delight the entire family, regardless of religious affiliations or beliefs. Hughes called it a "gospel song play." Black Nativity is a re-telling of the classic nativity story with a non-traditional cast. Traditional Christmas carols along with a few musical numbers created especially for the show are sung in gospel style by The PRpac Choral Ensemble. The show has a multi-generational cast of singers, narrators, poets, dancers and soloists that will fill the theater with jubilation and praise. Through the vibrations of African drums and percussion, the birth of Jesus becomes one of the most dramatic scenes of the show. Mary and Joseph will dance right into your hearts. Marcia L. Hagan will serve as musical director. The show was first performed on Broadway on December 11, 1961, and was one of the first plays written by an African-American to do so.

Read a review!

Little Women
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Anthony Salatino, director

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

What we cherish most—family, sacrifice, determination, hope, and love—never goes out of style. All of Louisa May Alcott's classic characters are here: warm and loving Marmee, vivacious Amy, sweet and dreamy Meg, tender-hearted Beth, handsome and charming Laurie, Aunt March, Professor Bhaer, and of course, the passionate and funny Jo. Brimming with 20 beautiful songs, this new musical captures all the struggle, romance and deep emotions of Alcott's beloved tale. Celebrate your holidays with the March family.

Read a Review!

Della's Diner: Blue Plate Special
Appleseed Productions
Moe Harrington, director

Price: $18 regular; $15 students/seniors (price includes dessert and beverage at intermission)
Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse

See where it all began...the very first episode of Tom Edward's Della's Diner musical country soap opera series. The lights come up on Christmas Eve at Della's diner and by the time they go down, you'll have learned a few things, including: Who IS Joey's real daddy? And who is Ramona's mama? Will Ronnie Frank and Ramona D-I-V-O-R-C-E? Will Preacher Larry marry? Even amid the excitement of a visit from a famous country-music-singing star and brain surgery, there's still time to visit the jukebox and sing the greatest country standards. This karaoke-style musical country soap opera will leave you laughing in the aisles.

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A Christmas Survival Guide
Rarely Done Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

This intimate revue takes a wry and knowing look at a stressful season. Armed with a copy of "A Christmas Survival Guide" and an optimistic attitude, the characters charge into an urban holiday landscape searching for the true essence of Christmas.

Written by James Hindman and Ray Roderick. Music arranged by John Glaudin. Musical Director Jeff Unaitis. Cast includes Jimmy Curtin, Sunny Hernandez, Peter Irwin, Dana Sovocool, Sara Weiler, and Kathleen Wrinn.

Read a Review!

This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $40 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

Read a Review!

White Christmas
The Talent Company
Dan Tursi, director

Price: $30 regular, $25 seniors/students, $20 children 12 and under
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

The tale of a couple of song-and-dance men who meet up with a sister act to make sparks fly is based on the beloved 1954 movie musical that starred Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. The Broadway hit is full of dancing, romance, laughter, and some of the greatest songs ever written, including Happy Holiday, Sisters, I Love a Piano, Blue Skies, How Deep is the Ocean, I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing, Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun, Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me, Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep), and the unforgettable title song, White Christmas.

White Christmas stars Bob Brown as Bob Wallace and Gary Troy as Phil Davis, the song-and-dance men, and Brandi Ozark Weston as Judy Haynes and Colleen Wager as Betty Haynes, the "sister act." The show also features Bill Coughlin as General Henry Waverly and Christine Lightcap as Martha Watson, with Julia Goodman as Susan Waverly, Lou Leonardo as Ralph Sheldrake and Gennaro Parlato as Ezekiel Foster. Rounding out the cast are Jim Baxter, Molly Brown, Camille Chace, Zachary Chase, Cruz Gonzalez, Kimberly Grader, Bobby Hall, Kaleigh Pfohl, Eddie Powers, Korrie Strodel, Josh Taylor, and Rashad Williams.

Read a Review!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $15 non-members, $12 students/seniors, $10 Everson members, children 5 and under free, $50 family rate (maximum two adults and four dependent children)
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This collection is comprised of an extraordinary group of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings collected largely between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Margaret and Gwendoline Davies. By 1914, the Davies sisters had assembled one of the finest collections of European modern art in Britain, with works from artists such as Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Joseph M.W. Turner, among several others.

Turner to Cézanne speaks volumes about taste, patronage and philanthropy. The 53 original works by 29 artists included also a present survey of modern art, ranging from Turner's Romantic naturalism to Cézanne's modern aesthetic innovations. This exhibition serves as a reminder of the value of creativity, and of persistence, as many of the artists were, at first, either misunderstood or scorned.

Docent-led tours are available Tuesday-Thursday at 2:00 pm and Saturdays at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. These tours are complimentary with exhibition admission, and no reservation is required. A complimentary cell phone audio tour is available to all visitors.

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Arts & Crafts of New York State
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Arts & Crafts movement that blossomed in Europe in the late 19th century and rapidly spread to America not only has deep roots in New York State, but it is still very much alive in the upstate region today. Gustav Stickley and Adelaide Robineau, significant figures on the national Arts & Crafts scene at the turn of the century, were based in Syracuse. Elbert Hubbard established the Roycrofters in East Aurora in the 1880s and the Byrdcliffe Colony flourished in Woodstock, New York at the same time. This exhibition showcases paintings, furniture, ceramics, and metal work created by these masters of the Arts & Crafts movement from 1890 to 1920.

Women of Rookwood: The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection
Everson Museum of Art

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

The Rookwood Pottery, founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880, established itself as a commercial pottery that successfully elevated ordinary ceramic objects to a fine art status during the heyday of art pottery in America. Each unique piece was hand-painted and signed by the artist, many of whom were young women. This exhibition, which includes examples by several of these women including Sarah Sax, Fannie Auckland, Sadie Markland, Grace Young, and Rookwood founder Maria Longworth Nichols, was selected from The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection in conjunction with the "Women as Visionaries, Women as Participants" Symposium scheduled for October 17.

Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 ages 12 and younger
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The delicious aroma of ginger and candy waft through the air as the second floor gallery is transformed into a festive 1800s street scene, with over 40 gingerbread creations on display in storefront windows. These sweet creations are made locally by professional and amateur bakers.

Merry Bells Ring: The Festival of Trees
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $5 regular, free for children 5 and under
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This Syracuse tradition features more than 100 artfully decorated trees, wreathes, and special displays creating a magical holiday wonderland. The decorations and displays are all for sale. Enjoy live entertainment provided by local school and musical groups. Stop into the special holiday store where you're sure to find the perfect gift.

Corporeal: Works by Deana Lawson
Light Work Gallery

Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

Deana Lawson's photographs examine how the body informs personal, political, and historical identities. Her psychological portraits seem to start out in one shape before morphing into something unexpected. Their apparent transparency at first glance dissolves into a complex set of questions about the people who are imaged and the nature of photographing, questions that will never have clear and finite answers, no matter how hard and long we look.

Lawson calls the people she photographs her family, whether they are in fact related or whether they met as friends in church, at the grocery store, or in a club. The ties that bind her images together are not in the blood but rather in the shared experience of representation.

If the personal is political, then the portrait may present the most intense form in which to control the message of the self. In viewing Lawson's portraits, as we come to terms with the body and the sometimes uncomfortable intimacy of a stranger's personal truth, we see flesh, beauty, pain, salvation, life, and death all performed within the context of the frame. As bare identities emerge from these photographs, we may reassess the often easily avoided questions of what we are willing to look at and why.

The rooms and faces in the photographs may change, but the gaze and gesture of Lawson's subjects consistently telegraph a unified refrain: The beauty of this moment in front of the lens belongs to them. The people in her photographs offer an unrelenting intention to be seen as they want to be seen. Just as important, they possess an unbridled courage to reveal that fleeting truth to others. Although Lawson is a collaborator and co-adventurer in the making of each picture, her subjects make the key contributions that give the photographs in Corporeal their power.

Artists at Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty
Light Work Gallery

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

For many years Light Work has enjoyed a close affiliation with the art photography department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The faculty and students of art photo interact with Light Work's roster of international artists through lectures, internships, and classroom visits. In addition, they utilize the Community Darkrooms facilities and take full advantage of the expertise of the Light Work staff. Together we share an energy, passion, and commitment to contemporary art and photography. The exhibition "Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty" highlights this relationship by featuring work by Doug Dubois, Laura Heyman, Yasser Aggour, John Wesley Mannion, Aaron Hraba, Jennifer Wilkey, Sara Zamecnik, Kelli Pennington, Jeffrey Einhorn, and Shimpei Shirafuji.

Holiday Show 09
Gandee Gallery

Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., 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. The Gandee Gallery encourages art lovers to celebrate the holidays by giving gifts that embody the creative spirit.

The exhibition will feature photography, ceramics, painting, and fiber art created by regionally and nationally recognized artists. Participating artists include: Jen Allen (Morgantown, WV), Ed Feldman (Cortland), Shanna Fliegel (Tarrytown, NY), Bob Gates (Jamesville), Shawn O'Connor (Syracuse), Davie Reneau (Glasgow, KY), Brenda Edwards (Oswego), Kathy Barry (Syracuse), Nancy Kramer (Skaneateles), Brooke Noble (Saranac Lake, NY), Erin Murphy (Syracuse), Lucy Mink (Syracuse), Jeremy Randall (Tully), Lucie Wellner (Pompey), Forrest Lesch-Middelton (Fairfax, CA), and Jen Gandee (Fabius).

The Beauty Is in the Details
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

The gallery will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December.

Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.

35th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts

Price: Free
City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Original crafts and fine arts by more than 50 artists and craftspeople from Central New York. For more information, phone 315-468-2616.

Syracuse During the Time of Impressionism
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

A complementary exhibit to the Everson Museum of Art's "From Turner To Cezanne", OHA's exhibit will look at what was happening in Syracuse at the time of the European Impressionist painters, 1880-1916. The exhibit will feature artwork, clothing, products, archival material, and other items that will interpret the Syracuse scene during this time impressionist painters were viewed by their contemporaries as "outrageously modern."

John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

This retrospective exhibition highlights the work of mixed media photography pioneer John Wood. Over 100 works that chronicle the artist's work from the 1960s to the present will be on display in his first major retrospective exhibition.

Well known as a photographer who routinely broke the barriers of "pure photography," Wood's work is credited as being the foundation for the mixed media and digital imagery processes of the last two decades. A master of processes from straight photography, collage, cliché verre, solarization, mixed media, offset lithography to drawing, he has a unique ability to work decisively across a variety of media with ease.

Wood's early influences as a photographer stem from his time served in the Army Air Corps as a B-17 pilot, as seen in his multiple frame landscapes and time-lapse collages. After the war, Wood trained as a visual designer and photographer at the Institute of Design in Chicago. Wood spent 35 years teaching photography and printmaking at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Like the work of Jasper Johns, John Wood is relentless in pushing the boundaries of traditional media. His work has laid the groundwork for the multi process, cross disciplinary artwork being created for years.

Paid parking is available for weekday visitors in any SU pay lot. Free parking for weekend and evening visitors is available in the Q4 lot, located on College Place. Patrons should notify the attendant that they are visiting the SUArt Galleries. Evening and weekend parking is on a space-available basis and may be restricted during events held at the Carrier Dome.

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Fresh: First-Year Students in the School of Art and Design Juried Exhibition 2009
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

The exhibition showcases a variety of work from approximately 100 students in the Department of Foundation, which offers the first-year program for students in the School of Art and Design. Works shown include video, sound, digital art, sculpture, design, books, collage, animation and drawing from the four studio areas of the foundation program: drawing, creative processes, time arts and dimensional arts.

For more information, contact Andrew Havenhand, the colleges program exhibitions coordinator, at adhavenh@syr.edu. XL Projects may be contacted at 315-442-2542 during gallery hours.

Nuit Blanche
Redhouse
Corpus

Price: $25 regular, $20 students/seniors
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Toronto based dance troupe CORPUS brings the acclaimed Nuit blanche to the Red House stage for an enchanting weekend of dance, theatre, comedy and clowning. CORPUS has toured throughout Canada and around the world and has chosen Syracuse and the Red House to make their U.S. premiere.

Nuit blanche follows six insomniacs into a night of broken sleep and waking dreams. Combining contemporary dance, physical theatre, and comedy, Nuit blanche will take you on a fantastical journey through the bizarre and familiar territory of the sleeping subconscious. Nuit blanche was nominated for the 2002 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography and was rated one of 2002's best dance shows by The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

Co-founded by Sylvie Bouchard and artistic director David Danzon, CORPUS is known for its precise and surrealist humor that combines movement with theatrical imagery. CORPUS' unique and engaging performances have been presented in both traditional and unusual locations, for large and diverse audiences, since 1997.

Read a review!

J.M.W. Turner: The Sun Is God
Everson Museum of Art

Price: Free with same-day exhibition admission
Hosmer Auditorium, Everson Museum
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This superb dramatization of the life and artisitic development of the great painter J.M.W. Turner shows a wide array of his works in the context of the time and place at which they were created. Using the writings of John Russell to provide commentary and artistic analysis, the program provides a delicate portrait of the painter whose experiments with light influenced a whole generation of Impressionists, who spent his life trying to capture in paint the power and brilliance of the sun, whose dying words were, "The sun is God."

Music for Guitar and Winds
Arts Alive in Liverpool

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

**Cancelled** Annual Christmas Concert
Berwald Singers

Price: $5 regular, children 10 and under free
Holy Cross Church
4112 E. Genesee St., Dewitt

Special Event: Handel's Messiah
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Syracuse University Oratorio Society
Daniel Hege, conductor

Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra moves George Frideric Handel's timeless masterpiece Messiah to a larger setting, the Mulroy Civic Center, for a spectacular and memorable holiday event. From the ever-popular "Hallelujah Chorus" to the thrilling "Great Amen," this is music you'll hold in your heart for all time.

My Soul Doth Magnify: A Christmas Pie of Magnificats
Syracuse Vocal Ensemble
Robert Cowles, conductor

Price: $17 regular, $14 students/seniors
United Church of Fayetteville
310 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville

The well-known scripture passage from the Gospel of Luke known as the "Magnificat" or "Song of Mary" describes Mary's response to the Angel Gabriel's announcement that she will bear God's son. This program will explore a diverse assortment of Magnificat settings, including music by Thomas Tomkins, Heinrich Schutz, Felix Mendelssohn, Kenneth Leighton, and Sergei Rakhmaninov. Antonio Vivaldi's Magnificat accompanied by chamber strings will conclude the program. And be sure to stay for the famous pie reception following the concert.

Senior Trumpet Recital
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music
Featuring Kevin Witmer, trumpet

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

Witmer will perform works by Neruda, Ketting, Brandt and Vivaldi. The recital will feature Michelle DiBona on piano.

Parking is available in Harrison and Leyman lots. For more information, phone 315-443-2191.

Five Plays of Christmas
Armory Square Playwrights

Price: $5 minimum donation
Jazz Central
441 E. Washington St., Syracuse

Five new short plays about the holiday season written and produced by the playwrights who make up Armory Square Playhouse.

Peter Moller's short play Eight Days Makes a Week unfolds in the halls of Bigbolt Industries, Inc. LTD. Bigbolt makes everything that measures time and space: clocks, yardsticks, measuring cups, calendars. You name it, they make it. But something is amiss at Bigbolt just as the year draws to an end. The characters struggle to track down a few missing minutes, hours and day from the year about to come to a crashing end. It's a holiday romp that requires you to check your reason and rationality at the door. But hold on to your hat!

Two men in a German concentration, one Jewish and one homosexual, meet and learn get to know each other during the eight days of Hanukkah, leading up to Christmas eve in the The Miracle by Joel Potash.

Hiding Christmas by Amy Doherty takes place many years into the future, on the night before Christmas, as the children arrive at their mother's home to find something very strange going on. What is in the big black bag and who is that unknown person answering the door? What is going on here?

In All I Want for Christmas by Kathy Kramer, Ben and Lily, married forever, come face to face with how Christmas has changed... and how it's remained the same.

On Christmas Eve in 1971, a pair of young lovers struggle to find common ground as they confront news which threatens to turn their lives upside down in Midnight Snow Falls Softly by Donna Stuccio.

Enjoy a festive afternoon of original theater to benefit The Friends of Dorothy, which provides hospice care for people with HIV/AIDS.

High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Della's Diner: Blue Plate Special
Appleseed Productions
Moe Harrington, director

Price: $18 regular; $15 students/seniors (price includes dessert and beverage at intermission)
Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse

See where it all began...the very first episode of Tom Edward's Della's Diner musical country soap opera series. The lights come up on Christmas Eve at Della's diner and by the time they go down, you'll have learned a few things, including: Who IS Joey's real daddy? And who is Ramona's mama? Will Ronnie Frank and Ramona D-I-V-O-R-C-E? Will Preacher Larry marry? Even amid the excitement of a visit from a famous country-music-singing star and brain surgery, there's still time to visit the jukebox and sing the greatest country standards. This karaoke-style musical country soap opera will leave you laughing in the aisles.

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Little Women
Syracuse Stage
Syracuse University Drama Department
Anthony Salatino, director

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

What we cherish most—family, sacrifice, determination, hope, and love—never goes out of style. All of Louisa May Alcott's classic characters are here: warm and loving Marmee, vivacious Amy, sweet and dreamy Meg, tender-hearted Beth, handsome and charming Laurie, Aunt March, Professor Bhaer, and of course, the passionate and funny Jo. Brimming with 20 beautiful songs, this new musical captures all the struggle, romance and deep emotions of Alcott's beloved tale. Celebrate your holidays with the March family.

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White Christmas
The Talent Company
Dan Tursi, director

Price: $30 regular, $25 seniors/students, $20 children 12 and under
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

The tale of a couple of song-and-dance men who meet up with a sister act to make sparks fly is based on the beloved 1954 movie musical that starred Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. The Broadway hit is full of dancing, romance, laughter, and some of the greatest songs ever written, including Happy Holiday, Sisters, I Love a Piano, Blue Skies, How Deep is the Ocean, I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing, Falling Out Of Love Can Be Fun, Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me, Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep), and the unforgettable title song, White Christmas.

White Christmas stars Bob Brown as Bob Wallace and Gary Troy as Phil Davis, the song-and-dance men, and Brandi Ozark Weston as Judy Haynes and Colleen Wager as Betty Haynes, the "sister act." The show also features Bill Coughlin as General Henry Waverly and Christine Lightcap as Martha Watson, with Julia Goodman as Susan Waverly, Lou Leonardo as Ralph Sheldrake and Gennaro Parlato as Ezekiel Foster. Rounding out the cast are Jim Baxter, Molly Brown, Camille Chace, Zachary Chase, Cruz Gonzalez, Kimberly Grader, Bobby Hall, Kaleigh Pfohl, Eddie Powers, Korrie Strodel, Josh Taylor, and Rashad Williams.

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This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $35 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

Read a Review!

High School Musical 2
Syracuse Children's Theatre

Price: $17
Carrier Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Black Nativity
Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company
William H. Rowland II and Annette Adams-Brown, director

CFAC Black Box Theater
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Black Nativity, by Langston Hughes, is a foot stomping, hand clapping, jump to your feet shouting gospel drama that will delight the entire family, regardless of religious affiliations or beliefs. Hughes called it a "gospel song play." Black Nativity is a re-telling of the classic nativity story with a non-traditional cast. Traditional Christmas carols along with a few musical numbers created especially for the show are sung in gospel style by The PRpac Choral Ensemble. The show has a multi-generational cast of singers, narrators, poets, dancers and soloists that will fill the theater with jubilation and praise. Through the vibrations of African drums and percussion, the birth of Jesus becomes one of the most dramatic scenes of the show. Mary and Joseph will dance right into your hearts. Marcia L. Hagan will serve as musical director. The show was first performed on Broadway on December 11, 1961, and was one of the first plays written by an African-American to do so.

Read a review!

This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $30 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

Read a Review!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Sanarás mañana: An exhibit of works by Aimee Lee
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Artist Statement:

I am an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, and book arts media, interested in personal storytelling. My work has covered topics of human intimacy, internal defenses, and the isolating properties of language. Because my work thrives in moments of vulnerability, its manifestations occur subtly and often go unnoticed: a survival kit buried in the ground, a sound recording of whistles tied to a football goalpost, a book whose prints darken and fade to mimic the life cycle of a bruise. I relate to what falls between the cracks, and seek quiet sanctuaries to process the outside world and how humans participate in it.

Storytelling: An Experiment In Visual Narrative -- Works by Pedro Roth
Point of Contact Gallery

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

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, following two superbly triumphant solo exhibitions at the Sivori Museum and at the prestigious Recoleta Center this year, Pedro Roth comes to The Point of Contact Gallery to present "Storytelling...an experiment in visual narrative.

For this rich display of drawings that is a development of the work he presented in Argentina, "Roth invents a world of multiple figures, drawn to life in a Buenos Aires café while listening to stories about lost loves, departed pets, and friends, and the refusal to go out and love again..." writes the show's curator, Pedro Cuperman.

Howard Bond Retrospective
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Twenty-two pieces of Bond's work was donated to the SU's Bird Library by alumnus Carl Armani. The exhibition, which includes these works, is a retrospective of 30 years of Bond's creative work highlighting the photographer's mastery of abstraction, proximity, pattern, texture, and landscape.

Presented in conjunction with the 2009 Syracuse Symposium, "Light".

Viewpoints II 16" x 20": 2nd Collaborative Collection of the Syracuse Photographers Association
Westcott Community Art Gallery

Price: Free
Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse

The Syracuse Photography Association proudly presents a collection of photographic images at their 2nd Annual collaborative gallery exhibit.

Creatively capturing images from the commonplace to the unexpected, photographers catch the light and special moments in time. This collection of images, all 16" x 20", will serve to captivate your eye and draw you in closer to view a new world in each color or black and white photo.

Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 ages 12 and younger
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The delicious aroma of ginger and candy waft through the air as the second floor gallery is transformed into a festive 1800s street scene, with over 40 gingerbread creations on display in storefront windows. These sweet creations are made locally by professional and amateur bakers.

The Beauty Is in the Details
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

The gallery will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December.

Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.

Artists at Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty
Light Work Gallery

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

For many years Light Work has enjoyed a close affiliation with the art photography department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The faculty and students of art photo interact with Light Work's roster of international artists through lectures, internships, and classroom visits. In addition, they utilize the Community Darkrooms facilities and take full advantage of the expertise of the Light Work staff. Together we share an energy, passion, and commitment to contemporary art and photography. The exhibition "Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty" highlights this relationship by featuring work by Doug Dubois, Laura Heyman, Yasser Aggour, John Wesley Mannion, Aaron Hraba, Jennifer Wilkey, Sara Zamecnik, Kelli Pennington, Jeffrey Einhorn, and Shimpei Shirafuji.

Corporeal: Works by Deana Lawson
Light Work Gallery

Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

Deana Lawson's photographs examine how the body informs personal, political, and historical identities. Her psychological portraits seem to start out in one shape before morphing into something unexpected. Their apparent transparency at first glance dissolves into a complex set of questions about the people who are imaged and the nature of photographing, questions that will never have clear and finite answers, no matter how hard and long we look.

Lawson calls the people she photographs her family, whether they are in fact related or whether they met as friends in church, at the grocery store, or in a club. The ties that bind her images together are not in the blood but rather in the shared experience of representation.

If the personal is political, then the portrait may present the most intense form in which to control the message of the self. In viewing Lawson's portraits, as we come to terms with the body and the sometimes uncomfortable intimacy of a stranger's personal truth, we see flesh, beauty, pain, salvation, life, and death all performed within the context of the frame. As bare identities emerge from these photographs, we may reassess the often easily avoided questions of what we are willing to look at and why.

The rooms and faces in the photographs may change, but the gaze and gesture of Lawson's subjects consistently telegraph a unified refrain: The beauty of this moment in front of the lens belongs to them. The people in her photographs offer an unrelenting intention to be seen as they want to be seen. Just as important, they possess an unbridled courage to reveal that fleeting truth to others. Although Lawson is a collaborator and co-adventurer in the making of each picture, her subjects make the key contributions that give the photographs in Corporeal their power.

Intimacy & Vastness
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Price: Free
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

A show of paintings by Sharon Gordon and Aida Khalil and ceramic works by Errol Willett.

Sharon Gordon's new oil paintings feature her ongoing exploration of the dynamic relationship of earth and sky. Her dreamlike landscape paintings engage the play of light over vast surfaces and suspended water droplets.

Aida Khalil's mixed media paintings are from her "Boat of Hours" series. Through the intimate scale of er small canvases, the artist transforms vistas into personal landscapes of slowed down moments of light and weather.

Errol Willett's pottery and ceramic forms are influenced by painting, sculpture and architecture. The artist is interested in how art can forge ahead, from being something other than our known world, and crosses into a new locus.

Read a review!

35th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts

Price: Free
City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Original crafts and fine arts by more than 50 artists and craftspeople from Central New York. For more information, phone 315-468-2616.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Sanarás mañana: An exhibit of works by Aimee Lee
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Artist Statement:

I am an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, and book arts media, interested in personal storytelling. My work has covered topics of human intimacy, internal defenses, and the isolating properties of language. Because my work thrives in moments of vulnerability, its manifestations occur subtly and often go unnoticed: a survival kit buried in the ground, a sound recording of whistles tied to a football goalpost, a book whose prints darken and fade to mimic the life cycle of a bruise. I relate to what falls between the cracks, and seek quiet sanctuaries to process the outside world and how humans participate in it.

Storytelling: An Experiment In Visual Narrative -- Works by Pedro Roth
Point of Contact Gallery

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

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, following two superbly triumphant solo exhibitions at the Sivori Museum and at the prestigious Recoleta Center this year, Pedro Roth comes to The Point of Contact Gallery to present "Storytelling...an experiment in visual narrative.

For this rich display of drawings that is a development of the work he presented in Argentina, "Roth invents a world of multiple figures, drawn to life in a Buenos Aires café while listening to stories about lost loves, departed pets, and friends, and the refusal to go out and love again..." writes the show's curator, Pedro Cuperman.

The Power of Four
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium
2 Clinton Square, Syracuse

The Power of Four features recent work by Judith Benedict, Lindsey Guile, Mary Pierce, and Carla Senecal. From abstract to representational, conceptual to narrative, traditional to emerging, this group of artist produces something for everyone.

Howard Bond Retrospective
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Twenty-two pieces of Bond's work was donated to the SU's Bird Library by alumnus Carl Armani. The exhibition, which includes these works, is a retrospective of 30 years of Bond's creative work highlighting the photographer's mastery of abstraction, proximity, pattern, texture, and landscape.

Presented in conjunction with the 2009 Syracuse Symposium, "Light".

Viewpoints II 16" x 20": 2nd Collaborative Collection of the Syracuse Photographers Association
Westcott Community Art Gallery

Price: Free
Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse

The Syracuse Photography Association proudly presents a collection of photographic images at their 2nd Annual collaborative gallery exhibit.

Creatively capturing images from the commonplace to the unexpected, photographers catch the light and special moments in time. This collection of images, all 16" x 20", will serve to captivate your eye and draw you in closer to view a new world in each color or black and white photo.

Celebrating 20 Years
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

A diverse show of 56 creative artists who have previously exhibited at Edgewood Gallery.

Gingerbread Gallery
Erie Canal Museum

Price: $5 regular, $4 seniors, $2 ages 12 and younger
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The delicious aroma of ginger and candy waft through the air as the second floor gallery is transformed into a festive 1800s street scene, with over 40 gingerbread creations on display in storefront windows. These sweet creations are made locally by professional and amateur bakers.

The Beauty Is in the Details
Imagine

Imagine
38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles

The gallery will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December.

Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.

James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.

Corporeal: Works by Deana Lawson
Light Work Gallery

Light Work Gallery
316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse University, Syracuse

Deana Lawson's photographs examine how the body informs personal, political, and historical identities. Her psychological portraits seem to start out in one shape before morphing into something unexpected. Their apparent transparency at first glance dissolves into a complex set of questions about the people who are imaged and the nature of photographing, questions that will never have clear and finite answers, no matter how hard and long we look.

Lawson calls the people she photographs her family, whether they are in fact related or whether they met as friends in church, at the grocery store, or in a club. The ties that bind her images together are not in the blood but rather in the shared experience of representation.

If the personal is political, then the portrait may present the most intense form in which to control the message of the self. In viewing Lawson's portraits, as we come to terms with the body and the sometimes uncomfortable intimacy of a stranger's personal truth, we see flesh, beauty, pain, salvation, life, and death all performed within the context of the frame. As bare identities emerge from these photographs, we may reassess the often easily avoided questions of what we are willing to look at and why.

The rooms and faces in the photographs may change, but the gaze and gesture of Lawson's subjects consistently telegraph a unified refrain: The beauty of this moment in front of the lens belongs to them. The people in her photographs offer an unrelenting intention to be seen as they want to be seen. Just as important, they possess an unbridled courage to reveal that fleeting truth to others. Although Lawson is a collaborator and co-adventurer in the making of each picture, her subjects make the key contributions that give the photographs in Corporeal their power.

Artists at Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty
Light Work Gallery

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

For many years Light Work has enjoyed a close affiliation with the art photography department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The faculty and students of art photo interact with Light Work's roster of international artists through lectures, internships, and classroom visits. In addition, they utilize the Community Darkrooms facilities and take full advantage of the expertise of the Light Work staff. Together we share an energy, passion, and commitment to contemporary art and photography. The exhibition "Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty" highlights this relationship by featuring work by Doug Dubois, Laura Heyman, Yasser Aggour, John Wesley Mannion, Aaron Hraba, Jennifer Wilkey, Sara Zamecnik, Kelli Pennington, Jeffrey Einhorn, and Shimpei Shirafuji.

Intimacy & Vastness
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Price: Free
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

A show of paintings by Sharon Gordon and Aida Khalil and ceramic works by Errol Willett.

Sharon Gordon's new oil paintings feature her ongoing exploration of the dynamic relationship of earth and sky. Her dreamlike landscape paintings engage the play of light over vast surfaces and suspended water droplets.

Aida Khalil's mixed media paintings are from her "Boat of Hours" series. Through the intimate scale of er small canvases, the artist transforms vistas into personal landscapes of slowed down moments of light and weather.

Errol Willett's pottery and ceramic forms are influenced by painting, sculpture and architecture. The artist is interested in how art can forge ahead, from being something other than our known world, and crosses into a new locus.

Read a review!

35th Annual Art Mart
Syracuse Allied Arts

Price: Free
City Hall Commons Atrium
201 East Washington St., Syracuse

Original crafts and fine arts by more than 50 artists and craftspeople from Central New York. For more information, phone 315-468-2616.

John Wood: On the Edge of Clear Meaning
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

This retrospective exhibition highlights the work of mixed media photography pioneer John Wood. Over 100 works that chronicle the artist's work from the 1960s to the present will be on display in his first major retrospective exhibition.

Well known as a photographer who routinely broke the barriers of "pure photography," Wood's work is credited as being the foundation for the mixed media and digital imagery processes of the last two decades. A master of processes from straight photography, collage, cliché verre, solarization, mixed media, offset lithography to drawing, he has a unique ability to work decisively across a variety of media with ease.

Wood's early influences as a photographer stem from his time served in the Army Air Corps as a B-17 pilot, as seen in his multiple frame landscapes and time-lapse collages. After the war, Wood trained as a visual designer and photographer at the Institute of Design in Chicago. Wood spent 35 years teaching photography and printmaking at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Like the work of Jasper Johns, John Wood is relentless in pushing the boundaries of traditional media. His work has laid the groundwork for the multi process, cross disciplinary artwork being created for years.

Paid parking is available for weekday visitors in any SU pay lot. Free parking for weekend and evening visitors is available in the Q4 lot, located on College Place. Patrons should notify the attendant that they are visiting the SUArt Galleries. Evening and weekend parking is on a space-available basis and may be restricted during events held at the Carrier Dome.

Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection
Everson Museum of Art

Price: $15 non-members, $12 students/seniors, $10 Everson members, children 5 and under free, $50 family rate (maximum two adults and four dependent children)
Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

This collection is comprised of an extraordinary group of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings collected largely between 1908 and 1923 by sisters Margaret and Gwendoline Davies. By 1914, the Davies sisters had assembled one of the finest collections of European modern art in Britain, with works from artists such as Paul Cézanne, Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Joseph M.W. Turner, among several others.

Turner to Cézanne speaks volumes about taste, patronage and philanthropy. The 53 original works by 29 artists included also a present survey of modern art, ranging from Turner's Romantic naturalism to Cézanne's modern aesthetic innovations. This exhibition serves as a reminder of the value of creativity, and of persistence, as many of the artists were, at first, either misunderstood or scorned.

Docent-led tours are available Tuesday-Thursday at 2:00 pm and Saturdays at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. These tours are complimentary with exhibition admission, and no reservation is required. A complimentary cell phone audio tour is available to all visitors.

Read a review!

Women of Rookwood: The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection
Everson Museum of Art

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

The Rookwood Pottery, founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1880, established itself as a commercial pottery that successfully elevated ordinary ceramic objects to a fine art status during the heyday of art pottery in America. Each unique piece was hand-painted and signed by the artist, many of whom were young women. This exhibition, which includes examples by several of these women including Sarah Sax, Fannie Auckland, Sadie Markland, Grace Young, and Rookwood founder Maria Longworth Nichols, was selected from The Joyce and Eliot Sterling Collection in conjunction with the "Women as Visionaries, Women as Participants" Symposium scheduled for October 17.

Arts & Crafts of New York State
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Arts & Crafts movement that blossomed in Europe in the late 19th century and rapidly spread to America not only has deep roots in New York State, but it is still very much alive in the upstate region today. Gustav Stickley and Adelaide Robineau, significant figures on the national Arts & Crafts scene at the turn of the century, were based in Syracuse. Elbert Hubbard established the Roycrofters in East Aurora in the 1880s and the Byrdcliffe Colony flourished in Woodstock, New York at the same time. This exhibition showcases paintings, furniture, ceramics, and metal work created by these masters of the Arts & Crafts movement from 1890 to 1920.

Alyson Shotz: Drawing Through Space
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

With the assistance of Syracuse University students, Brooklyn-based Shotz created her works on site, thus turning The Warehouse Gallery into a form of laboratory. Shotz is one of today's ground-breaking artists transforming contemporary art through a fusion of technology and handcrafted steel wire and yarn artworks. Her use of this material is a means of combining sculpture with drawing to address issues of light, space, time and motion. Strikingly beautiful, her wire sculpture in the vault and three wall drawings project optical experiences where questions of perception and misperception lead to further examination of the impact of 21st-century technology on the arts.

Read a review!

Windows Project: Confederacy of Dunces
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Hamilton-based Lynette K. Stephenson created an installation about New Orleans consisting of 60 hand-felted wool dunce caps. This exhibition is inspired by John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) set in New Orleans, where Stephenson's family home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and based on her previous body of paintings, The Red Cross Series, which led to the idea for this site-specific project. In this work Stephenson engages in a dialogue about present-day social issues referring to New Orleans, the tragedy of the Hurricane and the universal symbol of the Red Cross.

This Wonderful Life
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director
Featuring James Leaming

Price: $30 adults; $16 students 18 and under
Storch Theater, Syracuse Stage
820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. Visit Bedford Falls this holiday season for a charming stage telling of Frank Capra's Hollywood classic. One brave actor plays 32 characters including George Bailey, Clarence, Mr. Potter, Mary, Martini, and Zuzu to bring everyone's favorite family holiday charmer to wonderful life. Hee-haw.

Read a Review!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Works of Peter Michel
LeMoyne College

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

Peter Michel's work celebrates self, relationship, and community, using symbols to explore the ways in which we are related, connected, and the same, as well as the ways in which we are special and unique. It explores the richness of the mind and the ongoing conversations that shape our responses and our being.

Sanarás mañana: An exhibit of works by Aimee Lee
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Artist Statement:

I am an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, and book arts media, interested in personal storytelling. My work has covered topics of human intimacy, internal defenses, and the isolating properties of language. Because my work thrives in moments of vulnerability, its manifestations occur subtly and often go unnoticed: a survival kit buried in the ground, a sound recording of whistles tied to a football goalpost, a book whose prints darken and fade to mimic the life cycle of a bruise. I relate to what falls between the cracks, and seek quiet sanctuaries to process the outside world and how humans participate in it.

Storytelling: An Experiment In Visual Narrative -- Works by Pedro Roth
Point of Contact Gallery

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

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, following two superbly triumphant solo exhibitions at the Sivori Museum and at the prestigious Recoleta Center this year, Pedro Roth comes to The Point of Contact Gallery to present "Storytelling...an experiment in visual narrative.

For this rich display of drawings that is a development of the work he presented in Argentina, "Roth invents a world of multiple figures, drawn to life in a Buenos Aires café while listening to stories about lost loves, departed pets, and friends, and the refusal to go out and love again..." writes the show's curator, Pedro Cuperman.

The Power of Four
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium
2 Clinton Square, Syracuse

The Power of Four features recent work by Judith Benedict, Lindsey Guile, Mary Pierce, and Carla Senecal. From abstract to representational, conceptual to narrative, traditional to emerging, this group of artist produces something for everyone.

Howard Bond Retrospective
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Twenty-two pieces of Bond's work was donated to the SU's Bird Library by alumnus Carl Armani. The exhibition, which includes these works, is a retrospective of 30 years of Bond's creative work highlighting the photographer's mastery of abstraction, proximity, pattern, texture, and landscape.

Presented in conjunction with the 2009 Syracuse Symposium, "Light".

Viewpoints II 16" x 20": 2nd Collaborative Collection of the Syracuse Photographers Association
Westcott Community Art Gallery

Price: Free
Westcott Community Center
Corner of Euclid Ave. and Westcott St., Syracuse