Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Gallery Exhibition: Works of Milton Glaser
Onondaga Community College

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

To many, Milton Glaser is the embodiment of American graphic design during the latter half of this century. His presence and impact on the profession internationally is formidable. Immensely creative and articulate, he is a modern renaissance man -- one of a rare breed of intellectual designer-illustrators, who brings a depth of understanding and conceptual thinking, combined with a diverse richness of visual language, to his highly inventive and individualistic work.

Two: Recent Works by Frederick Bartolovic and Chris McEvoy, and Emerging: Recent Works by Lacey Mckinney
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

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

Arena Art Group Exhibit
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

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

Fun, wild, and experimental artwork by Rochester's Arena Art Group.

A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women's study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse. The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women's access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.

Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year's president.

Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott, and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club's first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley, and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.

The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents.

Faces: Inspiration from Within -- Works by Erin Boyle
Westcott Community Center

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

Cutting away from traditional portraiture, Erin creates edgy images that offer more expressive descriptions.

The Nature of Being
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Works based on nature and the figure by John Fitzsimmons (oil paintings) and Patrice Fitzsimmons (ceramic sculpture).

Read a review!

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.

Works of Karen Thomas-Lillie, Madeline Silber, and Jeremy Randall
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

American Change: From Slavery to the Presidency
Museum of Young Art

Price: Suggested donation: $4 adults, $3 students
Museum of Young Art
110 W. Fayette St., One Lincoln Center, Syracuse

If you could become an inspirational historical figure, who would you choose? How would becoming that person, even for a few moments, affect you?

In this show, students take on the personae of inspirational historical and current figures to truly immerse themselves in history.

The project, "American Change: from Slavery to the Presidency," features written, spoken and photographic illustrations of key figures and events in US history created by 4th grade students at Van Duyn Elementary. The work was inspired by and created in collaboration with CNY photographer Brantley Carroll.

Carroll worked with the students in a similar process to the one he used for his acclaimed project "The Whipping Post," which examined the slave trade by casting contemporary Americans in portraits of historical figures.

The partnership with Mr. Carroll is just one of the many arts-based learning projects that are happening this year at Van Duyn, which is one of six Syracuse City School District (SCSD) schools participating in the Arts in Mind initiative. Arts in Mind is a collaboration between schools, cultural organizations and funders that is working to make it easier for teachers in all SCSD schools to bring the arts into their classrooms as a way to strengthen student engagement and achievement. You can read more about Arts in Mind at www.artsinmind.net.

Exploring History with Art: The Changing View—Landscapes
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Paintings from OHA's permanent collection

Dinosaurs Had Sharp Teeth! Works of Chris Wildrick
Redhouse

Price: Free
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

For several years Chris Wildrick has been working to become a self-taught professional paleontologist. He specializes in "dinosaur aesthetics," or why we think dinosaurs looked the way we think they looked. What kinds of colors and patterns did they have? How did they move? What did they sound like? How have our conceptions of these things changed over the years?

He creates his work through interactive projects with the public, which take the form of polls, games, and creative activities. For the past several months he has worked as an artist in residence with the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), doing projects at their Museum of the Earth in Ithaca as well as the New York State Fair and local schools.

This exhibition compiles his research into colorful and complex charts and graphs, audio recordings, and sculptures. He will also be doing his interactive projects at the opening and at other points throughout the show, so anyone can join in and share in the creation of the work. Chris will try to guess your favorite dinosaur, ask you to make dinosaur sounds, and challenge you to recast famous movies using only dinosaur species in the actors' roles. Plus, try to beat the reigning champion as you name as many dinosaurs as you can in one minute!

Redhouse Art Radio will feature selections from his audio projects, including interviews with famous dinosaur illustrators, throughout the show.

This show is great for all ages: it's philosophical, experimental, and hey, it has dinosaurs.

Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

The exhibition brings together more than 80 engravings, vivid Orientalist paintings, decorative objects, and documents and letters made during General Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign of 1791-1801. While unsuccessful as a military campaign, the endeavor was extremely successful and a cultural expedition. Napoleon brought over 150 scholars with him and their investigations into the country's ancient and contemporary societies formed the foundation of modern Egyptology and were a major achievement. From the Dahesh Museum of Art.

Selections: Works by Ludwig Stein
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) will celebrate the opening of a new venue in downtown Syracuse with an inaugural exhibition by one of its most celebrated faculty artists.

The work in "Selections" spans Stein's 37 years at VPA, teaching on the SU campus as well as in London and in Florence, Italy.

"My desires for the viewer are to perceive elegance, richness, passion and rediscover sensitivity for the world around them," says Stein in his artist's statement for the exhibition. "I want my viewers to understand that each artist must find their muse and, within that finding, show love for themselves, the object of desire, the painting and the viewer. My intention as an artist-teacher is to pass this passion and knowledge on to my students, knowing full well that discovery and understanding are personal."

Stein has exhibited his work in solo and group shows in cities around the world, including Guayaquil, Ecuador; Basel, Switzerland; and London. His work is included in many permanent collections, including those of the University of London, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase. He is the recipient of grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the British Council Arts Group and the Ford Foundation, among others.

VPA will use the Hot Shop as an additional space to showcase the curriculum-related activities of its students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists.

50/50: Works of Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Nancy Jurs juxtaposes her signature large-scale, hand-built ceramic sculptures with recent site-specific installations composed of ceramic, mixed-media and found objects. Throughout her 40-year career Jurs, a Rochester-based sculptor and ceramic artist, has produced an astounding body of work that largely addresses female power and strength. In 2003, Jurs completed the Armor Series, a grouping of six life-size armored torsos that present themselves with empowered determination. The stylized shells not only serve to protect the figures but to symbolize renewed confidence and strength in a post-9/11 world. "Undaunted" (2003), which is part of the Armor Series, was acquired by the Everson in 2004.

Also on view will be "Triad," a monumental 16-foot high sculpture composed of ceramic slabs that have been hand-built: cut, scraped, modeled, and stacked in three interacting totem-like structures. Triad will be prominently displayed in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court.

Anne Cofer: Concealed Objects
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer's interest in materials and artistic processes is evident in "Concealed Objects," a provocative new site-specific installation created for her first museum solo exhibition at the Everson. Inspired by British artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose sculpture is at once unique and fleeting, Cofer creates objects that exist for a moment and place in time and then are recycled and reused for other projects. The installation designed for the Everson is composed of skirt forms constructed of cloth and wet clay suspended from the ceiling in grid fashion. The skirts, arranged in perfect harmony within the space that contains them, appear to float in contradiction to the heavy clay that pulls them downward. Each garment is cut from a Victorian-era dress pattern (ca. 1895), combined with wet clay and modeled by hand to capture every fold of the fabric as it cascades to the floor. The repetition of form and motion recalls the monotonous tasks of domestic chores that have existed for centuries without change. Cofer assigns new meaning to the found and recycled fabrics she chooses for the garments: the bed linens, table cloths, furniture upholstery, and well-worn clothing conceal the individual histories, memories and stories untold about their previous owners.

Anne Cofer was the recipient of the Best-of-Show Award given at the 2008 Everson Biennial exhibition.

Hope in a Time of Turmoil: Colombia and the Art of Jafeth Gómez Ledesma
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Artist, activist, dreamer and teacher -- Jafeth Gómez Ledesma will exhibit his vision of Colombia at the ArtRage Gallery as part of a visit to the United States to speak, conduct workshops and celebrate art and hope.

Festival Pre-Screening
Syracuse International Film Festival

Price: Free
Soule Branch Library
101 Springfield Rd., Syracuse

Selected shorts from past festivals.

Civic Morning Musicals
Benjamin Hoffmann, piano

Price: Free
Hosmer Auditorium, Everson Museum
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Young pianist Benjamin Hoffmann grew up in the Syracuse area, studying with John Spradling, and has returned as a graduate student at the Setnor School of Music, where he studies with Fred Karpoff. Hoffmann has won accolades for his solo and collaborative work, and will play the first book of Debussy's Images I and the Liszt B-minor Ballade.

The Causeway Giants in Concert
LeMoyne College

Price: Free
LeMoyne Campus Center
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

Irish music and original tunes. For more information, phone 315-445-4215.

Syracuse University Setnor School of Music
Syracuse University Trumpet Ensemble

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

Parking is available in Irving Garage. For more information, phone 315-443-2191.

Writer Kelly Link
Raymond Carver Reading Series

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

"Magic realist" writer Kelly Link is the force behind two acclaimed story collections: Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners (Small Beer Press, 2001 and 2005, respectively). Her work has won Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy awards. In addition to running Small Beer Press, she and her husband are fantasy editors of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (St. Martin's Griffin) and publishers of the small-press zine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet.

The reading will be preceded by a Q&A session with the author beginning at 3:45 pm.

Parking is available in SU pay lots. For more information, phone 315-443-2174.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Opening: BFA Ceramics 2009 Exhibit
Clayscapes Pottery Gallery

Clayscapes Pottery Studio
1003 W. Fayette St., Suite L1, Syracuse

An opening reception will be held 5:00-8:00 pm.

Senior ceramics majors in the School of Art and Design at Syracuse University will present the exhibition "BFA Ceramics 2009," featuring the work of five seniors: Tim Brockhaus, Rebecca Hill, Crystal Lasda, Jaimie Merrell and Vanna Valdez.

Gallery Exhibition: Works of Milton Glaser
Onondaga Community College

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

To many, Milton Glaser is the embodiment of American graphic design during the latter half of this century. His presence and impact on the profession internationally is formidable. Immensely creative and articulate, he is a modern renaissance man -- one of a rare breed of intellectual designer-illustrators, who brings a depth of understanding and conceptual thinking, combined with a diverse richness of visual language, to his highly inventive and individualistic work.

Two: Recent Works by Frederick Bartolovic and Chris McEvoy, and Emerging: Recent Works by Lacey Mckinney
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

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

Arena Art Group Exhibit
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

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

Fun, wild, and experimental artwork by Rochester's Arena Art Group.

A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women's study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse. The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women's access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.

Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year's president.

Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott, and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club's first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley, and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.

The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents.

Faces: Inspiration from Within -- Works by Erin Boyle
Westcott Community Center

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

Cutting away from traditional portraiture, Erin creates edgy images that offer more expressive descriptions.

The Nature of Being
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Works based on nature and the figure by John Fitzsimmons (oil paintings) and Patrice Fitzsimmons (ceramic sculpture).

Read a review!

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.

Works of Karen Thomas-Lillie, Madeline Silber, and Jeremy Randall
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

American Change: From Slavery to the Presidency
Museum of Young Art

Price: Suggested donation: $4 adults, $3 students
Museum of Young Art
110 W. Fayette St., One Lincoln Center, Syracuse

If you could become an inspirational historical figure, who would you choose? How would becoming that person, even for a few moments, affect you?

In this show, students take on the personae of inspirational historical and current figures to truly immerse themselves in history.

The project, "American Change: from Slavery to the Presidency," features written, spoken and photographic illustrations of key figures and events in US history created by 4th grade students at Van Duyn Elementary. The work was inspired by and created in collaboration with CNY photographer Brantley Carroll.

Carroll worked with the students in a similar process to the one he used for his acclaimed project "The Whipping Post," which examined the slave trade by casting contemporary Americans in portraits of historical figures.

The partnership with Mr. Carroll is just one of the many arts-based learning projects that are happening this year at Van Duyn, which is one of six Syracuse City School District (SCSD) schools participating in the Arts in Mind initiative. Arts in Mind is a collaboration between schools, cultural organizations and funders that is working to make it easier for teachers in all SCSD schools to bring the arts into their classrooms as a way to strengthen student engagement and achievement. You can read more about Arts in Mind at www.artsinmind.net.

Exploring History with Art: The Changing View—Landscapes
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Paintings from OHA's permanent collection

Dinosaurs Had Sharp Teeth! Works of Chris Wildrick
Redhouse

Price: Free
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Opening reception 5:00-8:00 pm.

For several years Chris Wildrick has been working to become a self-taught professional paleontologist. He specializes in "dinosaur aesthetics," or why we think dinosaurs looked the way we think they looked. What kinds of colors and patterns did they have? How did they move? What did they sound like? How have our conceptions of these things changed over the years?

He creates his work through interactive projects with the public, which take the form of polls, games, and creative activities. For the past several months he has worked as an artist in residence with the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), doing projects at their Museum of the Earth in Ithaca as well as the New York State Fair and local schools.

This exhibition compiles his research into colorful and complex charts and graphs, audio recordings, and sculptures. He will also be doing his interactive projects at the opening and at other points throughout the show, so anyone can join in and share in the creation of the work. Chris will try to guess your favorite dinosaur, ask you to make dinosaur sounds, and challenge you to recast famous movies using only dinosaur species in the actors' roles. Plus, try to beat the reigning champion as you name as many dinosaurs as you can in one minute!

Redhouse Art Radio will feature selections from his audio projects, including interviews with famous dinosaur illustrators, throughout the show.

This show is great for all ages: it's philosophical, experimental, and hey, it has dinosaurs.

Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

The exhibition brings together more than 80 engravings, vivid Orientalist paintings, decorative objects, and documents and letters made during General Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign of 1791-1801. While unsuccessful as a military campaign, the endeavor was extremely successful and a cultural expedition. Napoleon brought over 150 scholars with him and their investigations into the country's ancient and contemporary societies formed the foundation of modern Egyptology and were a major achievement. From the Dahesh Museum of Art.

Selections: Works by Ludwig Stein
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) will celebrate the opening of a new venue in downtown Syracuse with an inaugural exhibition by one of its most celebrated faculty artists.

The work in "Selections" spans Stein's 37 years at VPA, teaching on the SU campus as well as in London and in Florence, Italy.

"My desires for the viewer are to perceive elegance, richness, passion and rediscover sensitivity for the world around them," says Stein in his artist's statement for the exhibition. "I want my viewers to understand that each artist must find their muse and, within that finding, show love for themselves, the object of desire, the painting and the viewer. My intention as an artist-teacher is to pass this passion and knowledge on to my students, knowing full well that discovery and understanding are personal."

Stein has exhibited his work in solo and group shows in cities around the world, including Guayaquil, Ecuador; Basel, Switzerland; and London. His work is included in many permanent collections, including those of the University of London, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase. He is the recipient of grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the British Council Arts Group and the Ford Foundation, among others.

VPA will use the Hot Shop as an additional space to showcase the curriculum-related activities of its students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists.

Fiber Art
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Works include framed batik, cloth colleges, sculptural coiled basketry, quilting, tapestry, and more by artists Wilson Akuamoah-Boateng, Sharon Bottle Souva, Lauren Bristol, Barbara Conte-Gaugel, Linda Esterley, Alice Gant, Hilary Gifford, Mary Kester, and Holly Knott.

Wild Card Exhibit: Ceramics by Carles Vives
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer: Concealed Objects
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer's interest in materials and artistic processes is evident in "Concealed Objects," a provocative new site-specific installation created for her first museum solo exhibition at the Everson. Inspired by British artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose sculpture is at once unique and fleeting, Cofer creates objects that exist for a moment and place in time and then are recycled and reused for other projects. The installation designed for the Everson is composed of skirt forms constructed of cloth and wet clay suspended from the ceiling in grid fashion. The skirts, arranged in perfect harmony within the space that contains them, appear to float in contradiction to the heavy clay that pulls them downward. Each garment is cut from a Victorian-era dress pattern (ca. 1895), combined with wet clay and modeled by hand to capture every fold of the fabric as it cascades to the floor. The repetition of form and motion recalls the monotonous tasks of domestic chores that have existed for centuries without change. Cofer assigns new meaning to the found and recycled fabrics she chooses for the garments: the bed linens, table cloths, furniture upholstery, and well-worn clothing conceal the individual histories, memories and stories untold about their previous owners.

Anne Cofer was the recipient of the Best-of-Show Award given at the 2008 Everson Biennial exhibition.

50/50: Works of Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Nancy Jurs juxtaposes her signature large-scale, hand-built ceramic sculptures with recent site-specific installations composed of ceramic, mixed-media and found objects. Throughout her 40-year career Jurs, a Rochester-based sculptor and ceramic artist, has produced an astounding body of work that largely addresses female power and strength. In 2003, Jurs completed the Armor Series, a grouping of six life-size armored torsos that present themselves with empowered determination. The stylized shells not only serve to protect the figures but to symbolize renewed confidence and strength in a post-9/11 world. "Undaunted" (2003), which is part of the Armor Series, was acquired by the Everson in 2004.

Also on view will be "Triad," a monumental 16-foot high sculpture composed of ceramic slabs that have been hand-built: cut, scraped, modeled, and stacked in three interacting totem-like structures. Triad will be prominently displayed in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court.

Hope in a Time of Turmoil: Colombia and the Art of Jafeth Gómez Ledesma
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Artist, activist, dreamer and teacher -- Jafeth Gómez Ledesma will exhibit his vision of Colombia at the ArtRage Gallery as part of a visit to the United States to speak, conduct workshops and celebrate art and hope.

From 7:00-8:30, there will be an evening of music, readings, and chanting based on the book Sisters Singing: Blessings, Prayers, Art, Songs, Poetry and Sacred Stories by Women edited by Carolyn Brigit Flynn, foreword by Deena Metzger, featuring Marie Summerwood leading her original chants.

The Art of Giants Puppets
Open Hand Theater

Price: Free
International Mask and Puppet Museum
518 Prospect Ave., Syracuse

Love & Patience
Orange Line Gallery

Price: Free
Orange Line Gallery
106 Montgomery St., Syracuse

The exhibit is a mix of traditional to abstract works, but remaining modern throughout. The show title refers not only to the content of the pieces, but also the artist's connection to their work and process. New work will be featured by previous OL artists including Alejandro Bettencourt, Amber Blanding, David McKenney, Debra Parry Trichilo, Jace Collins, Jacqueline Adamo, Laura Celuch, Melissa Tiffany and Spencer Baker.

Opening -- The Gallery as Studio: Drawings on Delirium
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A world-renowned Uruguayan artist, Ricardo Lanzarini comes from Montevideo to Syracuse to recreate the mundane and the extraordinary in his drawings on delirium made to unexpected scales. The exhibition comes to life at The Point of Contact Gallery where the space has turned into an artist's studio. The work of the exhibit is to be produced entirely on site and directly onto the walls of the gallery in the weeks leading up to the opening. Lanzarini will also share this experiment with students from Syracuse University's Fine Arts Department who will join in the creative process.

Lanzarini's work balances extremes of scale, crafting an extensive abstract image from precise, miniscule characters, whose everyday activities serve as a window into a miniature world, frozen in time. These drawings sarcastically explore the two major paradigms in figurative art of the 20th century: Social and Fantastic Realism

The exhibit will last through the summer and then Lanzarini returns to Point of Contact to perform an "erasure" of the work on September 4. The book catalogue documenting the entire project will be presented at the close.

Cinefest 2009

Price: $25 for the day
Holiday Inn
Electronics Parkway, Liverpool

9:00 am: A Bundle of Blues (1933) with Duke Ellington, Ivie Anderson
9:10 am: Safety in Numbers (1930) with Buddy Rogers, Carole Lombard
10:40 am: Less than the Dust (1916) with Mary Pickford, David Powell

Lunch Break

1:00 pm: Caretaker's Daughter (1934) with Billy Gilbert, Eddie Foy, Jr.
1:25 pm: All Wrong (1919) with Bryant Washburn, Mildred Davis
2:25 pm: Trailer Mania Show II Hosted by Ray Faiola
3:30 pm: City Of Play (1929) with Chili Bouchier, Patrick Aherne
4:50 pm: Doctors' Wives (1931) with Warner Baxter, Joan Bennett

Dinner Break

8:10 pm: Gumbasia (1955) A film by Art Clokey
8:15 pm: The Installment Collector (1929) with Fred Allen
8:30 pm: They Shall Pay (1921) with Lottie Pickford, Allan Forrest, Paul Weigel.
9:30 pm: Love Never Dies (1921) Dir. King Vidor, with Lloyd Hughes, Madge Bellamy, Lillian Leighton
10:50 pm: The Last Trail (1933) with George OBrien, Claire Trevor
11:55 pm: What Price Vengeance (1937) with Lyle Talbot, Wendy Barrie

Gallery Talk: Napoleon's 'Discovery' of Egypt: Art & Science in the French Empire and the Civilizing Mission
Syracuse University Art Museum
Featuring Amy Elouafi

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

Talk in conjunction with the "Napoleon on the Nile" exhibit.

Artist Talk: Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

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

Sculptor Nancy Jurs will lead a walking tour of her one-person exhibition, 50/50 and discuss the broad range of themes and media used during her 40-year career. Th3 special event.

Sharon E. Allen, author and musician
Eureka Crafts

Price: Free
Eureka Crafts
210 Walton St., Syracuse

Th3 Special Event: Sharon E. Allen, local author and musician, performs songs from her children's book and CD set: Toes and Outside Today.

Idina Menzel
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: $20 regular; $15 SU faculty, staff, and alumni; $5 with SU student ID
Goldstein Auditorium, Schine Student Center
Syracuse University, Syracuse

The Tony Award-winning actress and singer will perform in concert in recognition of Women's History Month. Idina Menzel reached Broadway superstardom in two career-defining roles: her Tony Award-winning performance originating the role of Elphaba, future Wicked Witch of the West, in the musical blockbuster Wicked and her Tony-nominated performance originating the role of Maureen Johnson in the revolutionary musical Rent. Recent film credits include Disney's romantic fable Enchanted, Rent, and Ask the Dust. She recently released the solo album "I Stand," a powerful collection of songs penned by the actress-singer-songwriter. Menzel has been inspired by artists Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand--triple threat performers who have conquered stage and film and have also found success as recording artists. Her performance at SU provides her ultimate challenge: a solo artist singing her own songs.

Free parking in Lehman and Harrison lots.

Tickets can be purchased at the Schine Student Center Box Office. For more information, call 315-443-4517.

Death Warmed Over
Acme Mystery Company

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

Interactive mystery/comedy dinner theater. A sleepy village is in for strange events when a famous medium comes to a haunted cottage to run a live seance on his television show.

Fiddler on the Roof
Faith Heritage School

Price: $9
Faith Heritage School
3740 Midland Ave., Syracuse

West Side Story

Price: $9 regular, $7 students/seniors
Cicero-North Syracuse High School
6002 State Route 31, Cicero

Friday, March 20, 2009

BFA Ceramics 2009 Exhibit
Clayscapes Pottery Gallery

Clayscapes Pottery Studio
1003 W. Fayette St., Suite L1, Syracuse

Senior ceramics majors in the School of Art and Design at Syracuse University will present the exhibition "BFA Ceramics 2009," featuring the work of five seniors: Tim Brockhaus, Rebecca Hill, Crystal Lasda, Jaimie Merrell and Vanna Valdez.

Gallery Exhibition: Works of Milton Glaser
Onondaga Community College

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

To many, Milton Glaser is the embodiment of American graphic design during the latter half of this century. His presence and impact on the profession internationally is formidable. Immensely creative and articulate, he is a modern renaissance man -- one of a rare breed of intellectual designer-illustrators, who brings a depth of understanding and conceptual thinking, combined with a diverse richness of visual language, to his highly inventive and individualistic work.

The Gallery as Studio: Drawings on Delirium
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A world-renowned Uruguayan artist, Ricardo Lanzarini comes from Montevideo to Syracuse to recreate the mundane and the extraordinary in his drawings on delirium made to unexpected scales. The exhibition comes to life at The Point of Contact Gallery where the space has turned into an artist's studio. The work of the exhibit is to be produced entirely on site and directly onto the walls of the gallery in the weeks leading up to the opening. Lanzarini will also share this experiment with students from Syracuse University's Fine Arts Department who will join in the creative process.

Lanzarini's work balances extremes of scale, crafting an extensive abstract image from precise, miniscule characters, whose everyday activities serve as a window into a miniature world, frozen in time. These drawings sarcastically explore the two major paradigms in figurative art of the 20th century: Social and Fantastic Realism

The exhibit will last through the summer and then Lanzarini returns to Point of Contact to perform an "erasure" of the work on September 4. The book catalogue documenting the entire project will be presented at the close.

Two: Recent Works by Frederick Bartolovic and Chris McEvoy, and Emerging: Recent Works by Lacey Mckinney
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

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

Arena Art Group Exhibit
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

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

Fun, wild, and experimental artwork by Rochester's Arena Art Group.

A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women's study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse. The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women's access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.

Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year's president.

Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott, and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club's first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley, and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.

The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents.

Faces: Inspiration from Within -- Works by Erin Boyle
Westcott Community Center

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

Cutting away from traditional portraiture, Erin creates edgy images that offer more expressive descriptions.

The Nature of Being
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Works based on nature and the figure by John Fitzsimmons (oil paintings) and Patrice Fitzsimmons (ceramic sculpture).

Read a review!

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.

Works of Karen Thomas-Lillie, Madeline Silber, and Jeremy Randall
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

American Change: From Slavery to the Presidency
Museum of Young Art

Price: Suggested donation: $4 adults, $3 students
Museum of Young Art
110 W. Fayette St., One Lincoln Center, Syracuse

If you could become an inspirational historical figure, who would you choose? How would becoming that person, even for a few moments, affect you?

In this show, students take on the personae of inspirational historical and current figures to truly immerse themselves in history.

The project, "American Change: from Slavery to the Presidency," features written, spoken and photographic illustrations of key figures and events in US history created by 4th grade students at Van Duyn Elementary. The work was inspired by and created in collaboration with CNY photographer Brantley Carroll.

Carroll worked with the students in a similar process to the one he used for his acclaimed project "The Whipping Post," which examined the slave trade by casting contemporary Americans in portraits of historical figures.

The partnership with Mr. Carroll is just one of the many arts-based learning projects that are happening this year at Van Duyn, which is one of six Syracuse City School District (SCSD) schools participating in the Arts in Mind initiative. Arts in Mind is a collaboration between schools, cultural organizations and funders that is working to make it easier for teachers in all SCSD schools to bring the arts into their classrooms as a way to strengthen student engagement and achievement. You can read more about Arts in Mind at www.artsinmind.net.

Exploring History with Art: The Changing View—Landscapes
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Paintings from OHA's permanent collection

Dinosaurs Had Sharp Teeth! Works of Chris Wildrick
Redhouse

Price: Free
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

For several years Chris Wildrick has been working to become a self-taught professional paleontologist. He specializes in "dinosaur aesthetics," or why we think dinosaurs looked the way we think they looked. What kinds of colors and patterns did they have? How did they move? What did they sound like? How have our conceptions of these things changed over the years?

He creates his work through interactive projects with the public, which take the form of polls, games, and creative activities. For the past several months he has worked as an artist in residence with the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), doing projects at their Museum of the Earth in Ithaca as well as the New York State Fair and local schools.

This exhibition compiles his research into colorful and complex charts and graphs, audio recordings, and sculptures. He will also be doing his interactive projects at the opening and at other points throughout the show, so anyone can join in and share in the creation of the work. Chris will try to guess your favorite dinosaur, ask you to make dinosaur sounds, and challenge you to recast famous movies using only dinosaur species in the actors' roles. Plus, try to beat the reigning champion as you name as many dinosaurs as you can in one minute!

Redhouse Art Radio will feature selections from his audio projects, including interviews with famous dinosaur illustrators, throughout the show.

This show is great for all ages: it's philosophical, experimental, and hey, it has dinosaurs.

Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

The exhibition brings together more than 80 engravings, vivid Orientalist paintings, decorative objects, and documents and letters made during General Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign of 1791-1801. While unsuccessful as a military campaign, the endeavor was extremely successful and a cultural expedition. Napoleon brought over 150 scholars with him and their investigations into the country's ancient and contemporary societies formed the foundation of modern Egyptology and were a major achievement. From the Dahesh Museum of Art.

Selections: Works by Ludwig Stein
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) will celebrate the opening of a new venue in downtown Syracuse with an inaugural exhibition by one of its most celebrated faculty artists.

The work in "Selections" spans Stein's 37 years at VPA, teaching on the SU campus as well as in London and in Florence, Italy.

"My desires for the viewer are to perceive elegance, richness, passion and rediscover sensitivity for the world around them," says Stein in his artist's statement for the exhibition. "I want my viewers to understand that each artist must find their muse and, within that finding, show love for themselves, the object of desire, the painting and the viewer. My intention as an artist-teacher is to pass this passion and knowledge on to my students, knowing full well that discovery and understanding are personal."

Stein has exhibited his work in solo and group shows in cities around the world, including Guayaquil, Ecuador; Basel, Switzerland; and London. His work is included in many permanent collections, including those of the University of London, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase. He is the recipient of grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the British Council Arts Group and the Ford Foundation, among others.

VPA will use the Hot Shop as an additional space to showcase the curriculum-related activities of its students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists.

Fiber Art
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Works include framed batik, cloth colleges, sculptural coiled basketry, quilting, tapestry, and more by artists Wilson Akuamoah-Boateng, Sharon Bottle Souva, Lauren Bristol, Barbara Conte-Gaugel, Linda Esterley, Alice Gant, Hilary Gifford, Mary Kester, and Holly Knott.

Wild Card Exhibit: Ceramics by Carles Vives
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

50/50: Works of Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Nancy Jurs juxtaposes her signature large-scale, hand-built ceramic sculptures with recent site-specific installations composed of ceramic, mixed-media and found objects. Throughout her 40-year career Jurs, a Rochester-based sculptor and ceramic artist, has produced an astounding body of work that largely addresses female power and strength. In 2003, Jurs completed the Armor Series, a grouping of six life-size armored torsos that present themselves with empowered determination. The stylized shells not only serve to protect the figures but to symbolize renewed confidence and strength in a post-9/11 world. "Undaunted" (2003), which is part of the Armor Series, was acquired by the Everson in 2004.

Also on view will be "Triad," a monumental 16-foot high sculpture composed of ceramic slabs that have been hand-built: cut, scraped, modeled, and stacked in three interacting totem-like structures. Triad will be prominently displayed in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court.

Anne Cofer: Concealed Objects
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer's interest in materials and artistic processes is evident in "Concealed Objects," a provocative new site-specific installation created for her first museum solo exhibition at the Everson. Inspired by British artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose sculpture is at once unique and fleeting, Cofer creates objects that exist for a moment and place in time and then are recycled and reused for other projects. The installation designed for the Everson is composed of skirt forms constructed of cloth and wet clay suspended from the ceiling in grid fashion. The skirts, arranged in perfect harmony within the space that contains them, appear to float in contradiction to the heavy clay that pulls them downward. Each garment is cut from a Victorian-era dress pattern (ca. 1895), combined with wet clay and modeled by hand to capture every fold of the fabric as it cascades to the floor. The repetition of form and motion recalls the monotonous tasks of domestic chores that have existed for centuries without change. Cofer assigns new meaning to the found and recycled fabrics she chooses for the garments: the bed linens, table cloths, furniture upholstery, and well-worn clothing conceal the individual histories, memories and stories untold about their previous owners.

Anne Cofer was the recipient of the Best-of-Show Award given at the 2008 Everson Biennial exhibition.

Hope in a Time of Turmoil: Colombia and the Art of Jafeth Gómez Ledesma
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Artist, activist, dreamer and teacher -- Jafeth Gómez Ledesma will exhibit his vision of Colombia at the ArtRage Gallery as part of a visit to the United States to speak, conduct workshops and celebrate art and hope.

Love & Patience
Orange Line Gallery

Price: Free
Orange Line Gallery
106 Montgomery St., Syracuse

The exhibit is a mix of traditional to abstract works, but remaining modern throughout. The show title refers not only to the content of the pieces, but also the artist's connection to their work and process. New work will be featured by previous OL artists including Alejandro Bettencourt, Amber Blanding, David McKenney, Debra Parry Trichilo, Jace Collins, Jacqueline Adamo, Laura Celuch, Melissa Tiffany and Spencer Baker.

Cinefest 2009

Price: $25 for the day
Holiday Inn
Electronics Parkway, Liverpool

9:00 am: The Desert Song (1929) with John Boles, Carlotta King, Louise Fazenda, Johnny Arthur, watch for Myrna Loy.
10:50 am: Woman (1918) directed by Maurice Tourneur with Warren Cook, Florence Billings.

Lunch Break

1:00 pm: The Wheel of Life (1929) with Richard Dix, Esther Ralston
2:10 pm: Greenbriar Picture Shorts, presented by John McElwee
3:15 pm: Next Door Neighbors (1931) with Edgar Kennedy, Pert Kelton
3:40 pm: The Dancin' Fool (1920) with Wallace Reid, Bebe Daniels
4:35 pm: The Secret Man (1958) with John Loder, Marshall Thompson

Dinner Break

8:00 pm: The Bank Swindle (1930) William J. Burns detective short
8:15 pm: Joan Crawford's Home Movies
8:45 pm: The Circle (1925) with Eleanor Boardman, Malcolm McGregor
9:45 pm: The Perfect Specimen (1937) with Errol Flynn, Joan Blondell
11:20 pm: Doctor X (1932) with Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy

FridayFLICS: Life and times of Rosie the Riveter
ArtRage Gallery

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

A compelling yet engaging documentary based on interviews with six women who worked on assembly lines during WWII in jobs usually reserved for men. An insightful look at the spark that ignited the women's liberation movement nearly three decades before its official birth. (Directed by Connie Field, 1980)

Bach Birthday Bash
May Memorial Unitarian Society

Price: Free
May Memorial Unitarian Society
3800 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Performers include the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble and organists Glen Kime and Bonnie Beth Derby. For more information, phone 315-446-8920.

Richard Shindell
Folkus Project

Price: $20
Palace Theater
2384 James St., Syracuse

Richard Shindell is a superstar of contemporary folk music. His innovative and passionate songwriting has established him as one of folk's premier performing songwriters. A master builder of vivid, emotional songs, Shindell has made a lasting contribution to the musical library of American folk. Brilliantly crafted and delivered with passion and sensitivity, they have earned him the admiration of fans and the respect of fellow artists. Shindell made his debut on the folk scene in 1992 with the release of his CD, "Sparrow's Point," which was followed by "Blue Divide," and "Reunion Hill." With each successive record, he toured relentlessly and built a solid following of loyal fans. His career got a boost in 1997 when Joan Baez recorded three of his songs ("Fishing," "Reunion Hill," and "Money for Floods") for her album "Gone from Danger" and invited him to join her 199798 tour. This opened the eyes and ears of a new segment of folk music enthusiasts to his talents as a songwriter and performer. Since then, Shindell has released three more CDs and played to sold-out shows across the country.

Shindell sings a good story. His songs are intricately drawn character studies, with finely observed details adding up to a larger picture that can be compassionate or troubling. They are not simply observations, but veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies. His songwriting is truly eclectic, ranging from lighthearted ballads and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion. Conversely, he is also capable of writing tunes that are simply clever and amusing.

Classics Series: Beethoven Piano Concerto 4
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Syracuse Children's Chorus
Daniel Hege, conductor
Featuring Markus Groh, piano

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

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4
Custer Talking to the Sun
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Read a review!

West Side Story

Price: $9 regular, $7 students/seniors
Cicero-North Syracuse High School
6002 State Route 31, Cicero

Fiddler on the Roof
Faith Heritage School

Price: $9
Faith Heritage School
3740 Midland Ave., Syracuse

Little Women: The Broadway Musical
Henninger High School

Price: $5 in advance; $7 at the door.
Henninger High School
600 Robinson St., Syracuse

Jesus Christ Superstar
Meadowbrook Harlequins

Price: $8 at the door; $7 regular advance sale; $5 students/seniors
Nottingham High School
3100 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

The Boys Next Door
Appleseed Productions
Sharee Lemos, director

Price: $15 regular; $12 students/seniors
Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse

In a communal residence in New England, four mentally handicapped men live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social worker named Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic, fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they are allotted on this earth. written by Tom Griffin.

Read a Review!

Bash
Rarely Done Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

"Atrocity is 'the new black'", says filmmaker and playwright Neil LaBute. The play is a dark vision of casual atrocity; "matter of fact brutality" as LaBute puts it, in which understandable individuals with mundane characteristics inflict pain on themselves and others in the name of prosaic goals with socially insignificant results. The work takes the form of an assemblage of three monologues themed around ordinary people who commit murder. The author reinforces the awfulness of the crimes by framing them with stories which lack a sense of redemption or catharsis. Each piece is instead a testament to the creeping horror which has enveloped the murderers (or is poised to) even as life goes on as if what they had done had never happened.

Read a Review!

Redhouse Live!
Redhouse

Price: $15 regular; $12 students/seniors
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Redhouse Live! is a high-energy improvisational comedy show similar to the hit television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? The troupe of seasoned actors will perform a series of games and scenarios based on audience suggestion and participation. Friday Night Live is the brainchild of Tim Mahar and Laura Austin, both products of Second City. The troupe includes the following wildly talented individuals: AJ LaPoint, Sara Caliva, Mike Intaglietta, Emmett Van Slyke, and the show's host Glen Gomez Adams of TK99's Gomez & Dave Morning Show.

Boy Gets Girl
Syracuse University Drama Department
Marie Kemp, director

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

Successful magazine writer Theresa is a New Yorker focused more on her career than on her personal life. Her friends persuade her to go on a blind date with Tony, a seemingly nice guy who works with computer software. After two dates, Theresa puts a halt to the dating, letting Tony politely know that it just isn't going to work. But suddenly Theresa starts getting bouquets of flowers every day at work, and her voicemail inbox is maxed out. What seemed as innocent flattery quickly escalates into a terrifying stalker situation. First produced at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Rebecca Gilman's story of a woman's worst nightmare will leave audiences thinking.

Read a Review!

Improv Comedy Night
Saltine Warrior

Price: $13 regular, $10 students/seniors (cash only)
CFAC Black Box Theater
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Saltine Warrior is an improv comedy troupe. A Saltine Warrior show is a hilarious blend of short-form games (think the best parts of the hit TV show, "Who's Line Is It, Anyway?"), with the long-form scene styles in the tradition of Second City and Upright Citizen's Brigade.

This is truly interactive, improv comedy at its best! The entire performance is totally unscripted and unrehearsed...with scenes and games based on audience suggestions and participation.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

BFA Ceramics 2009 Exhibit
Clayscapes Pottery Gallery

Clayscapes Pottery Studio
1003 W. Fayette St., Suite L1, Syracuse

Senior ceramics majors in the School of Art and Design at Syracuse University will present the exhibition "BFA Ceramics 2009," featuring the work of five seniors: Tim Brockhaus, Rebecca Hill, Crystal Lasda, Jaimie Merrell and Vanna Valdez.

Wild Card Exhibit: Ceramics by Carles Vives
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Fiber Art
Delavan Art Gallery

Delavan Art Gallery
501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Works include framed batik, cloth colleges, sculptural coiled basketry, quilting, tapestry, and more by artists Wilson Akuamoah-Boateng, Sharon Bottle Souva, Lauren Bristol, Barbara Conte-Gaugel, Linda Esterley, Alice Gant, Hilary Gifford, Mary Kester, and Holly Knott.

Artist Linda Esterley will be in attendance 12:00-3:00pm.

The Nature of Being
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Works based on nature and the figure by John Fitzsimmons (oil paintings) and Patrice Fitzsimmons (ceramic sculpture).

Read a review!

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

Anne Cofer: Concealed Objects
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer's interest in materials and artistic processes is evident in "Concealed Objects," a provocative new site-specific installation created for her first museum solo exhibition at the Everson. Inspired by British artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose sculpture is at once unique and fleeting, Cofer creates objects that exist for a moment and place in time and then are recycled and reused for other projects. The installation designed for the Everson is composed of skirt forms constructed of cloth and wet clay suspended from the ceiling in grid fashion. The skirts, arranged in perfect harmony within the space that contains them, appear to float in contradiction to the heavy clay that pulls them downward. Each garment is cut from a Victorian-era dress pattern (ca. 1895), combined with wet clay and modeled by hand to capture every fold of the fabric as it cascades to the floor. The repetition of form and motion recalls the monotonous tasks of domestic chores that have existed for centuries without change. Cofer assigns new meaning to the found and recycled fabrics she chooses for the garments: the bed linens, table cloths, furniture upholstery, and well-worn clothing conceal the individual histories, memories and stories untold about their previous owners.

Anne Cofer was the recipient of the Best-of-Show Award given at the 2008 Everson Biennial exhibition.

50/50: Works of Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Nancy Jurs juxtaposes her signature large-scale, hand-built ceramic sculptures with recent site-specific installations composed of ceramic, mixed-media and found objects. Throughout her 40-year career Jurs, a Rochester-based sculptor and ceramic artist, has produced an astounding body of work that largely addresses female power and strength. In 2003, Jurs completed the Armor Series, a grouping of six life-size armored torsos that present themselves with empowered determination. The stylized shells not only serve to protect the figures but to symbolize renewed confidence and strength in a post-9/11 world. "Undaunted" (2003), which is part of the Armor Series, was acquired by the Everson in 2004.

Also on view will be "Triad," a monumental 16-foot high sculpture composed of ceramic slabs that have been hand-built: cut, scraped, modeled, and stacked in three interacting totem-like structures. Triad will be prominently displayed in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court.

Works of Karen Thomas-Lillie, Madeline Silber, and Jeremy Randall
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

American Change: From Slavery to the Presidency
Museum of Young Art

Price: Suggested donation: $4 adults, $3 students
Museum of Young Art
110 W. Fayette St., One Lincoln Center, Syracuse

There will be an artist reception today 12:00-2:00 pm.

If you could become an inspirational historical figure, who would you choose? How would becoming that person, even for a few moments, affect you?

In this show, students take on the personae of inspirational historical and current figures to truly immerse themselves in history.

The project, "American Change: from Slavery to the Presidency," features written, spoken and photographic illustrations of key figures and events in US history created by 4th grade students at Van Duyn Elementary. The work was inspired by and created in collaboration with CNY photographer Brantley Carroll.

Carroll worked with the students in a similar process to the one he used for his acclaimed project "The Whipping Post," which examined the slave trade by casting contemporary Americans in portraits of historical figures.

The partnership with Mr. Carroll is just one of the many arts-based learning projects that are happening this year at Van Duyn, which is one of six Syracuse City School District (SCSD) schools participating in the Arts in Mind initiative. Arts in Mind is a collaboration between schools, cultural organizations and funders that is working to make it easier for teachers in all SCSD schools to bring the arts into their classrooms as a way to strengthen student engagement and achievement. You can read more about Arts in Mind at www.artsinmind.net.

Opening -- Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer, and Tamara Natalie Madden
Community Folk Art Center

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

There will be a panel discussion with the artists 2:00-4:00 pm.

Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer and Tamara Natalie Madden features works by three contemporary African American women artists who work in different media but explore issues of ethnicity, identity, history and culture in their work.

Robin Holder's works are inspired by issues of empowerment and integrity as well as the complexities of American identity: culture, gender, class, race and ethnicity. The works in her series "Behind Each Window, A Voice," were inspired by oral histories of eight of her neighbors in Brooklyn. Issues of race, social and political victimization, and ideas about society are shared by each of the subjects in their personal histories. The works are a combination of painting, collage and printmaking techniques.

Sonya Lawyer's photographic transfers combine imagery from vintage photographs with modern hand-dyed cotton fabric. The photographs were collected by the artist from vintage photo albums purchased at antique stores and through online auctions. Concerned that pieces of history were literally being torn apart and sold to the highest bidder, Lawyer was prompted to start acquiring images in order to protect them from further disturbance. Works from two series, "Searching For Beulah (limit of disturbance)" and "Finding Authenticity (does anyone remember?)" contain singular images of men and women of color juxtaposed with fabric blocks of varying hues. The works are a celebration of the persons depicted, each work revealing strength, pride, beauty and a quintessential timelessness.

Tamara Natalie Madden, in her recent series of mixed media paintings, creates images of kings,queens and warriors, using everyday people as her inspiration. Recognizing the struggles of the working class, the unseen and unheard, Madden chooses to depict them as kings and queens, as a means of expressing appreciation for their experiences, struggles and triumphs. The paintings are layered with quilted fabrics, which represent regal clothing and, symbolically, storytelling and quilts reflecting African traditions. The birds in the paintings represent a sense of freedom.

Passage: Latino Direction in CNY
Community Folk Art Center

Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Works by Alejandro Betancourt.

Exploring History with Art: The Changing View—Landscapes
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Paintings from OHA's permanent collection

Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

The exhibition brings together more than 80 engravings, vivid Orientalist paintings, decorative objects, and documents and letters made during General Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign of 1791-1801. While unsuccessful as a military campaign, the endeavor was extremely successful and a cultural expedition. Napoleon brought over 150 scholars with him and their investigations into the country's ancient and contemporary societies formed the foundation of modern Egyptology and were a major achievement. From the Dahesh Museum of Art.

Selections: Works by Ludwig Stein
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) will celebrate the opening of a new venue in downtown Syracuse with an inaugural exhibition by one of its most celebrated faculty artists.

The work in "Selections" spans Stein's 37 years at VPA, teaching on the SU campus as well as in London and in Florence, Italy.

"My desires for the viewer are to perceive elegance, richness, passion and rediscover sensitivity for the world around them," says Stein in his artist's statement for the exhibition. "I want my viewers to understand that each artist must find their muse and, within that finding, show love for themselves, the object of desire, the painting and the viewer. My intention as an artist-teacher is to pass this passion and knowledge on to my students, knowing full well that discovery and understanding are personal."

Stein has exhibited his work in solo and group shows in cities around the world, including Guayaquil, Ecuador; Basel, Switzerland; and London. His work is included in many permanent collections, including those of the University of London, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase. He is the recipient of grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the British Council Arts Group and the Ford Foundation, among others.

VPA will use the Hot Shop as an additional space to showcase the curriculum-related activities of its students, faculty, alumni and visiting artists.

Hope in a Time of Turmoil: Colombia and the Art of Jafeth Gómez Ledesma
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

Artist, activist, dreamer and teacher -- Jafeth Gómez Ledesma will exhibit his vision of Colombia at the ArtRage Gallery as part of a visit to the United States to speak, conduct workshops and celebrate art and hope.

Love & Patience
Orange Line Gallery

Price: Free
Orange Line Gallery
106 Montgomery St., Syracuse

The exhibit is a mix of traditional to abstract works, but remaining modern throughout. The show title refers not only to the content of the pieces, but also the artist's connection to their work and process. New work will be featured by previous OL artists including Alejandro Bettencourt, Amber Blanding, David McKenney, Debra Parry Trichilo, Jace Collins, Jacqueline Adamo, Laura Celuch, Melissa Tiffany and Spencer Baker.

Cinefest 2009 35mm Presentation

Price: $25
Palace Theater
2384 James St., Syracuse

Presentation includes:
Everybody's Sweetheart (1920) with Olive Thomas, William Collier Jr.
Twenty Dollars a Week (1924) with George Arliss, Ronald Coleman
A Million Bid (1927) with Dolores Costello, Warner Oland, William Demarest

Lunch Break

Beggar On Horseback (1925) with Edward Everett Horton, Betty Compson, Esther Ralston
The Shopworn Angel (1928) with Gary Cooper, Nancy Caroll, Roscoe Karns, Paul Lukas
Back Pay (1922) Directed by Frank Borzage, with Seena Owen, Matt Moore

Cinefest 2009

Price: $25
Holiday Inn
Electronics Parkway, Liverpool

4:30 pm: Rhapsody in Black and Blue (1932) with Louis Armstrong
4:40 pm: Enter Madame (1935) with Cary Grant, Elissa Landi

Dinner Break

8:00 pm: Starbright Diamond (1930) William J. Burns Detective short
8:10 pm: Weak But Willing (1929) with Billy Bevan, Dot Farley
8:35 pm: Birthday Party for Sid Grauman's Dog (1925)
8:40 pm: In the Park (1915) with Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance
8:50 pm: White Gold (1927) with Jetta Goudal, Kenneth Thomson, George Bancroft, George Nichols, Clyde Cook
10:10 pm: One More River (1934) with Diana Wynyard, Frank Lawton, Jane Wyatt, Colin Clive, Reginald Denny
11:40 pm: Paddy the Next Best Thing (1933) with Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, Walter Connolly

Bawshou & the Dragon
Bells & Motley Consort

Northern Onondaga Public Library (North Syracuse)
100 Trolley Barn Lane, North Syracuse

Celebrate Chinese New Year with traditonal Chinese theater, instruments, dance, and maskmaking.

What would you do if the Sun was captured by a powerful Dragon, and hidden in a cave, deep beneath the sea? In this traditional Chinese tale of wonder and adventure, the young boy Bawshou bravely sets out to rescue the Sun with the help of a magic golden Phoenix, to meet the Dragon's three challenges. Featuring costumes, dance, and storytelling techniques of the orient, the action and mystique of the tale are highlighted by live music on authentic Chinese traditional stringed, wind, and percussion instruments, including pipa, erhu, moon lute, gong, temple bells, drum, and guzhung (ancient Chinese zither harp).

For information and registration, phone 315-458-6184.

Celtic Thunder

Price: $55, $45, $37.50
Landmark Theatre
362 S. Salina St., Syracuse

For more information, phone 800-745-3000.

William Sides Atari Party
Spark Contemporary Art Space

Price: $5
Spark Contemporary Art Space
1005 E. Fayette St., Syracuse

With Dos Robotos, Oversaturated, Emartransformo.

Classics Series: Beethoven Piano Concerto 4
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Syracuse Children's Chorus
Daniel Hege, conductor
Featuring Markus Groh, piano

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

Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4
Custer Talking to the Sun
Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture

Read a review!

Little Red Riding Hood
Magic Circle Children's Theatre

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

Interactive version of the children's classic.

Fiddler on the Roof
Faith Heritage School

Price: $9
Faith Heritage School
3740 Midland Ave., Syracuse

West Side Story

Price: $9 regular, $7 students/seniors
Cicero-North Syracuse High School
6002 State Route 31, Cicero

West Side Story

Price: $9 regular, $7 students/seniors
Cicero-North Syracuse High School
6002 State Route 31, Cicero

Jesus Christ Superstar
Meadowbrook Harlequins

Price: $8 at the door; $7 regular advance sale; $5 students/seniors
Nottingham High School
3100 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Little Women: The Broadway Musical
Henninger High School

Price: $5 in advance; $7 at the door.
Henninger High School
600 Robinson St., Syracuse

The Boys Next Door
Appleseed Productions
Sharee Lemos, director

Price: $15 regular; $12 students/seniors
Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse

In a communal residence in New England, four mentally handicapped men live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social worker named Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic, fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they are allotted on this earth. written by Tom Griffin.

Read a Review!

Bash
Rarely Done Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

"Atrocity is 'the new black'", says filmmaker and playwright Neil LaBute. The play is a dark vision of casual atrocity; "matter of fact brutality" as LaBute puts it, in which understandable individuals with mundane characteristics inflict pain on themselves and others in the name of prosaic goals with socially insignificant results. The work takes the form of an assemblage of three monologues themed around ordinary people who commit murder. The author reinforces the awfulness of the crimes by framing them with stories which lack a sense of redemption or catharsis. Each piece is instead a testament to the creeping horror which has enveloped the murderers (or is poised to) even as life goes on as if what they had done had never happened.

Read a Review!

Boy Gets Girl
Syracuse University Drama Department
Marie Kemp, director

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

Successful magazine writer Theresa is a New Yorker focused more on her career than on her personal life. Her friends persuade her to go on a blind date with Tony, a seemingly nice guy who works with computer software. After two dates, Theresa puts a halt to the dating, letting Tony politely know that it just isn't going to work. But suddenly Theresa starts getting bouquets of flowers every day at work, and her voicemail inbox is maxed out. What seemed as innocent flattery quickly escalates into a terrifying stalker situation. First produced at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Rebecca Gilman's story of a woman's worst nightmare will leave audiences thinking.

Read a Review!

Marriage in America
Syracuse University Drama Department

Sugarpearl Cafe
600 Burnet Ave., Syracuse

Original play.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.

Exploring History with Art: The Changing View—Landscapes
Onondaga Historical Association

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Paintings from OHA's permanent collection

Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

The exhibition brings together more than 80 engravings, vivid Orientalist paintings, decorative objects, and documents and letters made during General Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign of 1791-1801. While unsuccessful as a military campaign, the endeavor was extremely successful and a cultural expedition. Napoleon brought over 150 scholars with him and their investigations into the country's ancient and contemporary societies formed the foundation of modern Egyptology and were a major achievement. From the Dahesh Museum of Art.

50/50: Works of Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Nancy Jurs juxtaposes her signature large-scale, hand-built ceramic sculptures with recent site-specific installations composed of ceramic, mixed-media and found objects. Throughout her 40-year career Jurs, a Rochester-based sculptor and ceramic artist, has produced an astounding body of work that largely addresses female power and strength. In 2003, Jurs completed the Armor Series, a grouping of six life-size armored torsos that present themselves with empowered determination. The stylized shells not only serve to protect the figures but to symbolize renewed confidence and strength in a post-9/11 world. "Undaunted" (2003), which is part of the Armor Series, was acquired by the Everson in 2004.

Also on view will be "Triad," a monumental 16-foot high sculpture composed of ceramic slabs that have been hand-built: cut, scraped, modeled, and stacked in three interacting totem-like structures. Triad will be prominently displayed in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court.

Anne Cofer: Concealed Objects
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer's interest in materials and artistic processes is evident in "Concealed Objects," a provocative new site-specific installation created for her first museum solo exhibition at the Everson. Inspired by British artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose sculpture is at once unique and fleeting, Cofer creates objects that exist for a moment and place in time and then are recycled and reused for other projects. The installation designed for the Everson is composed of skirt forms constructed of cloth and wet clay suspended from the ceiling in grid fashion. The skirts, arranged in perfect harmony within the space that contains them, appear to float in contradiction to the heavy clay that pulls them downward. Each garment is cut from a Victorian-era dress pattern (ca. 1895), combined with wet clay and modeled by hand to capture every fold of the fabric as it cascades to the floor. The repetition of form and motion recalls the monotonous tasks of domestic chores that have existed for centuries without change. Cofer assigns new meaning to the found and recycled fabrics she chooses for the garments: the bed linens, table cloths, furniture upholstery, and well-worn clothing conceal the individual histories, memories and stories untold about their previous owners.

Anne Cofer was the recipient of the Best-of-Show Award given at the 2008 Everson Biennial exhibition.

Cinefest 2009

Price: $25 for the day
Holiday Inn
Electronics Parkway, Liverpool

9:00 am: The Boys From Syracuse (1940) with Allan Jones, Irene Hervey, Martha Raye,
10:30 am: Auction hosted by Leonard Maltin and His Stooges
12:00 noon: A Tribute to Director Justin Herman:
     The Football Fan (1949) with Tom Ewell
     My Silent Love (1949) with Jane Pickens, Parker Fennelly.
     Roller Derby Girl (1949) Nominated for Oscar for best one-reel short subject.
12:30 pm: The Lady Who Dared (1931) Billie Dove, Sidney Blackmer, Conway Tearle.
1:30 pm: Gateway (1938) with Don Ameche, Arleen Whelan, Gregory Ratoff, Binnie Barnes, Gilbert Roland.
2:45 pm: Little Tokyo U.S.A. (1942) with Preston Foster, Brenda Joyce, George E. Stone.
3:50 pm: Westbound Limited (1937) with Lyle Talbot, Polly Rowles
Piano accompaniments by Philip Carli, Makia Matsumura, Donald Sosin, and Ben Model

Merry Mischief
Fayetteville Free Library

Price: Free
Fayetteville Free Library
300 Orchard St., Fayetteville

Musical Irish fun

Side by Side Concert
Syracuse Youth Orchestras
James Tapia; Muriel Bodley, conductor
Featuring Lucas Button, cello; David Raschella, horn; Rhimmon Simchy-Gross, piano

Price: $12 adults, $8 students
Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Performance by the Youth Orchestra and Youth String Orchestra with members of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and winners of SSO/Civic Morning Musicals 39th Concerto Competition

Glinka Russlan and Ludmilla Overture
Lalo Concerto for Violincello and Orchestra in D minor/Prelude: Lento - Allegro maestoso (I)
Mozart Concerto No. 1 for Horn and Orchestra in D Major/Allegro (I)
Rachmaninoff Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in C minor, Op. 18/Moderato (I)
Copland Outdoor Overture
Daugherty Route 66
Arr. Custer Sweet Georgia Brown from "Dixiland Parade"

Women's Work
Society for New Music

Price: $15 regular; $12 students/seniors
Hosmer Auditorium, Everson Museum
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Concert presented in collaboration with Eastman School of Music's Women in Music Festival 2008.

Guest composer Judith Lang Zaimont's Life Cycle, 1994-2008, featuring the University of Rochester Women's Choir, Susan Conkling, director; plus Judith Cloud's Neruda Settings, performed by soprano Eileen Strempel and pianist Sylvie Beaudette, for whom these settings were written.

Program of Celtic Music

Price: Donation of canned goods
First Presbyterian Church of Baldwinsville
64 Oswego St., Baldwinsville

For more information, phone 315-635-9964.

Rising Star Organ Recital
Malmgren Concert Series
Featuring Aaron Tan, Organ

Price: Free
Hendricks Chapel
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Aaron Tan, 22, is a passionate engineer, pianist, violinist, and organist. In 2004, he began his organ studies with John Tuttle. In 2007 he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is currently under the tutelage of Marilyn Mason. This past year, he placed second in both the Royal Canadian College of Organists National Organ Competition and the Arthur Poister Competition. Aaron, who has given concerts in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, is currently Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti, MI, and is pursuing a doctoral degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. His program will include works of Bach, Widor, Dupré and Messiaen.

Organ Recital
May Memorial Unitarian Society
Featuring Glenn Kime, organ

Price: Free
May Memorial Unitarian Society
3800 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Recital will include works by Vivaldi, Bach, Bolcom, and Vierne.

Requiem and Magnificat
MasterWorks Chorale
Daniel Larson, Maureen McCauley, conductor
Featuring Melissa Howe

Price: $15 regular, $12 students/seniors
First English Lutheran Church
Corner of James and Townsend Streets, Syracuse

New works by John Rutter.

New Short Plays from the SU New Playwrights Festival
Armory Square Playwrights

Price: $7 regular, $5 students/seniors
Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Armory Square Playhouse will present the 4th annual full production of two new short plays selected from the SU Drama Department's New Playwrights Festival of Student Plays. The plays are Post Comment by Carly Augenstein and ...Or Forever Hold Your Peace by Danielle von Gal.

In Post Comment, written by Carly Augenstein, those familiar with YouTube will recognize PrincessKara89. Age: 19. Real name: Stephanie Savinsky. Style: Singer-songwriter. Currently the #22 Most Subscribed YouTube star of all time. She sings, she dances, and she posts her performances in hopes of becoming the next big YouTube celebrity. She is also blissfully unaware of her lack of talent. Alex and Matt, a couple in the throws of youthful boredom, discover her videos. After a vicious comment leaves Kara confused and hurt, their lives unexpectedly connect. The performance will be directed by Tony Cavallo.

...Or Forever Hold Your Peace, written by Danille von Gal, explores the construct of family. When Katherine decides to marry her college sweetheart, her mother, stepmother, mother-in-law, and estranged sister all get involved. Chaos ensues. Tim Davis-Reed will direct.

Carly Augenstein is a sophomore Musical Theatre major at SU and is currently playing the role of Harriet in SU Drama's Boy Gets Girl. Danielle von Gal is a senior acting major at Syracuse University from Miami. She is currently studying at the Tepper Semester in New York City. Previously, with SU Drama, she appeared as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Evelyn in The Rimers of Eldritch, as well as several performances with Black Box Players. Her original play, Sugarglass won the 2008 New Playwright's Festival. Danielle is a 2008-2009 VPA Scholar.

The plays are presentations of a works in progress and talkback sessions with the playwrights will follow each performance.

The Boys Next Door
Appleseed Productions
Sharee Lemos, director

Price: $15 regular; $12 students/seniors
Atonement Lutheran Church
116 W. Glen Ave., Syracuse

In a communal residence in New England, four mentally handicapped men live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social worker named Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year-old but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a brilliant schizophrenic, fantasizes that he is a golf pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they are allotted on this earth. written by Tom Griffin.

Read a Review!

Boy Gets Girl
Syracuse University Drama Department
Marie Kemp, director

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

Successful magazine writer Theresa is a New Yorker focused more on her career than on her personal life. Her friends persuade her to go on a blind date with Tony, a seemingly nice guy who works with computer software. After two dates, Theresa puts a halt to the dating, letting Tony politely know that it just isn't going to work. But suddenly Theresa starts getting bouquets of flowers every day at work, and her voicemail inbox is maxed out. What seemed as innocent flattery quickly escalates into a terrifying stalker situation. First produced at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Rebecca Gilman's story of a woman's worst nightmare will leave audiences thinking.

Read a Review!

Jesus Christ Superstar
Meadowbrook Harlequins

Price: $8 at the door; $7 regular advance sale; $5 students/seniors
Nottingham High School
3100 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Monday, March 23, 2009

Gallery Exhibition: Works of Milton Glaser
Onondaga Community College

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

To many, Milton Glaser is the embodiment of American graphic design during the latter half of this century. His presence and impact on the profession internationally is formidable. Immensely creative and articulate, he is a modern renaissance man -- one of a rare breed of intellectual designer-illustrators, who brings a depth of understanding and conceptual thinking, combined with a diverse richness of visual language, to his highly inventive and individualistic work.

The Gallery as Studio: Drawings on Delirium
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A world-renowned Uruguayan artist, Ricardo Lanzarini comes from Montevideo to Syracuse to recreate the mundane and the extraordinary in his drawings on delirium made to unexpected scales. The exhibition comes to life at The Point of Contact Gallery where the space has turned into an artist's studio. The work of the exhibit is to be produced entirely on site and directly onto the walls of the gallery in the weeks leading up to the opening. Lanzarini will also share this experiment with students from Syracuse University's Fine Arts Department who will join in the creative process.

Lanzarini's work balances extremes of scale, crafting an extensive abstract image from precise, miniscule characters, whose everyday activities serve as a window into a miniature world, frozen in time. These drawings sarcastically explore the two major paradigms in figurative art of the 20th century: Social and Fantastic Realism

The exhibit will last through the summer and then Lanzarini returns to Point of Contact to perform an "erasure" of the work on September 4. The book catalogue documenting the entire project will be presented at the close.

Arena Art Group Exhibit
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

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

Fun, wild, and experimental artwork by Rochester's Arena Art Group.

A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women's study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse. The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women's access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.

Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year's president.

Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott, and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club's first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley, and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.

The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents.

Faces: Inspiration from Within -- Works by Erin Boyle
Westcott Community Center

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

Cutting away from traditional portraiture, Erin creates edgy images that offer more expressive descriptions.

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.

Works of Karen Thomas-Lillie, Madeline Silber, and Jeremy Randall
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

Festival Pre-Screening
Syracuse International Film Festival

Price: Free
Sugarpearl Cafe
600 Burnet Ave., Syracuse

International short films.

((audience)): A Curatorial Presentation
Redhouse
Featuring Alexis Bhagat

Former Redhouse Theater
219 S. West St., Syracuse

Redhouse will present ((audience)), a nomadic sound art festival organized by Lauren Rosati and Alexis Bhagat. In 2009 and through 2010, ((audience)) will present surround sound compositions by nine sound artists in pitch black movie theaters around the world. This convocation begins with a brief explanation of the impetus behind ((audience)) and a preemptive lecture addressing the question "Why movie theaters?" with a counter-question: "Why art galleries?"

The history of sound art in the gallery space and the history of concert hall architecture will be briefly discussed, followed by a presentation of works selected for ((audience09)).

Participants are invited to bring along samples of film soundtracks or of cinematic sound art compositions to share for the Listening Lounge.

Turtle Island String Quartet

Price: $18 adults; $12 students
Fayetteville-Manlius High School
8201 E. Seneca Tpke., Manlius

The Grammy Award winning Turtle Island Quartet endeavors to strike a balance with the emotional immediacy associated with jazz and the brilliant conceptualization associated with classical music. The program will feature the Turtle Island's arrangements of pieces by composers such as Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Dave Brubeck, Thelonius Monk, Pat Metheny, J.S. Bach, Chick Corea, Antonio Vivaldi, Egberto Gismonti, Ludwig van Beethoven, Paquito D'Rivera, Maurice Ravel, Peter Tchaikovsky, and Frank Zappa. It will also feature their own compositions which integrate jazz, western classical, fiddle styles, rock, rhythm & blues, world beat, Afro-Cuban, and Indian classical music.

For more information, phone 315-692-1916, or email cmendez@fmschools.org.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

BFA Ceramics 2009 Exhibit
Clayscapes Pottery Gallery

Clayscapes Pottery Studio
1003 W. Fayette St., Suite L1, Syracuse

Senior ceramics majors in the School of Art and Design at Syracuse University will present the exhibition "BFA Ceramics 2009," featuring the work of five seniors: Tim Brockhaus, Rebecca Hill, Crystal Lasda, Jaimie Merrell and Vanna Valdez.

Gallery Exhibition: Works of Milton Glaser
Onondaga Community College

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

To many, Milton Glaser is the embodiment of American graphic design during the latter half of this century. His presence and impact on the profession internationally is formidable. Immensely creative and articulate, he is a modern renaissance man -- one of a rare breed of intellectual designer-illustrators, who brings a depth of understanding and conceptual thinking, combined with a diverse richness of visual language, to his highly inventive and individualistic work.

The Gallery as Studio: Drawings on Delirium
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A world-renowned Uruguayan artist, Ricardo Lanzarini comes from Montevideo to Syracuse to recreate the mundane and the extraordinary in his drawings on delirium made to unexpected scales. The exhibition comes to life at The Point of Contact Gallery where the space has turned into an artist's studio. The work of the exhibit is to be produced entirely on site and directly onto the walls of the gallery in the weeks leading up to the opening. Lanzarini will also share this experiment with students from Syracuse University's Fine Arts Department who will join in the creative process.

Lanzarini's work balances extremes of scale, crafting an extensive abstract image from precise, miniscule characters, whose everyday activities serve as a window into a miniature world, frozen in time. These drawings sarcastically explore the two major paradigms in figurative art of the 20th century: Social and Fantastic Realism

The exhibit will last through the summer and then Lanzarini returns to Point of Contact to perform an "erasure" of the work on September 4. The book catalogue documenting the entire project will be presented at the close.

Two: Recent Works by Frederick Bartolovic and Chris McEvoy, and Emerging: Recent Works by Lacey Mckinney
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

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

Arena Art Group Exhibit
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

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

Fun, wild, and experimental artwork by Rochester's Arena Art Group.

A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women's study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse. The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women's access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.

Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year's president.

Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott, and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club's first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley, and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.

The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents.

Faces: Inspiration from Within -- Works by Erin Boyle
Westcott Community Center

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

Cutting away from traditional portraiture, Erin creates edgy images that offer more expressive descriptions.

The Nature of Being
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Works based on nature and the figure by John Fitzsimmons (oil paintings) and Patrice Fitzsimmons (ceramic sculpture).

Read a review!

Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer, and Tamara Natalie Madden
Community Folk Art Center

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

Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer and Tamara Natalie Madden features works by three contemporary African American women artists who work in different media but explore issues of ethnicity, identity, history and culture in their work.

Robin Holder's works are inspired by issues of empowerment and integrity as well as the complexities of American identity: culture, gender, class, race and ethnicity. The works in her series "Behind Each Window, A Voice," were inspired by oral histories of eight of her neighbors in Brooklyn. Issues of race, social and political victimization, and ideas about society are shared by each of the subjects in their personal histories. The works are a combination of painting, collage and printmaking techniques.

Sonya Lawyer's photographic transfers combine imagery from vintage photographs with modern hand-dyed cotton fabric. The photographs were collected by the artist from vintage photo albums purchased at antique stores and through online auctions. Concerned that pieces of history were literally being torn apart and sold to the highest bidder, Lawyer was prompted to start acquiring images in order to protect them from further disturbance. Works from two series, "Searching For Beulah (limit of disturbance)" and "Finding Authenticity (does anyone remember?)" contain singular images of men and women of color juxtaposed with fabric blocks of varying hues. The works are a celebration of the persons depicted, each work revealing strength, pride, beauty and a quintessential timelessness.

Tamara Natalie Madden, in her recent series of mixed media paintings, creates images of kings,queens and warriors, using everyday people as her inspiration. Recognizing the struggles of the working class, the unseen and unheard, Madden chooses to depict them as kings and queens, as a means of expressing appreciation for their experiences, struggles and triumphs. The paintings are layered with quilted fabrics, which represent regal clothing and, symbolically, storytelling and quilts reflecting African traditions. The birds in the paintings represent a sense of freedom.

Passage: Latino Direction in CNY
Community Folk Art Center

Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Works by Alejandro Betancourt.

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.

Works of Karen Thomas-Lillie, Madeline Silber, and Jeremy Randall
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

American Change: From Slavery to the Presidency
Museum of Young Art

Price: Suggested donation: $4 adults, $3 students
Museum of Young Art
110 W. Fayette St., One Lincoln Center, Syracuse

If you could become an inspirational historical figure, who would you choose? How would becoming that person, even for a few moments, affect you?

In this show, students take on the personae of inspirational historical and current figures to truly immerse themselves in history.

The project, "American Change: from Slavery to the Presidency," features written, spoken and photographic illustrations of key figures and events in US history created by 4th grade students at Van Duyn Elementary. The work was inspired by and created in collaboration with CNY photographer Brantley Carroll.

Carroll worked with the students in a similar process to the one he used for his acclaimed project "The Whipping Post," which examined the slave trade by casting contemporary Americans in portraits of historical figures.

The partnership with Mr. Carroll is just one of the many arts-based learning projects that are happening this year at Van Duyn, which is one of six Syracuse City School District (SCSD) schools participating in the Arts in Mind initiative. Arts in Mind is a collaboration between schools, cultural organizations and funders that is working to make it easier for teachers in all SCSD schools to bring the arts into their classrooms as a way to strengthen student engagement and achievement. You can read more about Arts in Mind at www.artsinmind.net.

Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
Syracuse University Art Museum

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

The exhibition brings together more than 80 engravings, vivid Orientalist paintings, decorative objects, and documents and letters made during General Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian Campaign of 1791-1801. While unsuccessful as a military campaign, the endeavor was extremely successful and a cultural expedition. Napoleon brought over 150 scholars with him and their investigations into the country's ancient and contemporary societies formed the foundation of modern Egyptology and were a major achievement. From the Dahesh Museum of Art.

Anne Cofer: Concealed Objects
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Anne Cofer's interest in materials and artistic processes is evident in "Concealed Objects," a provocative new site-specific installation created for her first museum solo exhibition at the Everson. Inspired by British artists such as Cornelia Parker and Rachel Whiteread, whose sculpture is at once unique and fleeting, Cofer creates objects that exist for a moment and place in time and then are recycled and reused for other projects. The installation designed for the Everson is composed of skirt forms constructed of cloth and wet clay suspended from the ceiling in grid fashion. The skirts, arranged in perfect harmony within the space that contains them, appear to float in contradiction to the heavy clay that pulls them downward. Each garment is cut from a Victorian-era dress pattern (ca. 1895), combined with wet clay and modeled by hand to capture every fold of the fabric as it cascades to the floor. The repetition of form and motion recalls the monotonous tasks of domestic chores that have existed for centuries without change. Cofer assigns new meaning to the found and recycled fabrics she chooses for the garments: the bed linens, table cloths, furniture upholstery, and well-worn clothing conceal the individual histories, memories and stories untold about their previous owners.

Anne Cofer was the recipient of the Best-of-Show Award given at the 2008 Everson Biennial exhibition.

50/50: Works of Nancy Jurs
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

Nancy Jurs juxtaposes her signature large-scale, hand-built ceramic sculptures with recent site-specific installations composed of ceramic, mixed-media and found objects. Throughout her 40-year career Jurs, a Rochester-based sculptor and ceramic artist, has produced an astounding body of work that largely addresses female power and strength. In 2003, Jurs completed the Armor Series, a grouping of six life-size armored torsos that present themselves with empowered determination. The stylized shells not only serve to protect the figures but to symbolize renewed confidence and strength in a post-9/11 world. "Undaunted" (2003), which is part of the Armor Series, was acquired by the Everson in 2004.

Also on view will be "Triad," a monumental 16-foot high sculpture composed of ceramic slabs that have been hand-built: cut, scraped, modeled, and stacked in three interacting totem-like structures. Triad will be prominently displayed in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court.

Adventure in Deep Sea Exploration: Living the Dream
University Lectures
Featuring Robert Ballard, oceanographer, photographer and deep-sea explorer

Price: Free
Hendricks Chapel
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Among the most accomplished and well known of the world's deep-sea explorers, Ballard is best known for his historic discovery of the RMS Titanic. During his long career, he has conducted more than 100 deep-sea expeditions using the latest in exploration technology. Ballard has also pioneered distant learning in the classrooms of America and around the world with his JASON Project, an award-winning educational program. His books on his discovery of the Titanic and the Bismarck were both #1 bestsellers on The New York Times and London Times lists, and his recent "Return to Titanic" special on the National Geographic Channel was the highest-rated show in the network's history.

Adapt or Die: The Future of Journalism
University Neighbors Lecture Series
Featuring Fred Fiske

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

Fred Fiske has been at The Post-Standard since 1979, working as editorial page editor and is now senior writer. He was president of the National Conference of Editorial Writers in 2001 and served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2002 and 2003. Fred grew up as a "foreign service brat" and lived in Europe, Asia, and Africa. He graduated from both Harvard and Columbia. He is active in the Thursday Morning Roundtable, the Onondaga Citizens League, Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse, and the Vera House Foundation. He taught reporting and writing over a 10-year period at SU's Newhouse School.

Kabir Singers
Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences

Stolkin Auditorium, Physics Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Kabir was a great mystical poet of 15th-century North India. Difficult to categorize by any one religious label, Kabir has been revered by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, secularists, atheists, and sectarian worshippers alike. Still a popular figure in contemporary times, his poetry and influence appear in various social, religious, and political locations, as well as through vibrantly diverse musical genres.

Renown folksinger, Prahlad Singh Tipanya, along with his group of musicians from the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, will perform a program of Kabir songs. In March 2008, Tipanya was honored by the illustrious Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Professor Linda Hess from Stanford University, a foremost Kabir scholar and translator, who has traveled extensively with the musicians, will introduce the event.

The Drowsy Chaperone
Broadway in Syracuse

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

Get ready to be transported to a magical, wonderful world where the critics are in awe, the audiences are in heaven and the neighborhood is buzzing with excitement. Welcome to The Drowsy Chaperone, the new musical comedy that is swooping into town with tons of laughs and the most 2006 Tony Awards of any musical on Broadway! It all begins when a die-hard musical fan plays his favorite cast album, a 1928 smash hit called The Drowsy Chaperone, and the show magically bursts to life. We are instantly immersed in the glamorous, hilarious tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day, complete with thrills and surprises that take both the cast (literally) and the audience (metaphorically) soaring into the rafters.

Read a review!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

BFA Ceramics 2009 Exhibit
Clayscapes Pottery Gallery

Clayscapes Pottery Studio
1003 W. Fayette St., Suite L1, Syracuse

Senior ceramics majors in the School of Art and Design at Syracuse University will present the exhibition "BFA Ceramics 2009," featuring the work of five seniors: Tim Brockhaus, Rebecca Hill, Crystal Lasda, Jaimie Merrell and Vanna Valdez.

Gallery Exhibition: Works of Milton Glaser
Onondaga Community College

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

To many, Milton Glaser is the embodiment of American graphic design during the latter half of this century. His presence and impact on the profession internationally is formidable. Immensely creative and articulate, he is a modern renaissance man -- one of a rare breed of intellectual designer-illustrators, who brings a depth of understanding and conceptual thinking, combined with a diverse richness of visual language, to his highly inventive and individualistic work.

The Gallery as Studio: Drawings on Delirium
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A world-renowned Uruguayan artist, Ricardo Lanzarini comes from Montevideo to Syracuse to recreate the mundane and the extraordinary in his drawings on delirium made to unexpected scales. The exhibition comes to life at The Point of Contact Gallery where the space has turned into an artist's studio. The work of the exhibit is to be produced entirely on site and directly onto the walls of the gallery in the weeks leading up to the opening. Lanzarini will also share this experiment with students from Syracuse University's Fine Arts Department who will join in the creative process.

Lanzarini's work balances extremes of scale, crafting an extensive abstract image from precise, miniscule characters, whose everyday activities serve as a window into a miniature world, frozen in time. These drawings sarcastically explore the two major paradigms in figurative art of the 20th century: Social and Fantastic Realism

The exhibit will last through the summer and then Lanzarini returns to Point of Contact to perform an "erasure" of the work on September 4. The book catalogue documenting the entire project will be presented at the close.

Two: Recent Works by Frederick Bartolovic and Chris McEvoy, and Emerging: Recent Works by Lacey Mckinney
SUNY Oswego Metro Center at the Atrium

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

Arena Art Group Exhibit
Syracuse Technology Garden Gallery

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

Fun, wild, and experimental artwork by Rochester's Arena Art Group.

A Goodly Heritage of Study: The Portfolio Club of Syracuse
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

Displayed are the archives of a still-thriving women's study club that was formed in 1875 in Syracuse. The Portfolio Club exemplifies a post-Civil War movement in which many thousands of middle-class women came together to educate themselves in a society that restricted women's access to institutions of higher learning. This club began a few weeks after the Association for the Advancement of Women held a congress at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. At these congresses, which took place in many American cities, Julia Ward Howe and other presenters encouraged women to form study clubs for self-culture.

Nine young women founded the Portfolio Club, with guidance from Mary Dana Hicks, their art teacher. Though they began with a focus on art, in the middle 1880s they expanded their scope to include literature, current events, history, performing arts and many other subjects. Members have always met regularly from October through April to read their papers on a topic assigned by each year's president.

Syracuse residents and those long associated with SU will recognize the married names of many past club members, such as Mrs. Donald Dey, Mrs. William Nottingham, Mrs. E.N. Westcott, and Mrs. Mildred Eggers. Among Portfolio guest speakers during the club's first several decades were Judge Charles Andrews, Dean George Fiske Comfort, Howard Lyman, professors Sawyer Falk and Irene Sargent, Paul Paine, Douglas Petit, Katherine Sibley, and SU Chancellor Charles Sims.

The exhibition, which emphasizes the years 1875-1950, includes annual program booklets, many of them finely crafted. Also on display are meeting minutes, clippings, photographs, film footage of a 1935 gathering and other club documents.

Faces: Inspiration from Within -- Works by Erin Boyle
Westcott Community Center

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

Cutting away from traditional portraiture, Erin creates edgy images that offer more expressive descriptions.

The Nature of Being
Edgewood Gallery

Price: Free
Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Works based on nature and the figure by John Fitzsimmons (oil paintings) and Patrice Fitzsimmons (ceramic sculpture).

Read a review!

Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer, and Tamara Natalie Madden
Community Folk Art Center

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

Three Sisters: The Art of Robin Holder, Sonya A. Lawyer and Tamara Natalie Madden features works by three contemporary African American women artists who work in different media but explore issues of ethnicity, identity, history and culture in their work.

Robin Holder's works are inspired by issues of empowerment and integrity as well as the complexities of American identity: culture, gender, class, race and ethnicity. The works in her series "Behind Each Window, A Voice," were inspired by oral histories of eight of her neighbors in Brooklyn. Issues of race, social and political victimization, and ideas about society are shared by each of the subjects in their personal histories. The works are a combination of painting, collage and printmaking techniques.

Sonya Lawyer's photographic transfers combine imagery from vintage photographs with modern hand-dyed cotton fabric. The photographs were collected by the artist from vintage photo albums purchased at antique stores and through online auctions. Concerned that pieces of history were literally being torn apart and sold to the highest bidder, Lawyer was prompted to start acquiring images in order to protect them from further disturbance. Works from two series, "Searching For Beulah (limit of disturbance)" and "Finding Authenticity (does anyone remember?)" contain singular images of men and women of color juxtaposed with fabric blocks of varying hues. The works are a celebration of the persons depicted, each work revealing strength, pride, beauty and a quintessential timelessness.

Tamara Natalie Madden, in her recent series of mixed media paintings, creates images of kings,queens and warriors, using everyday people as her inspiration. Recognizing the struggles of the working class, the unseen and unheard, Madden chooses to depict them as kings and queens, as a means of expressing appreciation for their experiences, struggles and triumphs. The paintings are layered with quilted fabrics, which represent regal clothing and, symbolically, storytelling and quilts reflecting African traditions. The birds in the paintings represent a sense of freedom.

Passage: Latino Direction in CNY
Community Folk Art Center

Community Folk Art Center
805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

Works by Alejandro Betancourt.

Observations East and West: Artists' Views of the Historic Erie Canal
Erie Canal Museum
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts

Price: Free
Erie Canal Museum
318 Erie Blvd. E., Syracuse

The exhibition will feature student work from professor Sarah McCoubrey's fall 2008 landscape painting class and will be matted, framed and installed by students in the Museum Studies program. The subject of the works is an exploration of the changing environment as impacted by the Erie Canal. To accomplish this, the class met weekly at a variety of locations along the Erie Canal including the more rural areas, through the suburbs, into the city, and at the Erie Canal Museum.

The choice of these sites represents more than 200 years of transition in the surrounding Syracuse community and illustrates the change in the living environment as the community evolved from a casual based transportation center into a major modern metropolitan city.

As It Happens: Artists-in-Residence at Light Work
Light Work Gallery

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

Josh Brilliant curates a selection of images by recent Light Work Artists-in-Residence, including Amy Stein, Kelli Connell, Cristina Fraire, Krista Steinke, and Christine Osinski. Brilliant is currently an MFA candidate in the Museum Studies program at Syracuse University.

Limbo: Works of Admas Habteslasie
Light Work Gallery

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

"Limbo" depicts a graceful yet unusually honest and insightful snapshot of Eritrea, an East African country suspended in an unsettled state between war and peace.

Eritrea warred with neighboring Ethiopia for 30 years before gaining independence in 1991. Then, in 1998, they entered another war with Ethiopia that lasted two years. Today, the war-torn country is yet again at the brink of war with their neighbor. Years of unrest have left the people of Eritrea waiting for life to improve. According to Habteslasie: "Transitory states become permanent; empty villas, destroyed old buildings and unfinished new buildings dot the landscape, monuments to the suspension of history. The collision between Eritrea's proud historical narrative and the bleak ennui of the present has produced an obsessive focus on the future. Reconstruction and infrastructure development are energetically driven forward whilst the economy remains essentially shut off from the outside world." The images in "Limbo" capture both destruction and construction, both the unhealed wounds of war and a fierce optimism and hope for a brighter future.

Habteslasie was born in Kuwait, and his parents are Eritrean. He received his master's degree from the London College of Communication in photojournalism and documentary photography. His photographic projects look at the ideas of identity, history, and the re-evaluation of our relationship with historical process. His work has been exhibited at venues such as Flowers East and 198 Gallery in London. His work has also been published in Source Magazine.