Thursday, October 28, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Silk: Photographs by Courtney Rile
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Bea Nettles Exhibit
Onondaga Community College

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

These photographic composites deal with the poetic impact of certain landscapes and aspects of classical architecture and art history on the life of Bea Nettles, and how these influences continue to remain in memory, resurfacing at unexpected moments. The photographs are autobiographical. They represent her effort to clarify, to find meaning and significance in daily existence. Often epiphanies often occur while traveling. Bea is particularly interested in recording a sense of place and the selective, multi-layered nature of memory.

Read a review!

The Silent Scream: Conflict in Novels Without Words
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library has always had a keen interest in all forms of book illustration, and not surprisingly, novels without words became a significant collecting area. Over time, we have amassed a considerable number of the classic specimens in the genre, and the main practitioners of the art form are well represented within our holdings. We developed this exhibition in keeping with the Syracuse Symposium theme for the coming year, "conflict." The artists upon whom we focused are William Gropper, Laurence Hyde, Frans Masereel, Giacomo Patri, John Vassos, and Lynd Ward.

In addition to conflict, novels without words often portray a quest on the part of the individual. This may assume the form of a journey or a saga about the search for self-fulfillment in artistic or purely personal terms, or the quest may have as its primary objective achieving social justice in a particular context. Because of the historical period in which many of these wordless novels were born, they often depict a struggle between the individual and the industrialized world. Industrialization and, by extension, capitalism, may be seen as forces that are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the individual and of society in general. Similarly, the law, the police, and the armed forces may all be viewed as instruments of repression in novels without words.

The creators of novels without words also tend to scrutinize the brutal forms of war and tyranny that are made possible by industrialization. In truth, any injustice may become the subject of such works, and perhaps just the cruel nature of our existential struggle to survive in an inherently hostile environment is all the background that is needed to provide the inspiration for the creation of a novel without words.

Honoring The Masters: Works of Ann Milner and Phil DeMocker
Westcott Community Art Gallery

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

"Honoring the Masters," featuring Ann Milner's oriental brush painting and Phil DeMocker's origami, is a tribute to artists of the past setting the standards for today's active artists and gallery goers. Highlighted will be "masters" from noted dynasties. The "Mustard Seed Garden Manual, first published in the mid-1600s, will be the reference for some techniques in both learning and creating pieces of Oriental brush painting. Reproductions of work from ancient and more recent masters will show the background and heritage next to current representations of classical subjects and composition.

Origami pieces will represent Phil's favorite designer/folders and will be labeled to explain why he has chosen those artists.

As with most art, copying the work of an established artist is considered distasteful and cheap. While the art of the Orient to copy a master is considered one highest forms of art. Ann Milner is painting in the Sumie style from the Mustard Seed Manual, a comprehensive work of style, structure and form. Phil DeMocker is working from the works of both past and present masters of origami.

Expressions in Paint
Edgewood Gallery

Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Nikolay Mikushkin: impressionistic traditional landscape and floral oil paintings on canvas
Bobbi Lamb: ceramics finished in a painterly fashion

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Dogs in Transition: Pit Bulls and Mill Dogs
Community Folk Art Center

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

Cyrus Mejia's art focuses on activism and reflects the ideals of kindness and compassion while shining a light on "speciesism, ignorance and cruelty." Mejia is also co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals near the town of Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is especially known for rehabilitating 22 of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

"Pits and Perception" is the first series on view, which portrays pit bulls in a manner that challenges modern-day perceptions of the breed. With increased attention toward dog fighting in the media, many view the pit bull as a vicious and aggressive dog. Through his paintings, Mejia challenges these beliefs by forcing the observer to take a closer look and question public perception.

The second collection, "Mill Dogs Revenge," features dogs rescued from commercial breeding facilities, colloquially known as "puppy mills." Victims of physical abuse, emotional trauma and neglect, these dogs are often subjected to cruel conditions because of human greed for profit. Mejia hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills through his art.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Emerging Women of CNY #1
Redhouse

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

Artwork by Taye Wright-hirry, Maria Janina Rizzo, Alexandara Crosby, and Kristie Hayes.

Read a review!

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

Unique: Objects Created by Artists with Disabilities
Szozda Gallery

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

Longtime Delavan Center manager Caroline Szozda celebrates the opening of her new gallery with this exhibit of work from the 10th anniversary of Unique, a magazine produced by ARISE showcasing work by artists with disabilities.

A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape
Gandee Gallery

Price: Free
Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

"A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape" is a different kind of landscape exhibition. The show features painting, photography, and mixed-media art by Central New York artists that explores the interaction between the local landscape and human activity.

Exhibiting artists include Steven Barbash, Rayburn Beale, Willson Cummer, Brenda Edwards, Bob Gates, Nancy Kramer, Jared Landberg, Sarah McCoubrey, Diane Menzies, Phil Parsons, and Lucie Wellner.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

The Original Art of the Funny Papers
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

"The Original Art of the Funny Papers," a collection of famous syndicated cartoons, spans the history of the American comic strip. It features 32 original strips from the SU Library's Special Collections Research Center, including Archie, Beetle Bailey, Prince Valiant, Mutt and Jeff, Blondie, Krazy Kat, Moon Mullins, and Hazel. It also includes more than 20 originals on special loan from SU alumni Brad Anderson (Marmaduke), Greg Walker (Beetle Bailey), and Robb Armstrong (Jump Start).

For more information about the exhibition, call 315-442-2542 during gallery hours, or e-mail jmthom01@syr.edu.

Works of Cui Fei
The Warehouse Gallery

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

Born in Jinan, China, Cui received her BFA degree in painting from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China (now China National Academy of Fine Arts) in 1993, and her MFA degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Nature is a recurring theme in Cui's work; an artist mainly known for her abstract Chinese calligraphy and related installations using twigs or thorns. For this exhibit, she will create works on paper using thorns and an installation consisting of salt, as a reference to Syracuse's history. Her work comments on the central role of nature, her Chinese origins, and current practices in the West. The vault will display a healing piece using sand referring to the tradition of sand paintings by Native Americans, Tibetan monks, Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Latin Americans. Though widely exhibited, this is Cui's first solo museum exhibition.

Read a review!

Closing Reception: 15th Ward: Memories of a Syracuse Neighborhood Transformed
Community Folk Art Center

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

"15th Ward: Memories of a Syracuse Neighborhood Transformed" examines the historically black and Jewish section of Syracuse that was razed in the mid-20th century under the auspices of urban renewal. The exhibition includes photographs, some by former 15th Ward residents, along with maps and other information relating to this once vibrant neighborhood.

The companion documentary, "Urban Removal: The Story of Syracuse's 15th Ward" by Tari Wariebi, contains interviews and accounts by former residents of the neighborhood and how its destruction affected their lives.

The exhibition is presented by the Museum Studies department and the Public Memories Project in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Bill Viola: Two Women, 2008
Urban Video Project

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

Video projection installation on exterior wall.

"Two Women" is part of an extended body of Bill Viola's work titled the Transfigurations series. Inspired by his interest in the Buddhist idea of death as a passage to rebirth, Viola has filmed actors drenched in water and consumed by fire. In Viola's slow-motion world, the viewer senses not only the destructive and violent power of the elements but their transformative and cathartic power as well. For "Two Women," the artist created a physical apparatus in his studio that allows the two actors to effortlessly pass through a wall of water. Viola is known for using a minimum of digital effects. The real time for this performance is only moments but the finished video is nine minutes long, allowing viewers time to savor the beauty of the moving water, light, and figures.

The Transfigurations series is often described as visceral. In his writing Viola states, "I want someone to have the experience that is engaging for their mind, but I also want something that is engaging and involving for their body."

Bill Viola: The Quintet of the Astonished, 2000
Urban Video Project

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

Video projection installation on exterior wall.

"The Quintet of the Astonished" shows the unfolding expressions of five actors in such extreme slow motion that every minute detail of their changing facial expressions and movements can be detected. In this piece artist Bill Viola explores the cathartic power within grief, personal suffering, and bereavement.

Viola's work often exhibits a painterly quality and "The Quintet of the Astonished" clearly references his interests in medieval and classical depictions of emotion. In 1998, while a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute which that year explored the theme of The Passions, Viola revisited images of medieval and renaissance painting, frescoes, and architecture that had influenced him during his time in Florence, Italy in 1974. Having lost both of his parents by the time he was at the Getty, he found himself drawn to images of devotional art that continue to influence his art today.

The French Connection
LeMoyne College
Featuring Fabrice Bihan, cello

Price: $15 regular, $10 seniors, free to members of LeMoyne community
Panasci Family Chapel
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

Fauré Piano Quartet No. 1
Douwe Eisenga Rose Road string quartet (US premiere)
Marc Mellits Fruity Pebbles

French cellist Fabrice Bihan is our guest for an evening of chamber music, also featuring pianist Steven Heyman, violinists Cristina Buciu and Stephanie Koppeis, and violist Wendy Richman.

Rebelution, with Zion I and Tribal Seeds
Westcott Theater

Price: $15
Westcott Theater
524 Westcott St., Syracuse

My Dead Lady
Acme Mystery Company

Price: $32.50 plus tax and gratuities (includes meal and show)
Spaghetti Warehouse
689 N. Clinton St., Syracuse

Interactive comedy/mystery dinner theater.

Professor Barry Biggins has a problem. Azalia Dimwittle has completely failed every attempt to elevate her from Cockney flower girl to aristocratic lady. She simply hasn’t gotten it, never will get it, and now everyone has just about had it. To make matters worse, she’s invited you and the rest of her conniving family over to the Professor's house for her father's birthday party. By George, I think she's going to get it (if she doesn't get them first).

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

Read a Review!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Silk: Photographs by Courtney Rile
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Bea Nettles Exhibit
Onondaga Community College

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

These photographic composites deal with the poetic impact of certain landscapes and aspects of classical architecture and art history on the life of Bea Nettles, and how these influences continue to remain in memory, resurfacing at unexpected moments. The photographs are autobiographical. They represent her effort to clarify, to find meaning and significance in daily existence. Often epiphanies often occur while traveling. Bea is particularly interested in recording a sense of place and the selective, multi-layered nature of memory.

Read a review!

La Colección/The Collection: Exhibit 2
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A special program to commemorate Point of Contact's 35th anniversary and The Point of Contact Gallery's 5th -- a show of the entire permanent collection in five exhibitions starting in September 2010.

This second exhibit of the program presents contemporary photography by Maureen Connor, Rimma Gerlovina & Valeriy Gerlovin, Joseph Kugielsky, and intaglios by Nancy Graves.

The Silent Scream: Conflict in Novels Without Words
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library has always had a keen interest in all forms of book illustration, and not surprisingly, novels without words became a significant collecting area. Over time, we have amassed a considerable number of the classic specimens in the genre, and the main practitioners of the art form are well represented within our holdings. We developed this exhibition in keeping with the Syracuse Symposium theme for the coming year, "conflict." The artists upon whom we focused are William Gropper, Laurence Hyde, Frans Masereel, Giacomo Patri, John Vassos, and Lynd Ward.

In addition to conflict, novels without words often portray a quest on the part of the individual. This may assume the form of a journey or a saga about the search for self-fulfillment in artistic or purely personal terms, or the quest may have as its primary objective achieving social justice in a particular context. Because of the historical period in which many of these wordless novels were born, they often depict a struggle between the individual and the industrialized world. Industrialization and, by extension, capitalism, may be seen as forces that are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the individual and of society in general. Similarly, the law, the police, and the armed forces may all be viewed as instruments of repression in novels without words.

The creators of novels without words also tend to scrutinize the brutal forms of war and tyranny that are made possible by industrialization. In truth, any injustice may become the subject of such works, and perhaps just the cruel nature of our existential struggle to survive in an inherently hostile environment is all the background that is needed to provide the inspiration for the creation of a novel without words.

Honoring The Masters: Works of Ann Milner and Phil DeMocker
Westcott Community Art Gallery

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

"Honoring the Masters," featuring Ann Milner's oriental brush painting and Phil DeMocker's origami, is a tribute to artists of the past setting the standards for today's active artists and gallery goers. Highlighted will be "masters" from noted dynasties. The "Mustard Seed Garden Manual, first published in the mid-1600s, will be the reference for some techniques in both learning and creating pieces of Oriental brush painting. Reproductions of work from ancient and more recent masters will show the background and heritage next to current representations of classical subjects and composition.

Origami pieces will represent Phil's favorite designer/folders and will be labeled to explain why he has chosen those artists.

As with most art, copying the work of an established artist is considered distasteful and cheap. While the art of the Orient to copy a master is considered one highest forms of art. Ann Milner is painting in the Sumie style from the Mustard Seed Manual, a comprehensive work of style, structure and form. Phil DeMocker is working from the works of both past and present masters of origami.

Expressions in Paint
Edgewood Gallery

Edgewood Gallery
216 Tecumseh Rd., Syracuse

Nikolay Mikushkin: impressionistic traditional landscape and floral oil paintings on canvas
Bobbi Lamb: ceramics finished in a painterly fashion

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Dogs in Transition: Pit Bulls and Mill Dogs
Community Folk Art Center

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

Cyrus Mejia's art focuses on activism and reflects the ideals of kindness and compassion while shining a light on "speciesism, ignorance and cruelty." Mejia is also co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals near the town of Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is especially known for rehabilitating 22 of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

"Pits and Perception" is the first series on view, which portrays pit bulls in a manner that challenges modern-day perceptions of the breed. With increased attention toward dog fighting in the media, many view the pit bull as a vicious and aggressive dog. Through his paintings, Mejia challenges these beliefs by forcing the observer to take a closer look and question public perception.

The second collection, "Mill Dogs Revenge," features dogs rescued from commercial breeding facilities, colloquially known as "puppy mills." Victims of physical abuse, emotional trauma and neglect, these dogs are often subjected to cruel conditions because of human greed for profit. Mejia hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills through his art.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Opening: Diane Banks and Adam Francey Recent Works
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

There will be an opening reception tonight 6:00-8:00 pm.

Diane Banks' specimen series sculptures and drawings are inspired by the fragileness of nature and the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Her sculptures are created through the combination of organic and found plastic materials. Through the use of these materials, Banks reveals her fascination how nature protects itself from physical harm caused by man's intrusion, and the many ways it contorts itself to survive.

Working with related and unrelated imagery, Adam Francey layers and edits his paintings until an abstracted composition emerges. These are not works about a concrete idea; rather they provide an opportunity for unlimited readings, depending on point-of-view or frame of reference. Snippets from overheard conversations are peppered in the compositions. These works alternate between toughness and humor, with vibrant colors that appear at any moment, ready to leap off of the surface.

Emerging Women of CNY #1
Redhouse

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

Artwork by Taye Wright-hirry, Maria Janina Rizzo, Alexandara Crosby, and Kristie Hayes.

Read a review!

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

Unique: Objects Created by Artists with Disabilities
Szozda Gallery

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

Longtime Delavan Center manager Caroline Szozda celebrates the opening of her new gallery with this exhibit of work from the 10th anniversary of Unique, a magazine produced by ARISE showcasing work by artists with disabilities.

A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape
Gandee Gallery

Price: Free
Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

"A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape" is a different kind of landscape exhibition. The show features painting, photography, and mixed-media art by Central New York artists that explores the interaction between the local landscape and human activity.

Exhibiting artists include Steven Barbash, Rayburn Beale, Willson Cummer, Brenda Edwards, Bob Gates, Nancy Kramer, Jared Landberg, Sarah McCoubrey, Diane Menzies, Phil Parsons, and Lucie Wellner.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

The Original Art of the Funny Papers
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

"The Original Art of the Funny Papers," a collection of famous syndicated cartoons, spans the history of the American comic strip. It features 32 original strips from the SU Library's Special Collections Research Center, including Archie, Beetle Bailey, Prince Valiant, Mutt and Jeff, Blondie, Krazy Kat, Moon Mullins, and Hazel. It also includes more than 20 originals on special loan from SU alumni Brad Anderson (Marmaduke), Greg Walker (Beetle Bailey), and Robb Armstrong (Jump Start).

For more information about the exhibition, call 315-442-2542 during gallery hours, or e-mail jmthom01@syr.edu.

Works of Cui Fei
The Warehouse Gallery

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

Born in Jinan, China, Cui received her BFA degree in painting from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China (now China National Academy of Fine Arts) in 1993, and her MFA degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Nature is a recurring theme in Cui's work; an artist mainly known for her abstract Chinese calligraphy and related installations using twigs or thorns. For this exhibit, she will create works on paper using thorns and an installation consisting of salt, as a reference to Syracuse's history. Her work comments on the central role of nature, her Chinese origins, and current practices in the West. The vault will display a healing piece using sand referring to the tradition of sand paintings by Native Americans, Tibetan monks, Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Latin Americans. Though widely exhibited, this is Cui's first solo museum exhibition.

Read a review!

New Formula
Echo

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

An artistic examination of C2's molecular fusion with design firm Lock 49 and artist Brendan Rose.

ROSHNI -- Art as Healing: The Recovery Art of Navroz Dabu
ArtRage Gallery

Price: Free
ArtRage Gallery
505 Hawley Ave., Syracuse

After a serious car crash, Navros Dabu spent his recovery time drawing and painting. As a thank you to the community for its support of him during this painful time, Navros will display his "One Page A Day" artwork at the ArtRage Gallery for sale. The proceeds from this sale will benefit the Northside Poverello Health Center. Join him for a celebration of healing. Complimentary finger food, music and cash bar available.

Bill Viola: The Quintet of the Astonished, 2000
Urban Video Project

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

Video projection installation on exterior wall.

"The Quintet of the Astonished" shows the unfolding expressions of five actors in such extreme slow motion that every minute detail of their changing facial expressions and movements can be detected. In this piece artist Bill Viola explores the cathartic power within grief, personal suffering, and bereavement.

Viola's work often exhibits a painterly quality and "The Quintet of the Astonished" clearly references his interests in medieval and classical depictions of emotion. In 1998, while a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute which that year explored the theme of The Passions, Viola revisited images of medieval and renaissance painting, frescoes, and architecture that had influenced him during his time in Florence, Italy in 1974. Having lost both of his parents by the time he was at the Getty, he found himself drawn to images of devotional art that continue to influence his art today.

Bill Viola: Two Women, 2008
Urban Video Project

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

Video projection installation on exterior wall.

"Two Women" is part of an extended body of Bill Viola's work titled the Transfigurations series. Inspired by his interest in the Buddhist idea of death as a passage to rebirth, Viola has filmed actors drenched in water and consumed by fire. In Viola's slow-motion world, the viewer senses not only the destructive and violent power of the elements but their transformative and cathartic power as well. For "Two Women," the artist created a physical apparatus in his studio that allows the two actors to effortlessly pass through a wall of water. Viola is known for using a minimum of digital effects. The real time for this performance is only moments but the finished video is nine minutes long, allowing viewers time to savor the beauty of the moving water, light, and figures.

The Transfigurations series is often described as visceral. In his writing Viola states, "I want someone to have the experience that is engaging for their mind, but I also want something that is engaging and involving for their body."

Halloween Double Feature: Day of the Dead and Rocky Horror Picture Show
Syracuse International Film Festival

Price: $10 for both films
Palace Theater
2384 James St., Syracuse

8:00 pm: Day of the Dead
10:00 pm: Rocky Horror Picture Show

A Journey to the Roof of the World: Sacred Dance and Chants of Tibet
Onondaga Community College
Monks of the Gaden Shartse Monastery

Price: $20 suggested donation
Storer Auditorium
Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

An evening of sacred sounds from the roof of the world. Long hidden behind the Himalayan mountain ranges, the ancient Tibetan culture remained virtually untouched by the outside world for thousands of years.

The sacred ritual dances of Tibetan Buddhism are not simply a performance, they are an ancient spiritual ritual, created to transform negativities and obstacles within our world system into harmonious conditions. The origins of these dances have their roots steeped in the secret path of tantric Buddhism.

These dances require years of intensive training. Though these are secret and sacred dances not intended for the general public, on tour the Monks are able to perform short excerpts from these dances along with Tibetan folk dances.

Journey to the Roof of the World also includes sacred chanting, music and debate, a ritual to encourage clarity of thought and excellence in learning, used in the traditional monastery setting. Elaborate costumes, enchanting music and a glimpse into a hidden culture make this event an opportunity for entertainment and learning for the whole family.

For more information, phone 315-635-2739.

ARISE Up Singing
Folkus Project
Featuring Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Dana "Short Order" Cooke, Wendy Ramsay, Joanne Perry, Christopher Weiss

Price: $25 dinner & show; $15 show only
May Memorial Unitarian Society
3800 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

ARISE Up Singing is an evening of folk and acoustic music that will benefit ARISE & Ski, the area's only all-inclusive adaptive ski program. The evening begins with a dinner at 6:30 p.m. catered by Sparky Town Restaurant and Catering. A concert will follow at 8:00.

Come and see performances by talented local performers Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, Dana "Short Order" Cooke, Wendy Ramsay, Joanne Perry, and Christopher Weiss.

The event will benefit the ARISE and Ski adaptive winter sports program at Toggenburg. ARISE & Ski was started in 1997 and has grown into one of New York State's premiere adaptive winter sports programs.

Tickets, including credit card purchases, are available via the ARISE website and at the ARISE main office (635 James Street, Syracuse, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.). Tickets (cash only) will also be available at the door the night of the show.

Classics Series: The Three-Cornered Hat
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Mechetti, conductor
Featuring Augustin Hadelich, violin; Laura Enslin, soprano

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

Calvin Custer 25th Anniversary Fanfare
Dvorak Violin Concerto in A minor, op. 53
De Falla Three-Cornered Hat

Matthew Gavin Frank
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Matthew Gavin Frank has run a breakfast joint in Juneau, Alaska, worked the Barolo wine harvest in Italy's Piedmont, designed degustation menus for Julia Roberts's private parties in Taos, served as a sommelier for Chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand in Chicago, and assisted Chef Charlie Trotter with his Green Kitchen cooking demonstration at the Slow Food Nation 2008 event in San Francisco. His latest book, Barolo, is a food memoir based on his illegal work in the Italian wine industry. He is also the author of the poetry collection Sagittarius Agitprop and two chapbooks, Aardvark and Four Hours to Mpumalanga.

Don't Dress for Dinner
Onondaga Hillplayers
Robert Steingraber, director

Price: $36 includes show, dinner buffet, tax, and tip
Sunset Ridge Golf Club
2814 W. Seneca Tpke., Marcellus

Don't Dress for Dinner is a comedic case of mistaken identity involving a married couple, an old friend, a mistress, and a cook.

Proceeds benefit the Onondaga Free Library. For reservations, phone 315-673-2255.

Witness for the Prosecution
Baldwinsville Theatre Guild
John LaCasse, director

First Presbyterian Church of Baldwinsville
64 Oswego St., Baldwinsville

Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 American courtroom drama movie based on a short story and later a play by Agatha Christie. The original movie deals with a man accused of murder and starred Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and his wife Elsa Lanchester.

Wilfred Robarts, a master defense attorney, accepts the case of Leonard Vole who is accused of murdering Ms Emily French, a rich, older woman who became infatuated with the younger man. Circumstantial evidence points to Vole as the killer. His German wife, Romaine, is his only alibi and Robarts finds her cold and self-possessed.

At trial, Vole's alibi falls apart when Romaine changes her story on the stand. The prosecutor and Robarts parry and thrust their way through the convoluted trial. Plot twists abound as new evidence surfaces in the third act. And then the plot thickens...but the Guild will adhere to the final message the movie gave back in 1957: "The management of this theater suggests that for the greater entertainment of your friends who have not yet seen the picture, you will not divulge to anyone the secret of the ending to Witness for the Prosecution."

A local celebrity will be playing the cameo role of Jury Foreperson each night of the run.

Luther
Appleseed Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

What moves a man like Martin Luther—the man who initiated the Protestant Reformation? This exciting play reveals the man beneath the cowl and the mind behind the dramatic split in Christianity. Through all Luther's self-doubts, bodily ailments and brilliant intellectual achievements, he is helped by the kind and rational superiors of his order. Here, then, is Luther the man, monk, and mind in all its doubts, honesty and clarity of purpose. Luther, before the assembled dignitaries, lifts his book in his hand and says, "Here I stand!" By John Osborne.

Read a Review!

Blood Wedding
LeMoyne College

Price: $12 regular, $8 seniors, $4 students
Coyne Center for the Performing Arts
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

Based on a true story of love, lust, and betrayal, Blood Wedding is one of the most powerful and innovative plays written this century. Federico Garcia Lorca wrote this play after reading a newspaper account of a young bride in Andalusia who abandoned her husband-to-be on their wedding day to escape with her childhood sweetheart. Lorca evokes the spectacle of human passion through sophisticated and often surrealistic poetic technique, elevating the love story to a tragedy of fate.

Lorca's image as a revolutionary artist made him a political symbol and his plays shocked theatergoers with their explicit overtones of forbidden love and freedom of thought. August 9, 1936, soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Franco's Fascists dragged the Spanish poet and playwright into a field, shot him, and tossed his body into an unmarked grave. His books were prohibited, his name forbidden.

Since then he has become the most-translated Spanish writer in history, widely recognized as poet of genius and possibly the foremost poetic dramatist of our time.

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

Read a Review!

The Rocky Horror Show
The Talent Company

Price: $25 regular, $23 seniors, $20 students
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

A spoof on monster and science fiction movies, The Rocky Horror Show is a rock musical populated by an unusual group of earthlings and space visitors. Its cast includes a nice young couple who wander into the castle of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his servants Riff-Raff and Magenta. They are aliens from the planet Transylvania, and have been beamed to earth, along with the castle and a bunch of kinky Transylvanians who have gathered to watch Dr. Frank-N-Furter create a monster, Rocky, from the half-brain of Eddie, a 50's type rocker. Added to these delicious characters are the heroic Dr. Scott (a rival scientist), Columbia (a groupie), and a Narrator (an expert criminologist). From its inception in 1975, the stage version The Rocky Horror Show and the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show have inspired a huge degree of audience participation. The audience joins in on cue, tossing rice, toilet paper, toast, etc., and often join the performers in dancing "Let's Do The Time Warp Again."

Read a Review!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

New Formula
Echo

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

An artistic examination of C2's molecular fusion with design firm Lock 49 and artist Brendan Rose.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

Unique: Objects Created by Artists with Disabilities
Szozda Gallery

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

Longtime Delavan Center manager Caroline Szozda celebrates the opening of her new gallery with this exhibit of work from the 10th anniversary of Unique, a magazine produced by ARISE showcasing work by artists with disabilities.

Dogs in Transition: Pit Bulls and Mill Dogs
Community Folk Art Center

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

Cyrus Mejia's art focuses on activism and reflects the ideals of kindness and compassion while shining a light on "speciesism, ignorance and cruelty." Mejia is also co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals near the town of Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is especially known for rehabilitating 22 of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

"Pits and Perception" is the first series on view, which portrays pit bulls in a manner that challenges modern-day perceptions of the breed. With increased attention toward dog fighting in the media, many view the pit bull as a vicious and aggressive dog. Through his paintings, Mejia challenges these beliefs by forcing the observer to take a closer look and question public perception.

The second collection, "Mill Dogs Revenge," features dogs rescued from commercial breeding facilities, colloquially known as "puppy mills." Victims of physical abuse, emotional trauma and neglect, these dogs are often subjected to cruel conditions because of human greed for profit. Mejia hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills through his art.

A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape
Gandee Gallery

Price: Free
Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

"A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape" is a different kind of landscape exhibition. The show features painting, photography, and mixed-media art by Central New York artists that explores the interaction between the local landscape and human activity.

Exhibiting artists include Steven Barbash, Rayburn Beale, Willson Cummer, Brenda Edwards, Bob Gates, Nancy Kramer, Jared Landberg, Sarah McCoubrey, Diane Menzies, Phil Parsons, and Lucie Wellner.

Diane Banks and Adam Francey Recent Works
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

Diane Banks' specimen series sculptures and drawings are inspired by the fragileness of nature and the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Her sculptures are created through the combination of organic and found plastic materials. Through the use of these materials, Banks reveals her fascination how nature protects itself from physical harm caused by man's intrusion, and the many ways it contorts itself to survive.

Working with related and unrelated imagery, Adam Francey layers and edits his paintings until an abstracted composition emerges. These are not works about a concrete idea; rather they provide an opportunity for unlimited readings, depending on point-of-view or frame of reference. Snippets from overheard conversations are peppered in the compositions. These works alternate between toughness and humor, with vibrant colors that appear at any moment, ready to leap off of the surface.

The Original Art of the Funny Papers
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

"The Original Art of the Funny Papers," a collection of famous syndicated cartoons, spans the history of the American comic strip. It features 32 original strips from the SU Library's Special Collections Research Center, including Archie, Beetle Bailey, Prince Valiant, Mutt and Jeff, Blondie, Krazy Kat, Moon Mullins, and Hazel. It also includes more than 20 originals on special loan from SU alumni Brad Anderson (Marmaduke), Greg Walker (Beetle Bailey), and Robb Armstrong (Jump Start).

For more information about the exhibition, call 315-442-2542 during gallery hours, or e-mail jmthom01@syr.edu.

Works of Cui Fei
The Warehouse Gallery

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

Born in Jinan, China, Cui received her BFA degree in painting from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China (now China National Academy of Fine Arts) in 1993, and her MFA degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Nature is a recurring theme in Cui's work; an artist mainly known for her abstract Chinese calligraphy and related installations using twigs or thorns. For this exhibit, she will create works on paper using thorns and an installation consisting of salt, as a reference to Syracuse's history. Her work comments on the central role of nature, her Chinese origins, and current practices in the West. The vault will display a healing piece using sand referring to the tradition of sand paintings by Native Americans, Tibetan monks, Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Latin Americans. Though widely exhibited, this is Cui's first solo museum exhibition.

Read a review!

Bill Viola: Two Women, 2008
Urban Video Project

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

Video projection installation on exterior wall.

"Two Women" is part of an extended body of Bill Viola's work titled the Transfigurations series. Inspired by his interest in the Buddhist idea of death as a passage to rebirth, Viola has filmed actors drenched in water and consumed by fire. In Viola's slow-motion world, the viewer senses not only the destructive and violent power of the elements but their transformative and cathartic power as well. For "Two Women," the artist created a physical apparatus in his studio that allows the two actors to effortlessly pass through a wall of water. Viola is known for using a minimum of digital effects. The real time for this performance is only moments but the finished video is nine minutes long, allowing viewers time to savor the beauty of the moving water, light, and figures.

The Transfigurations series is often described as visceral. In his writing Viola states, "I want someone to have the experience that is engaging for their mind, but I also want something that is engaging and involving for their body."

Bill Viola: The Quintet of the Astonished, 2000
Urban Video Project

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

Video projection installation on exterior wall.

"The Quintet of the Astonished" shows the unfolding expressions of five actors in such extreme slow motion that every minute detail of their changing facial expressions and movements can be detected. In this piece artist Bill Viola explores the cathartic power within grief, personal suffering, and bereavement.

Viola's work often exhibits a painterly quality and "The Quintet of the Astonished" clearly references his interests in medieval and classical depictions of emotion. In 1998, while a scholar in residence at the Getty Research Institute which that year explored the theme of The Passions, Viola revisited images of medieval and renaissance painting, frescoes, and architecture that had influenced him during his time in Florence, Italy in 1974. Having lost both of his parents by the time he was at the Getty, he found himself drawn to images of devotional art that continue to influence his art today.

SaturdaySCREENINGS: Halloween Film Fest!
ArtRage Gallery

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

6:30 pm: Fright Night (1985)
Directed by Tom Holland. With Chris Sarandon, Roddy MacDowell. Chills and humor blend smoothly in this spooky tale of a man living next door to a vampire.

8:30 pm: The Uninvited (1944)
With Ray Milland, Gail Russell. THE classic haunted house film. A young Englishman buys a mansion with a past...and an unexpected visitor. One of the greatest of all ghost stories.

Spark Video: Halloween Edition
Spark Contemporary Art Space

Price: $3 regular, free if in costume
Spark Contemporary Art Space
1005 E. Fayette St., Syracuse

It's time for the annual Spark Video kick-off, and this year's is going to be special! With a selection of "spooky" videos curated by our own Jay Muhlin, Spark promises a party unlike the parties of the past. Dress up and bring your plastic jack-o-lanterns and pillowcases, because there will be trick-or-treating. What else, you ask? Art beer! Live performance! Dance party! Best costume prize! Come celebrate all Hallow's Eve's Eve like never before, with us, at SPARK!

Family Series: Halloween Spookapalooza
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Ballet & Dance Center
Jeffery Meyer, conductor
Featuring Bruce Coville, narrator

Price: $10 adults; $5 children
Crouse Hinds Concert Theater, Mulroy Civic Center
411 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Author Bruce Coville will spin a tale full of surprises, suspense and spine tingling fun, and local dance students will show off their spookiest steps. Come dressed in your Halloween costume and join in the Second Annual Costume Parade!

Classics Series: The Three-Cornered Hat
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Fabio Mechetti, conductor
Featuring Augustin Hadelich, violin; Laura Enslin, soprano

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

Calvin Custer 25th Anniversary Fanfare
Dvorak Violin Concerto in A minor, op. 53
De Falla Three-Cornered Hat

RAQ, with Soul Risin'
Westcott Theater

Price: $20
Westcott Theater
524 Westcott St., Syracuse

Alice in Wonderland
Magic Circle Children's Theatre

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

Interactive comedic retelling of the classic tale.

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

Read a Review!

Don't Dress for Dinner
Onondaga Hillplayers
Robert Steingraber, director

Price: $36 includes show, dinner buffet, tax, and tip
Sunset Ridge Golf Club
2814 W. Seneca Tpke., Marcellus

Don't Dress for Dinner is a comedic case of mistaken identity involving a married couple, an old friend, a mistress, and a cook.

Proceeds benefit the Onondaga Free Library. For reservations, phone 315-673-2255.

Witness for the Prosecution
Baldwinsville Theatre Guild
John LaCasse, director

First Presbyterian Church of Baldwinsville
64 Oswego St., Baldwinsville

Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 American courtroom drama movie based on a short story and later a play by Agatha Christie. The original movie deals with a man accused of murder and starred Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton and his wife Elsa Lanchester.

Wilfred Robarts, a master defense attorney, accepts the case of Leonard Vole who is accused of murdering Ms Emily French, a rich, older woman who became infatuated with the younger man. Circumstantial evidence points to Vole as the killer. His German wife, Romaine, is his only alibi and Robarts finds her cold and self-possessed.

At trial, Vole's alibi falls apart when Romaine changes her story on the stand. The prosecutor and Robarts parry and thrust their way through the convoluted trial. Plot twists abound as new evidence surfaces in the third act. And then the plot thickens...but the Guild will adhere to the final message the movie gave back in 1957: "The management of this theater suggests that for the greater entertainment of your friends who have not yet seen the picture, you will not divulge to anyone the secret of the ending to Witness for the Prosecution."

A local celebrity will be playing the cameo role of Jury Foreperson each night of the run.

Luther
Appleseed Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

What moves a man like Martin Luther—the man who initiated the Protestant Reformation? This exciting play reveals the man beneath the cowl and the mind behind the dramatic split in Christianity. Through all Luther's self-doubts, bodily ailments and brilliant intellectual achievements, he is helped by the kind and rational superiors of his order. Here, then, is Luther the man, monk, and mind in all its doubts, honesty and clarity of purpose. Luther, before the assembled dignitaries, lifts his book in his hand and says, "Here I stand!" By John Osborne.

Read a Review!

Blood Wedding
LeMoyne College

Price: $12 regular, $8 seniors, $4 students
Coyne Center for the Performing Arts
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

Based on a true story of love, lust, and betrayal, Blood Wedding is one of the most powerful and innovative plays written this century. Federico Garcia Lorca wrote this play after reading a newspaper account of a young bride in Andalusia who abandoned her husband-to-be on their wedding day to escape with her childhood sweetheart. Lorca evokes the spectacle of human passion through sophisticated and often surrealistic poetic technique, elevating the love story to a tragedy of fate.

Lorca's image as a revolutionary artist made him a political symbol and his plays shocked theatergoers with their explicit overtones of forbidden love and freedom of thought. August 9, 1936, soon after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Franco's Fascists dragged the Spanish poet and playwright into a field, shot him, and tossed his body into an unmarked grave. His books were prohibited, his name forbidden.

Since then he has become the most-translated Spanish writer in history, widely recognized as poet of genius and possibly the foremost poetic dramatist of our time.

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

Read a Review!

The Rocky Horror Show
The Talent Company

Price: $25 regular, $23 seniors, $20 students
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

A spoof on monster and science fiction movies, The Rocky Horror Show is a rock musical populated by an unusual group of earthlings and space visitors. Its cast includes a nice young couple who wander into the castle of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his servants Riff-Raff and Magenta. They are aliens from the planet Transylvania, and have been beamed to earth, along with the castle and a bunch of kinky Transylvanians who have gathered to watch Dr. Frank-N-Furter create a monster, Rocky, from the half-brain of Eddie, a 50's type rocker. Added to these delicious characters are the heroic Dr. Scott (a rival scientist), Columbia (a groupie), and a Narrator (an expert criminologist). From its inception in 1975, the stage version The Rocky Horror Show and the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show have inspired a huge degree of audience participation. The audience joins in on cue, tossing rice, toilet paper, toast, etc., and often join the performers in dancing "Let's Do The Time Warp Again."

Read a Review!

The Rocky Horror Show
The Talent Company

Price: $25 regular, $23 seniors, $20 students
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

A spoof on monster and science fiction movies, The Rocky Horror Show is a rock musical populated by an unusual group of earthlings and space visitors. Its cast includes a nice young couple who wander into the castle of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his servants Riff-Raff and Magenta. They are aliens from the planet Transylvania, and have been beamed to earth, along with the castle and a bunch of kinky Transylvanians who have gathered to watch Dr. Frank-N-Furter create a monster, Rocky, from the half-brain of Eddie, a 50's type rocker. Added to these delicious characters are the heroic Dr. Scott (a rival scientist), Columbia (a groupie), and a Narrator (an expert criminologist). From its inception in 1975, the stage version The Rocky Horror Show and the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show have inspired a huge degree of audience participation. The audience joins in on cue, tossing rice, toilet paper, toast, etc., and often join the performers in dancing "Let's Do The Time Warp Again."

Read a Review!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

Unique: Objects Created by Artists with Disabilities
Szozda Gallery

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

Longtime Delavan Center manager Caroline Szozda celebrates the opening of her new gallery with this exhibit of work from the 10th anniversary of Unique, a magazine produced by ARISE showcasing work by artists with disabilities.

A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape
Gandee Gallery

Price: Free
Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

"A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape" is a different kind of landscape exhibition. The show features painting, photography, and mixed-media art by Central New York artists that explores the interaction between the local landscape and human activity.

Exhibiting artists include Steven Barbash, Rayburn Beale, Willson Cummer, Brenda Edwards, Bob Gates, Nancy Kramer, Jared Landberg, Sarah McCoubrey, Diane Menzies, Phil Parsons, and Lucie Wellner.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

The Original Art of the Funny Papers
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

XL Projects
307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse

"The Original Art of the Funny Papers," a collection of famous syndicated cartoons, spans the history of the American comic strip. It features 32 original strips from the SU Library's Special Collections Research Center, including Archie, Beetle Bailey, Prince Valiant, Mutt and Jeff, Blondie, Krazy Kat, Moon Mullins, and Hazel. It also includes more than 20 originals on special loan from SU alumni Brad Anderson (Marmaduke), Greg Walker (Beetle Bailey), and Robb Armstrong (Jump Start).

For more information about the exhibition, call 315-442-2542 during gallery hours, or e-mail jmthom01@syr.edu.

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Anniversary Concert Series: Onondaga String Quartet
DeWitt Community Church
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra

Price: $10
Dewitt Community Church
3600 Erie Blvd. East, Dewitt

2010-2011 marks the bicentennial of DeWitt Community Church and the 50th anniversary of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, two local institutions with long shared histories. To celebrate the occasion, DCC is presenting five concerts by SSO professional ensembles.

This concert features classical selections by the Onondaga String Quartet, with principal string players of the SSO.

Don't Dress for Dinner
Onondaga Hillplayers
Robert Steingraber, director

Price: $36 includes show, dinner buffet, tax, and tip
Sunset Ridge Golf Club
2814 W. Seneca Tpke., Marcellus

Don't Dress for Dinner is a comedic case of mistaken identity involving a married couple, an old friend, a mistress, and a cook.

Proceeds benefit the Onondaga Free Library. For reservations, phone 315-673-2255.

Luther
Appleseed Productions
Dan Tursi, director

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

What moves a man like Martin Luther—the man who initiated the Protestant Reformation? This exciting play reveals the man beneath the cowl and the mind behind the dramatic split in Christianity. Through all Luther's self-doubts, bodily ailments and brilliant intellectual achievements, he is helped by the kind and rational superiors of his order. Here, then, is Luther the man, monk, and mind in all its doubts, honesty and clarity of purpose. Luther, before the assembled dignitaries, lifts his book in his hand and says, "Here I stand!" By John Osborne.

Read a Review!

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

Read a Review!

The Rocky Horror Show
The Talent Company

Price: $25 regular, $23 seniors, $20 students
Empire Theater
New York State Fairgrounds, Geddes

A spoof on monster and science fiction movies, The Rocky Horror Show is a rock musical populated by an unusual group of earthlings and space visitors. Its cast includes a nice young couple who wander into the castle of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his servants Riff-Raff and Magenta. They are aliens from the planet Transylvania, and have been beamed to earth, along with the castle and a bunch of kinky Transylvanians who have gathered to watch Dr. Frank-N-Furter create a monster, Rocky, from the half-brain of Eddie, a 50's type rocker. Added to these delicious characters are the heroic Dr. Scott (a rival scientist), Columbia (a groupie), and a Narrator (an expert criminologist). From its inception in 1975, the stage version The Rocky Horror Show and the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show have inspired a huge degree of audience participation. The audience joins in on cue, tossing rice, toilet paper, toast, etc., and often join the performers in dancing "Let's Do The Time Warp Again."

Read a Review!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Silk: Photographs by Courtney Rile
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Bea Nettles Exhibit
Onondaga Community College

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

These photographic composites deal with the poetic impact of certain landscapes and aspects of classical architecture and art history on the life of Bea Nettles, and how these influences continue to remain in memory, resurfacing at unexpected moments. The photographs are autobiographical. They represent her effort to clarify, to find meaning and significance in daily existence. Often epiphanies often occur while traveling. Bea is particularly interested in recording a sense of place and the selective, multi-layered nature of memory.

Read a review!

La Colección/The Collection: Exhibit 2
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A special program to commemorate Point of Contact's 35th anniversary and The Point of Contact Gallery's 5th -- a show of the entire permanent collection in five exhibitions starting in September 2010.

This second exhibit of the program presents contemporary photography by Maureen Connor, Rimma Gerlovina & Valeriy Gerlovin, Joseph Kugielsky, and intaglios by Nancy Graves.

The Silent Scream: Conflict in Novels Without Words
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library has always had a keen interest in all forms of book illustration, and not surprisingly, novels without words became a significant collecting area. Over time, we have amassed a considerable number of the classic specimens in the genre, and the main practitioners of the art form are well represented within our holdings. We developed this exhibition in keeping with the Syracuse Symposium theme for the coming year, "conflict." The artists upon whom we focused are William Gropper, Laurence Hyde, Frans Masereel, Giacomo Patri, John Vassos, and Lynd Ward.

In addition to conflict, novels without words often portray a quest on the part of the individual. This may assume the form of a journey or a saga about the search for self-fulfillment in artistic or purely personal terms, or the quest may have as its primary objective achieving social justice in a particular context. Because of the historical period in which many of these wordless novels were born, they often depict a struggle between the individual and the industrialized world. Industrialization and, by extension, capitalism, may be seen as forces that are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the individual and of society in general. Similarly, the law, the police, and the armed forces may all be viewed as instruments of repression in novels without words.

The creators of novels without words also tend to scrutinize the brutal forms of war and tyranny that are made possible by industrialization. In truth, any injustice may become the subject of such works, and perhaps just the cruel nature of our existential struggle to survive in an inherently hostile environment is all the background that is needed to provide the inspiration for the creation of a novel without words.

Honoring The Masters: Works of Ann Milner and Phil DeMocker
Westcott Community Art Gallery

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

"Honoring the Masters," featuring Ann Milner's oriental brush painting and Phil DeMocker's origami, is a tribute to artists of the past setting the standards for today's active artists and gallery goers. Highlighted will be "masters" from noted dynasties. The "Mustard Seed Garden Manual, first published in the mid-1600s, will be the reference for some techniques in both learning and creating pieces of Oriental brush painting. Reproductions of work from ancient and more recent masters will show the background and heritage next to current representations of classical subjects and composition.

Origami pieces will represent Phil's favorite designer/folders and will be labeled to explain why he has chosen those artists.

As with most art, copying the work of an established artist is considered distasteful and cheap. While the art of the Orient to copy a master is considered one highest forms of art. Ann Milner is painting in the Sumie style from the Mustard Seed Manual, a comprehensive work of style, structure and form. Phil DeMocker is working from the works of both past and present masters of origami.

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Archipelago: Works by Yolanda del Amo
Light Work Gallery

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

Powerful forces deep below the surface of the earth form archipelagos, which are chains or clusters of individual islands. In her series Archipelago, artist Yolanda del Amo depicts the powerful forces between people—their conflicting needs for intimacy and connection, independence and individuality. In Archipelago, these competing needs seem to have reached a peaceful if temporary stasis. These beautiful images show people who, although in the presence of another, appear surrounded on all sides not by water but by silence.

Del Amo leaves the relationships of her subjects to each other deliberately vague, which makes her images all the more universal and compelling. Each photograph represents a fragile time in any relationship when two people—whether they are mother and son, husband and wife, or simply friends—momentarily live alone, together.

Read a review!

Diane Banks and Adam Francey Recent Works
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

Diane Banks' specimen series sculptures and drawings are inspired by the fragileness of nature and the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Her sculptures are created through the combination of organic and found plastic materials. Through the use of these materials, Banks reveals her fascination how nature protects itself from physical harm caused by man's intrusion, and the many ways it contorts itself to survive.

Working with related and unrelated imagery, Adam Francey layers and edits his paintings until an abstracted composition emerges. These are not works about a concrete idea; rather they provide an opportunity for unlimited readings, depending on point-of-view or frame of reference. Snippets from overheard conversations are peppered in the compositions. These works alternate between toughness and humor, with vibrant colors that appear at any moment, ready to leap off of the surface.

Emerging Women of CNY #1
Redhouse

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

Artwork by Taye Wright-hirry, Maria Janina Rizzo, Alexandara Crosby, and Kristie Hayes.

Read a review!

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

New Moon (1940)
Syracuse Cinephile Society

Price: $3 regular, $2.50 members
Spaghetti Warehouse
689 N. Clinton St., Syracuse

A rousing adventure-romance set in old Louisiana. Thrilling Sigmund Romberg-Oscar Hammerstein score includes "One Kiss", "Lover, Come Back To Me", "Stout-Hearted Men", "Wanting You" and others. A true musical feast! Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Cast includes Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald, Mary Boland, George Zucco, Grant Mitchell.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Silk: Photographs by Courtney Rile
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

Bea Nettles Exhibit
Onondaga Community College

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

These photographic composites deal with the poetic impact of certain landscapes and aspects of classical architecture and art history on the life of Bea Nettles, and how these influences continue to remain in memory, resurfacing at unexpected moments. The photographs are autobiographical. They represent her effort to clarify, to find meaning and significance in daily existence. Often epiphanies often occur while traveling. Bea is particularly interested in recording a sense of place and the selective, multi-layered nature of memory.

Read a review!

The Silent Scream: Conflict in Novels Without Words
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library has always had a keen interest in all forms of book illustration, and not surprisingly, novels without words became a significant collecting area. Over time, we have amassed a considerable number of the classic specimens in the genre, and the main practitioners of the art form are well represented within our holdings. We developed this exhibition in keeping with the Syracuse Symposium theme for the coming year, "conflict." The artists upon whom we focused are William Gropper, Laurence Hyde, Frans Masereel, Giacomo Patri, John Vassos, and Lynd Ward.

In addition to conflict, novels without words often portray a quest on the part of the individual. This may assume the form of a journey or a saga about the search for self-fulfillment in artistic or purely personal terms, or the quest may have as its primary objective achieving social justice in a particular context. Because of the historical period in which many of these wordless novels were born, they often depict a struggle between the individual and the industrialized world. Industrialization and, by extension, capitalism, may be seen as forces that are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the individual and of society in general. Similarly, the law, the police, and the armed forces may all be viewed as instruments of repression in novels without words.

The creators of novels without words also tend to scrutinize the brutal forms of war and tyranny that are made possible by industrialization. In truth, any injustice may become the subject of such works, and perhaps just the cruel nature of our existential struggle to survive in an inherently hostile environment is all the background that is needed to provide the inspiration for the creation of a novel without words.

Honoring The Masters: Works of Ann Milner and Phil DeMocker
Westcott Community Art Gallery

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

"Honoring the Masters," featuring Ann Milner's oriental brush painting and Phil DeMocker's origami, is a tribute to artists of the past setting the standards for today's active artists and gallery goers. Highlighted will be "masters" from noted dynasties. The "Mustard Seed Garden Manual, first published in the mid-1600s, will be the reference for some techniques in both learning and creating pieces of Oriental brush painting. Reproductions of work from ancient and more recent masters will show the background and heritage next to current representations of classical subjects and composition.

Origami pieces will represent Phil's favorite designer/folders and will be labeled to explain why he has chosen those artists.

As with most art, copying the work of an established artist is considered distasteful and cheap. While the art of the Orient to copy a master is considered one highest forms of art. Ann Milner is painting in the Sumie style from the Mustard Seed Manual, a comprehensive work of style, structure and form. Phil DeMocker is working from the works of both past and present masters of origami.

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Dogs in Transition: Pit Bulls and Mill Dogs
Community Folk Art Center

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

Cyrus Mejia's art focuses on activism and reflects the ideals of kindness and compassion while shining a light on "speciesism, ignorance and cruelty." Mejia is also co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals near the town of Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is especially known for rehabilitating 22 of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

"Pits and Perception" is the first series on view, which portrays pit bulls in a manner that challenges modern-day perceptions of the breed. With increased attention toward dog fighting in the media, many view the pit bull as a vicious and aggressive dog. Through his paintings, Mejia challenges these beliefs by forcing the observer to take a closer look and question public perception.

The second collection, "Mill Dogs Revenge," features dogs rescued from commercial breeding facilities, colloquially known as "puppy mills." Victims of physical abuse, emotional trauma and neglect, these dogs are often subjected to cruel conditions because of human greed for profit. Mejia hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills through his art.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Archipelago: Works by Yolanda del Amo
Light Work Gallery

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

Powerful forces deep below the surface of the earth form archipelagos, which are chains or clusters of individual islands. In her series Archipelago, artist Yolanda del Amo depicts the powerful forces between people—their conflicting needs for intimacy and connection, independence and individuality. In Archipelago, these competing needs seem to have reached a peaceful if temporary stasis. These beautiful images show people who, although in the presence of another, appear surrounded on all sides not by water but by silence.

Del Amo leaves the relationships of her subjects to each other deliberately vague, which makes her images all the more universal and compelling. Each photograph represents a fragile time in any relationship when two people—whether they are mother and son, husband and wife, or simply friends—momentarily live alone, together.

Read a review!

Diane Banks and Adam Francey Recent Works
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

Diane Banks' specimen series sculptures and drawings are inspired by the fragileness of nature and the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Her sculptures are created through the combination of organic and found plastic materials. Through the use of these materials, Banks reveals her fascination how nature protects itself from physical harm caused by man's intrusion, and the many ways it contorts itself to survive.

Working with related and unrelated imagery, Adam Francey layers and edits his paintings until an abstracted composition emerges. These are not works about a concrete idea; rather they provide an opportunity for unlimited readings, depending on point-of-view or frame of reference. Snippets from overheard conversations are peppered in the compositions. These works alternate between toughness and humor, with vibrant colors that appear at any moment, ready to leap off of the surface.

Emerging Women of CNY #1
Redhouse

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

Artwork by Taye Wright-hirry, Maria Janina Rizzo, Alexandara Crosby, and Kristie Hayes.

Read a review!

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

Works of Cui Fei
The Warehouse Gallery

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

Born in Jinan, China, Cui received her BFA degree in painting from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China (now China National Academy of Fine Arts) in 1993, and her MFA degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Nature is a recurring theme in Cui's work; an artist mainly known for her abstract Chinese calligraphy and related installations using twigs or thorns. For this exhibit, she will create works on paper using thorns and an installation consisting of salt, as a reference to Syracuse's history. Her work comments on the central role of nature, her Chinese origins, and current practices in the West. The vault will display a healing piece using sand referring to the tradition of sand paintings by Native Americans, Tibetan monks, Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Latin Americans. Though widely exhibited, this is Cui's first solo museum exhibition.

Read a review!

Animal Logic and Recent Projects
Syracuse University School of Architecture
Featuring Richard Barnes

Price: Free
Slocum Hall Auditorium
Syracuse University campus, Syracuse

Highly acclaimed photographer Richard Barnes is known for his exploration of architecture within the context of archaeology and how human beings interact with their natural environment. Reception to follow in Slocum Gallery.

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

Read a Review!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Silk: Photographs by Courtney Rile
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

La Colección/The Collection: Exhibit 2
Point of Contact Gallery

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

A special program to commemorate Point of Contact's 35th anniversary and The Point of Contact Gallery's 5th -- a show of the entire permanent collection in five exhibitions starting in September 2010.

This second exhibit of the program presents contemporary photography by Maureen Connor, Rimma Gerlovina & Valeriy Gerlovin, Joseph Kugielsky, and intaglios by Nancy Graves.

The Silent Scream: Conflict in Novels Without Words
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library has always had a keen interest in all forms of book illustration, and not surprisingly, novels without words became a significant collecting area. Over time, we have amassed a considerable number of the classic specimens in the genre, and the main practitioners of the art form are well represented within our holdings. We developed this exhibition in keeping with the Syracuse Symposium theme for the coming year, "conflict." The artists upon whom we focused are William Gropper, Laurence Hyde, Frans Masereel, Giacomo Patri, John Vassos, and Lynd Ward.

In addition to conflict, novels without words often portray a quest on the part of the individual. This may assume the form of a journey or a saga about the search for self-fulfillment in artistic or purely personal terms, or the quest may have as its primary objective achieving social justice in a particular context. Because of the historical period in which many of these wordless novels were born, they often depict a struggle between the individual and the industrialized world. Industrialization and, by extension, capitalism, may be seen as forces that are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the individual and of society in general. Similarly, the law, the police, and the armed forces may all be viewed as instruments of repression in novels without words.

The creators of novels without words also tend to scrutinize the brutal forms of war and tyranny that are made possible by industrialization. In truth, any injustice may become the subject of such works, and perhaps just the cruel nature of our existential struggle to survive in an inherently hostile environment is all the background that is needed to provide the inspiration for the creation of a novel without words.

Honoring The Masters: Works of Ann Milner and Phil DeMocker
Westcott Community Art Gallery

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

"Honoring the Masters," featuring Ann Milner's oriental brush painting and Phil DeMocker's origami, is a tribute to artists of the past setting the standards for today's active artists and gallery goers. Highlighted will be "masters" from noted dynasties. The "Mustard Seed Garden Manual, first published in the mid-1600s, will be the reference for some techniques in both learning and creating pieces of Oriental brush painting. Reproductions of work from ancient and more recent masters will show the background and heritage next to current representations of classical subjects and composition.

Origami pieces will represent Phil's favorite designer/folders and will be labeled to explain why he has chosen those artists.

As with most art, copying the work of an established artist is considered distasteful and cheap. While the art of the Orient to copy a master is considered one highest forms of art. Ann Milner is painting in the Sumie style from the Mustard Seed Manual, a comprehensive work of style, structure and form. Phil DeMocker is working from the works of both past and present masters of origami.

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Dogs in Transition: Pit Bulls and Mill Dogs
Community Folk Art Center

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

Cyrus Mejia's art focuses on activism and reflects the ideals of kindness and compassion while shining a light on "speciesism, ignorance and cruelty." Mejia is also co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals near the town of Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is especially known for rehabilitating 22 of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

"Pits and Perception" is the first series on view, which portrays pit bulls in a manner that challenges modern-day perceptions of the breed. With increased attention toward dog fighting in the media, many view the pit bull as a vicious and aggressive dog. Through his paintings, Mejia challenges these beliefs by forcing the observer to take a closer look and question public perception.

The second collection, "Mill Dogs Revenge," features dogs rescued from commercial breeding facilities, colloquially known as "puppy mills." Victims of physical abuse, emotional trauma and neglect, these dogs are often subjected to cruel conditions because of human greed for profit. Mejia hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills through his art.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Archipelago: Works by Yolanda del Amo
Light Work Gallery

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

Powerful forces deep below the surface of the earth form archipelagos, which are chains or clusters of individual islands. In her series Archipelago, artist Yolanda del Amo depicts the powerful forces between people—their conflicting needs for intimacy and connection, independence and individuality. In Archipelago, these competing needs seem to have reached a peaceful if temporary stasis. These beautiful images show people who, although in the presence of another, appear surrounded on all sides not by water but by silence.

Del Amo leaves the relationships of her subjects to each other deliberately vague, which makes her images all the more universal and compelling. Each photograph represents a fragile time in any relationship when two people—whether they are mother and son, husband and wife, or simply friends—momentarily live alone, together.

Read a review!

Diane Banks and Adam Francey Recent Works
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

Diane Banks' specimen series sculptures and drawings are inspired by the fragileness of nature and the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Her sculptures are created through the combination of organic and found plastic materials. Through the use of these materials, Banks reveals her fascination how nature protects itself from physical harm caused by man's intrusion, and the many ways it contorts itself to survive.

Working with related and unrelated imagery, Adam Francey layers and edits his paintings until an abstracted composition emerges. These are not works about a concrete idea; rather they provide an opportunity for unlimited readings, depending on point-of-view or frame of reference. Snippets from overheard conversations are peppered in the compositions. These works alternate between toughness and humor, with vibrant colors that appear at any moment, ready to leap off of the surface.

Emerging Women of CNY #1
Redhouse

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

Artwork by Taye Wright-hirry, Maria Janina Rizzo, Alexandara Crosby, and Kristie Hayes.

Read a review!

Christian Dior 1947-1957
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

Price: Free
Shaffer Art Building
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Seven original designs by the late fashion icon Christian Dior are on view in the exhibition "Christian Dior 1947-1957." The exhibition documents and honors the memory of Dior, who began his design house in 1947 in post-World War II Paris and ruled the fashion world until his death in 1957. The outfits featured are taken from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and the Martha M. Caldwell Costume Collection, which are housed in the fashion design program at Syracuse University.

Unique: Objects Created by Artists with Disabilities
Szozda Gallery

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

Longtime Delavan Center manager Caroline Szozda celebrates the opening of her new gallery with this exhibit of work from the 10th anniversary of Unique, a magazine produced by ARISE showcasing work by artists with disabilities.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

Works of Cui Fei
The Warehouse Gallery

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

Born in Jinan, China, Cui received her BFA degree in painting from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China (now China National Academy of Fine Arts) in 1993, and her MFA degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Nature is a recurring theme in Cui's work; an artist mainly known for her abstract Chinese calligraphy and related installations using twigs or thorns. For this exhibit, she will create works on paper using thorns and an installation consisting of salt, as a reference to Syracuse's history. Her work comments on the central role of nature, her Chinese origins, and current practices in the West. The vault will display a healing piece using sand referring to the tradition of sand paintings by Native Americans, Tibetan monks, Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Latin Americans. Though widely exhibited, this is Cui's first solo museum exhibition.

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New Formula
Echo

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

An artistic examination of C2's molecular fusion with design firm Lock 49 and artist Brendan Rose.

Half the Sky
University Lectures
Featuring Nicholas D. Kristof

Price: Free
Hendricks Chapel
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times since 2001, is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Kristof graduated from Harvard College, Phi Beta Kappa, and then won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. He has lived on four continents, reported on six, and traveled to 140 countries. After joining The New York Times in 1984, initially covering economics, he served as a correspondent in Los Angeles and as bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo. In 2000, he covered the presidential campaign and is the author of the chapter on Bush in the reference book The Presidents. He later was associate managing editor of the Times, responsible for Sunday editions.

In 1990 Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, also a Times journalist, won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of China's Tiananmen Square democracy movement. Kristof and WuDunn are also authors of China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power, Thunder from the East: Portrait of a Rising Asia, and Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Haunted by what he has seen in Darfur, Kristof has traveled to the region four times to provide coverage of the genocide that is unfolding there. In 2006, he won his second Pulitzer Prize for Commentary "for his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world." The lecture is co-sponsored by Karl Solibakke for the Bachman Conference, the School of Education, the Newhouse School of Public Communication, and the Syracuse University's Humanities Center.

Reduced-rate parking for the event is available in the Irving Avenue parking garage.

Sangeetha Ekambaram and Sabine Krantz, sopranos
Civic Morning Musicals

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

A delightful program of varied folk music of Irish, Spanish, Swedish, and Norwegian origins. Sangeetha Ekambaram and Sabine Krantz will sing as an ensemble, accompanied by Cindy Josbena, piano, Katarina Hege, violin, and Emmett van Slyke, guitar. Music of Dvorak, Britten, Bartok, and van Slyke will also be part of this wonderfully varied program.

Phillip Memmer, poetry
Raymond Carver Reading Series

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

Philip Memmer's three books of poems include Lucifer: A Hagiography (Lost Horse Press 2009), winner of the 2008 Idaho Prize for Poetry; Threat of Pleasure (Word Press 2008), winner of the 2008 Adirondack Literary Award in Poetry; and Sweetheart, Baby, Darling (Word Press 2004). His work has appeared in many journals, including Poetry, Epoch, and Mid-American Review, and in several anthologies, including 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day. He is founder and director of the YMCA's Downtown Writer's Center in Syracuse.

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

The 39 Steps
Syracuse Stage
Peter Amster, director

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

Gunshots, murder, and dastardly plots; seductive spies, thrilling chases and serious flirtation; they're all part of this rollicking comedy/mystery and Broadway hit. Based on the 1935 classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay as he sets out for a night of music hall entertainment only to be ensnared in a dangerous attempt to smuggle top-secret information out of the country. Four actors and ingenious and inventive staging prove that anything movies can do, theatre can do more hilariously. Adapted by Patrick Barlow.

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Thursday, November 4, 2010

Windows Project: Waking from Dreams of India
The Warehouse Gallery

The Warehouse Gallery
350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse

Upstate New York photographer Neil Chowdhury has created works consisting of three digital photomontages (fit to the dimensions of the windows in the Window Projects) and a multichannel video installation (displayed in the Window Projects space) with a soundtrack of Indian classical music, Hindi pop music, and ambient street sound that address contemporary India as well as clichés and the artist's origins.

Ed Smith: "The Labors"
LeMoyne College

Wilson Art Gallery, Noreen Reale Falcone Library
LeMoyne College, Syracuse

An exhibition of drawing and sculpture by Guggenheim Fellow Ed Smith. His work has been exhibited here and abroad, including at the British Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Begium, and at Yale University.

Silk: Photographs by Courtney Rile
Downtown Writer's Center

Price: Free
YMCA Downtown
340 Montgomery St., Syracuse

The Silent Scream: Conflict in Novels Without Words
Syracuse University Library Special Collections Research Center

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

The Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library has always had a keen interest in all forms of book illustration, and not surprisingly, novels without words became a significant collecting area. Over time, we have amassed a considerable number of the classic specimens in the genre, and the main practitioners of the art form are well represented within our holdings. We developed this exhibition in keeping with the Syracuse Symposium theme for the coming year, "conflict." The artists upon whom we focused are William Gropper, Laurence Hyde, Frans Masereel, Giacomo Patri, John Vassos, and Lynd Ward.

In addition to conflict, novels without words often portray a quest on the part of the individual. This may assume the form of a journey or a saga about the search for self-fulfillment in artistic or purely personal terms, or the quest may have as its primary objective achieving social justice in a particular context. Because of the historical period in which many of these wordless novels were born, they often depict a struggle between the individual and the industrialized world. Industrialization and, by extension, capitalism, may be seen as forces that are fundamentally antagonistic to the interests of the individual and of society in general. Similarly, the law, the police, and the armed forces may all be viewed as instruments of repression in novels without words.

The creators of novels without words also tend to scrutinize the brutal forms of war and tyranny that are made possible by industrialization. In truth, any injustice may become the subject of such works, and perhaps just the cruel nature of our existential struggle to survive in an inherently hostile environment is all the background that is needed to provide the inspiration for the creation of a novel without words.

Invitational with Carl Hoffner
Associated Artists of Central New York

Price: Free
Manlius Village Library
Manlius Village Center, 1 Arkie Albanese Dr., Manlius

Dogs in Transition: Pit Bulls and Mill Dogs
Community Folk Art Center

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

Cyrus Mejia's art focuses on activism and reflects the ideals of kindness and compassion while shining a light on "speciesism, ignorance and cruelty." Mejia is also co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which operates the nation's largest sanctuary for homeless animals near the town of Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is especially known for rehabilitating 22 of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick.

"Pits and Perception" is the first series on view, which portrays pit bulls in a manner that challenges modern-day perceptions of the breed. With increased attention toward dog fighting in the media, many view the pit bull as a vicious and aggressive dog. Through his paintings, Mejia challenges these beliefs by forcing the observer to take a closer look and question public perception.

The second collection, "Mill Dogs Revenge," features dogs rescued from commercial breeding facilities, colloquially known as "puppy mills." Victims of physical abuse, emotional trauma and neglect, these dogs are often subjected to cruel conditions because of human greed for profit. Mejia hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills through his art.

Canaltown Suds: Syracuse Breweries of the Canal Era
Erie Canal Museum

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

Art Gone Wild: Prints and Paintings by the Animals of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Everson Museum of Art

Rosamond Gifford Zoo
One Conservation Place, Syracuse

Striking and extraordinary works of art created by the creatures of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo illustrate the depth of keeper care and behavioral enrichment vital in maintaining healthy and engaged animals. The Everson will be displaying a selection of these animal created artworks in a satellite exhibition. Art Gone Wild! concludes with an art auction on November 20 at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Presented by the Rosamond Gifford Zoo chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK).

Archipelago: Works by Yolanda del Amo
Light Work Gallery

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

There will be an opening reception this evening 5:00-7:00 pm.

Powerful forces deep below the surface of the earth form archipelagos, which are chains or clusters of individual islands. In her series Archipelago, artist Yolanda del Amo depicts the powerful forces between people—their conflicting needs for intimacy and connection, independence and individuality. In Archipelago, these competing needs seem to have reached a peaceful if temporary stasis. These beautiful images show people who, although in the presence of another, appear surrounded on all sides not by water but by silence.

Del Amo leaves the relationships of her subjects to each other deliberately vague, which makes her images all the more universal and compelling. Each photograph represents a fragile time in any relationship when two people—whether they are mother and son, husband and wife, or simply friends—momentarily live alone, together.

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Diane Banks and Adam Francey Recent Works
Limestone Art and Framing Gallery

Limestone Art and Framing Gallery
105 Brooklea Dr., Fayetteville

Diane Banks' specimen series sculptures and drawings are inspired by the fragileness of nature and the delicate balance between vulnerability and strength. Her sculptures are created through the combination of organic and found plastic materials. Through the use of these materials, Banks reveals her fascination how nature protects itself from physical harm caused by man's intrusion, and the many ways it contorts itself to survive.

Working with related and unrelated imagery, Adam Francey layers and edits his paintings until an abstracted composition emerges. These are not works about a concrete idea; rather they provide an opportunity for unlimited readings, depending on point-of-view or frame of reference. Snippets from overheard conversations are peppered in the compositions. These works alternate between toughness and humor, with vibrant colors that appear at any moment, ready to leap off of the surface.

Emerging Women of CNY #1
Redhouse

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

Artwork by Taye Wright-hirry, Maria Janina Rizzo, Alexandara Crosby, and Kristie Hayes.

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Unique: Objects Created by Artists with Disabilities
Szozda Gallery

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

Longtime Delavan Center manager Caroline Szozda celebrates the opening of her new gallery with this exhibit of work from the 10th anniversary of Unique, a magazine produced by ARISE showcasing work by artists with disabilities.

A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape
Gandee Gallery

Price: Free
Gandee Gallery
7846 Main St., Fabius

"A Sense of Place: The Real Central New York Landscape" is a different kind of landscape exhibition. The show features painting, photography, and mixed-media art by Central New York artists that explores the interaction between the local landscape and human activity.

Exhibiting artists include Steven Barbash, Rayburn Beale, Willson Cummer, Brenda Edwards, Bob Gates, Nancy Kramer, Jared Landberg, Sarah McCoubrey, Diane Menzies, Phil Parsons, and Lucie Wellner.

Bill Viola Video Art
Everson Museum of Art

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

The Everson was the first museum to collect video art, beginning in the early 1970s. Bill Viola, now one of the world's leading video artists, studied at Syracuse University and began his career at the Everson. A selection of historic videos by Bill Viola from the Everson's pioneering video collection will be shown in the Rosamond Gifford Sculpture Court in conjunction with the Urban Video Project (UVP), which will also be featuring Viola this fall.

On My Own Time
Everson Museum of Art
CNY Arts

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

Since 1974, the Cultural Resources Council, in collaboration with the Everson, has presented On My Own Time. A celebration of artwork created by employees of local businesses on their own time, the exhibition is meant to promote creativity and artistic endeavors by those who are not full-time artists.

VPA Faculty Show
Syracuse University School of Art and Design

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

An exhibition featuring work by faculty in Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts.

For more information, phone 315-442-2542 during gallery hours.

Works of Cui Fei
The Warehouse Gallery

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

Born in Jinan, China, Cui received her BFA degree in painting from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, China (now China National Academy of Fine Arts) in 1993, and her MFA degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001. Nature is a recurring theme in Cui's work; an artist mainly known for her abstract Chinese calligraphy and related installations using twigs or thorns. For this exhibit, she will create works on paper using thorns and an installation consisting of salt, as a reference to Syracuse's history. Her work comments on the central role of nature, her Chinese origins, and current practices in the West. The vault will display a healing piece using sand referring to the tradition of sand paintings by Native Americans, Tibetan monks, Indians, Australian Aborigines, and Latin Americans. Though widely exhibited, this is Cui's first solo museum exhibition.

Read a review!

Opening Reception: New Formula
Echo

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

There will be an opening reception and one-year anniversary celebration 5:00-9:00 pm, with live acoustic music by The David Wax Museum at 7:00 pm.

An artistic examination of C2's molecular fusion with design firm Lock 49 and artist Brendan Rose.

Cliff Evans: Untitled (Sketch for a monument to J.G. Ballard) #3, 2009
Urban Video Project

Onondaga Historical Association
321 Montgomery St., Syracuse

(1-minute loop) This composite of video footage is the first in a series of three "sketches," from which elements will later be taken to create a much larger virtual monument to the author J.G. Ballard. Within the video, disparate shots of an array of motorway overpasses and exchanges are stitched together in order to create a complex landscape of concrete, smoke, and automobiles. The images hurtle through a dense arterial chaos of constructed time and sibilance, dissolving into a column of smoke and revealing their destination as circular and contained.

Evans is a multimedia artist whose work focuses primarily on political, popular, and internet culture using appropriation and photomontage animation. His multi-channel installations and video objects have been shown internationally, including at the Chelsea Art Museum, Luxe Gallery, and Scope NY in New York City; the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Scope Miami in Miami; and the Chinese International Gallery Exposition in Beijing, China; among many others. He has also been an artist-in-residence at Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood, Lenox, MA; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA; and Location One International Residency Program, New York, NY.

Eva Davidova: Location One & Two, 2005
Urban Video Project

Everson Museum of Art
401 Harrison St., Syracuse

(Digital animation loop, 2:12 minutes) These very short videos are photography-based animation loops, where movement, time, and spatial relationship are defined by the deliberate distortions in the process of blending a photo sequence. The pixels from one image are smoothly dragged and melted into those of the next one. Buildings and objects acquire impossible organic qualities, and the animations become almost sculptural. The affordances of spaces and structures are only dependent on the emotional state of the subject, and on the inner logic, or absurdity of each piece. Through invented and artificial, yet extremely realistic-looking movements, as well as by changing the perception of time, Davidova searches for hidden patterns and looks into states of mind unconditioned by the "possible".

Davidova's work has been exhibited internationally, including at Magnan Projects Gallery, New York; Instituto Cervantes, Sofia, Bulgaria; Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain; N2 Gallery in Barcelona, Spain; and many others. She received a 2006 BANCAJA International Contest Award for Digital Art, the 2008 M-tel Award for Contemporary Bulgarian Art, and the 2009 Djerassi Honorary Fellowship. In 2009 she participated in the Moscow Biennale and in the Living and Dreaming exhibition at the Bronx Museum, NY.

Yolanda del Amo Gallery Reception
Light Work Gallery

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

Gallery reception to celebrate Light Work's exhibition "Archipelago", featuring photographs by Yolanda del Amo.

Andrew Shapter, filmmaker
Syracuse University Setnor School of Music

Price: Free
Lender Auditorium, Whitman School of Management
Syracuse University, Syracuse

Filmmaker Andrew Shapter, who won critical acclaim for his 2006 documentary Before the Music Dies, will present a lecture. Shapter graduated from Texas State University in 1992 and began a career as a professional photographer specializing in music and fashion photography. As he began to garner recognition from magazine editors and ad agencies in New York City and abroad, his career gained momentum that led to work in other markets, including Barcelona, London and Los Angeles.

After working for 15 years in the photography market, Shapter turned his attention to his first passion: filmmaking. His first effort, Before the Music Dies, featured such prominent musicians as Dave Matthews, Eric Clapton, Erykah Badu, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt and Questlove and was a hit with music fans worldwide. His follow-up film, Happiness Is (2009), explores the truths and myths of the "pursuit of happiness" in America.

Shapter is currently working on The Teller and the Truth, a film project about a legendary Texas bank robbery. He also shoots music videos and works with such television networks as National Geographic.

Parking is available for $5 in the University Avenue Garage. For more information, contact the Bandier Program at 315-443-1388.

A Reading
University Neighbors Lecture Series
Featuring George Saunders

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

George Saunders, is the author of six books (including the short story collections CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, and In Persuasion Nation) and, most recently, the essay collection The Braindead Megaphone. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, Harper's, and GQ. In 2006, he was awarded both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. He teaches at Syracuse University.

John Bellinger, poet
The Palace Poetry Group

Books and Melodies
2600 James St., Syracuse

John M. Bellinger is a lifetime resident of Dewitt, now living in East Syracuse in a 100-year-old house by the side of the railroad. He has been writing poetry since the age of 17. A former member of the seminal Comstock Writer's Group, he was the Managing Editor of The Comstock Review from 2006 through 2008. He has been published in CR, as well as The Blue Unicorn, Syracuse Seasons, and Small Pond Magazine.

Edges
Fowler High School Drama Club

Price: $5 at door, $3 advance
Fowler High School
227 Magnolia St., Syracuse

For more information, visit www.fowlerarts.com