More than 60 pieces from the institutional collection are featured in the show, housed at the of the University’s Nancy Cantor Warehouse Building at 350 W. Fayette St. The show runs through Friday, Nov. 22. Admission is free and open to the public.

The exhibition, “Libro de Artista,” features more than 60 artists books from the collection at the Argentine National Museum. (Photo by Matias Roth)

The exhibition is a production of the University’s POC) gallery in partnership with the (MNBA) and the University’s in the .

Sergio Moscona’s “Personajes Diarios,” in ink, acrylic and collage, depicting the intervention of facsimile 1956 edition of “La Prensa,” a daily newspaper that was censored in 1951. (Photo by Matias Roth)

Latin American creators represented in the exhibition include artist books by Diana Dowek, Luis Felipe Noé, Lucrecia Orloff, Jacques Bedel, Daniel García, Miguel Harte, Carolina Antoniadis, Marcos López and Marcia Schvartz. The exhibition also includes the Agentinian museum’s latest accession to the collection, a piece co-authored by Argentine artists Pedro Roth and the late Syracuse University professor and POC founder Pedro Cuperman.

Juan Astica’s acrylic-on-paper piece, “Diversos Conjuros,” consists of 64 paintings. (Photo by Matias Roth)

“It is an honor to partner with MNBA in its first showing of the ‘Libro de Artista’ collection in the United States,” said , executive director of the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community at Syracuse University.

“Point of Contact worked in close collaboration with the Roth family of creators and with the National Ministry of Culture of Argentina in exhibitions at the New York Art Book Fair held at MoMA PS1 from 2012 to 2018. ‘Libro de Artista’ culminates such a project with this timely exhibit as we commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month 2024,”she says.

Andrés Duprat, MNBA director, explains the art form. He says, “The artist book or Libro de Artista is generally not considered a work of art in itself, but for us, it holds great interest because it is in artist books where explorations, intentions, sketches, and even doubts and regrets or new searches are revealed.”

This foldable book in ink on paper, and bound in leather, is by artist Leonel Luna. It’s called “Genealogías del Arte Argentino.” (Photo by Matias Roth)

In terms of artist techniques, formats and materials, artist books take many forms on paper, cardboard, celluloid, acrylic, metal and other materials, transforming into boxes, intervened prints, collages and pop-up books.

One of the pieces in the show, “La Dama del Río,” is a collaborative work with original texts by Pedro Cuperman and illustrations by Pedro Roth. Pedro Roth is a recipient of the 2023 National Award for Artistic Trajectory, an honor bestowed by the National Ministry of Culture recognizing the exceptional path and contributions of living Argentine creators inducted to the National Gallery of Visual Arts.

Juan Pablo Ferlat’s digital print is titled “Golem.” (Photo by Matias Roth)

“Point of Contact, soon to commemorate its 50th anniversary, has much to celebrate with the accession of this piece to the MNBA’s permanent collection,” says Matias Roth, curator of the “Libro de Artista” Buenos Aires exhibition and an exhibiting artist in the show. “As a member of the Point of Contact board of directors and longtime collaborator of both POC and the National Museum, I greatly appreciate that this work will be preserved in Argentina’s National Art Collection.”

At Point of Contact’s exhibition opening are, from left, Tere Paniagua, gallery director; Matias Roth, Point of Contact board member and show curator; Museum Studies Professor Andrew Saluti and museum studies graduate students Paola Manzano and Molly Dano.

Carrie Mae Weems H’17 (Photo by Jerry Klineberg)

“Carrie Mae Weems’ commitment to telling the American story has secured her place among the greatest artists of our time,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “This extraordinary honor is a testament to her prolific and powerful work that has profoundly impacted the artistic community, contributed to cultural awareness and inspired change. Syracuse University is fortunate and proud to have such an accomplished artist as part of our community.”

The National Medal of Arts��is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government. The medal is awarded by the president of the United States to individuals or groups who “are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.”

“As the first African American female visual artist to receive the National Medal of Arts in recognition for my contributions is profoundly humbling and a great honor,” says Weems.��“I��thank my colleagues, along with the many other great women artists of color who came before me, widened the path and took the heat, but unfortunately were not recognized for their tremendous achievements.”

Weems’ four decades of work, including groundbreaking and distinctive compositions of photography, text, audio, installation, video and performance art, depicts topics of race, gender, social injustice and economic inequity throughout American history to the present day.

She is the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, and she is represented in public and private collections around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art; Tate Modern; Whitney Museum of American Art; National Gallery of Canada; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

In April, Weems reviewed the work of College of Visual and Performing Arts students in the studio arts program at the University’s Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Syracuse University Program in Florence (Photo by Francesco Guazzelli)

Weems is a 2023��Hasselblad Award��laureate and has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships, including the��, the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts, the Joseph H. Hazen Rome Prize Fellowship, the National Endowment of the Arts fellowship and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award.

In April, Weems participated in the conference, organized in concert with the , and reviewed the work of College of Visual and Performing Arts students in the studio arts program at the University’s Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Syracuse University Program in Florence.

Her solo exhibition, “The Shape of Things,” is currently running at the in New York City through Nov. 9.

As the University’s artist in residence, Weems engages with Syracuse University faculty and students in a number of ways, including working with students in the design, planning and preparation of exhibitions.

Candace Campbell Jackson, senior vice president and chief of staff, who co-created the Artist in Residence program with Academic Affairs leadership, says, “This well-deserved honor recognizes Carrie Mae Weems’ incredible cultural contributions as a groundbreaking and visionary artist. It also reminds us once again how proud we are to call her our artist in residence. Carrie’s longstanding connection with the University has been a source of inspiration to the arts on campus here and abroad and resulted in numerous one-of-a-kind opportunities for our students.”

Weems first came to Syracuse in 1988 to participate in Light Work’s artist-in-residence program. Over the years, she has participated in several programs at Light Work and has a long history of engaging with students and the University community.

Weems taught at Syracuse University previously, and out of her two courses Art in Civic Engagement and Art and Social Dialogue came the innovative and popular . She previously was artist-in-residence in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (2005-06) and she was a distinguished guest of the University Lectures in 2014.

Weems also was bestowed an honorary doctorate by the University in 2017 (along with honorary degrees from Bowdoin College, the California College of Art, Colgate University, the New York School of Visual Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art and Smith College).

Emily Dittman

Following 17 years of service to the , Emily Dittman has been named director, effective Oct. 16. The announcement was made today by Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives Elisa Dekaney.

“Emily’s steady, visionary leadership has already guided the Syracuse University Art Museum along a successful path and secured its place at the center of campus life,” Dekaney says. “I am excited to continue working with her to further expand and strengthen the museum as a resource for students, faculty, staff and the local community.”

Dittman has served as the museum’s interim director for two years, leading operations, financial and strategic planning, alumni relations, fundraising and communications and marketing, and managing a staff of six full-time and 14 part-time employees. Additionally, she directs the collections care team, overseeing cataloguing, storage, environmentals and the design and function of the collection database.

“I am thrilled to embark on the next chapter of my leadership journey with the arts at Syracuse University,” Dittman says. “The museum’s prestigious permanent collection, engaging exhibitions and dynamic programs inspire me daily with their potential to serve as transformative experiences for our community. I am excited for the opportunity to collaborate more closely with our students, faculty, artists and community members during this exciting period of growth for the museum as an arts destination that is welcoming and open to all.”

Dittman joined the Art Museum in 2007 as a collection and exhibition manager, a role she held for 11 years. In that capacity, she had oversight of the SUArt Traveling Exhibition program, the Campus Loan program, special exhibitions and photography exhibitions at Syracuse University Art Galleries. She also handled communications tasks, including gallery publications and media relations. She later served as associate director for four years.

Dittman has curated a number of exhibitions, including “Impact!: The Photo League and its Legacy,” “Wanderlust: Travel Photography,” “Everyday Art: Street Photography in the Syracuse University Art Collection” and “Pure Photography: Pictorial and Modern Photographs.” She serves on the board of and teaches museum studies courses in the .

Dittman earned an M.A. in museum studies and an M.S. in library and information science from Syracuse University and a B.A. in history from Allegheny College.

The new station, “,” is “a thrilling and significant breakthrough” for the growing Spanish-speaking community in the area, says , executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community and director of the University’s . “The station is poised to become a vital resource, reflecting the vibrant mix of Hispanic and Latino cultures and effectively engaging these populations like no other local or regional medium does.”

Paniagua and many others at the University were integral to the development of the station. She first got involved in the summer of 2023 when WCNY CEO and President approached her wondering if a Spanish-language radio station was available in the area. When he discovered there wasn’t one, Gelman asked Paniagua to help him assess the community’s interest in filling that void.

Gelman formed a community task force, which he co-chaired with Paniagua and WCNY-FM Station Manager . Over many months, more than two dozen task force members planned the station’s structure, helped developed funding, sought collaborators and generated programming ideas.

Teresita Paniagua, left, the University’s executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community, speaks to students at an event celebrating Hispanic culture. Paniagua was instrumental in spurring community interest in and involvement to help bring about WCNY’s Spanish-language radio station.

Several University faculty members and instructors from the College of Arts and Sciences, including , associate teaching professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Spanish language coordinator, and , Spanish instructor, participated in the task force efforts.

Also involved in other ways were , Spanish department professor and chair; , Spanish professor; , assistant teaching professor of film in the College of Visual and Performing Arts; , development director for Syracuse Stage; , professor of Spanish at Onondaga Community College; Josefa Álvarez Valadés, ��Spanish professor at LeMoyne College; and , a Newhouse School of Public Communications alumnus and former radio/TV producer who is an associate professor of communications at SUNY Oswego.

As part of the task force’s fact-finding, Paniagua enlisted Whitman School of Management students Nicolas Cela Marxuach ’25, Zachary Levine ’25 and Jonah Griffin ’24 to develop and distribute a community interest survey, which the students circulated to several hundred local residents at community events. She says 98% of respondents supported the idea. The survey also provided insights into audience demographics and programming ideas—including sports, community news, talk shows, music and faith-based content.

There are upwards of 1,000 Spanish-speaking radio stations in the U.S. but Pulso Central is the first of its kind in Central New York. The region is home to some 18,000 Spanish-speaking households, with Spanish-speaking people making up about 10.5% of the area’s population and comprising a segment of the community that has grown 30% over the past decade, according to research done by WCNY.

A Learning Resource

Pulso Central also provides a unique learning opportunity and “an extraordinary new pedagogical tool for experiential education” for the University’s students, says Ticio Quesada.

M. Emma Ticio Quesada, center, a professor in Syracuse University’s Spanish department, uses WCNY’s radio station studio as an experiential learning space and resource for her courses.

Five students from her immersive course, Community Outreach: Language in Action, are interning at the station. The students, Lailah Ali-Valentine, Adam Baltaxe, Kimberlyn Lopez Herrera, Nicolas Bernardino Greiner-Guzman and Jade Aulestia recently created their first podcast.

Ticio Quesada says she also expects students in SPA 300: Our Community Voices, an course, to benefit from the same kind of internship opportunity. The course connects native and non-native Spanish speakers, inspires them to contribute to the local community, and promotes inclusion and social justice.

Partnering Results

Miranda Traudt, the University’s assistant provost for arts and community programming, says the task force is a good example of the positive outcomes that can result when members of the University and local communities work together to achieve specific goals. “This project continues La Casita’s meaningful engagement with Hispanic communities in Central New York and helps fulfill its mission through work in the arts, media, cultural heritage preservation and research adding to the high quality of life,” she says.

Several dozen community members helped WCNY form and air the area’s first Spanish-language radio station. They included, from left, Mitch Gelman, WCNY president and CEO; M. Emma Ticio Quesada, Syracuse University professor of Spanish; Stephanie Gonzalez Rawlings, content producer; and DJ Lorenz (Renzo Quesada), music host. (Photo by Eric Hayden, WCNY)

Game Changer

Paniagua believes the station “can be a game changer,” not only in providing news and information about and for the Latina/Hispanic community but also by “helping to change long-established stereotypes and present a whole new world of possibilities for the people of this community,” she says. “There are many wonderful stories about people who have established their lives in this community and I hope Pulso Central can be a showcase for those stories.”

Launch Event Oct. 24

An official launch event, “,” will be held Thursday, Oct. 24, at WCNY studios and La Casita.

“WCNY is thrilled to help launch Pulso Central,” Gelman says. “Our goal is to provide a platform that will come alive with music and talk that engages listeners and fosters community connection.”

The station reaches listeners in 19 counties. Pulso Central airs on WCNY 91.3 HD-2 in Syracuse, WUNY 89.5 HD-2 in Utica and WJNY 90.9 HD-2 in Watertown. It is accessible online at and streaming on the Pulso Central app.

London Ladd

An illustrator of nearly 20 books, School of Art Assistant Teaching Professor����recently celebrated the release of two picture books, “” (Harper Collins) and “” (Philomel Books).

Using acrylic paint, cut paper and tissue paper, Ladd employs a ��for his work. Nurturing the talents of rising illustrators, he became a full-time faculty member this year at the , where he earned a B.F.A. and M.F.A.in illustration and previously taught part time.

Motivated by the “beauty of Black life,” he draws a spotlight on relatable subjects. His picture book “” (Harper Collins), a celebration of Black children, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in 2023.

Exploring the beauty of Black hair, Ladd presents people viewers can identify with in “My Hair is a Book.”

“My greatest joy is when somebody says, ‘That looks like my niece’ or ‘That looks like me as a child,’” says Ladd. “I want people to see themselves, or somebody they know, and connect with it.”

Early in his career, Ladd focused heavily on historical subjects, particularly those from the American Civil War and Civil Rights eras. He has since shifted away from these subjects but made an exception for Myrlie Evers-Williams, a civil rights activist.

“I have tremendous respect for her,” Ladd says. After her husband was shot and killed, “instead of regressing back into anonymity, she made her own name. She’s carried on the legacy that started when her and her husband began.”

Ladd has another book release, “”��(Holiday House), on the horizon. He is also working on illustrations for three other books.

With his sights on the future, Ladd has plans to write his own picture book, branching out into a different art form.

“I’m excited about the writing element,” he says. “That’s the last frontier for me in picture books.”

Story by Mikayla Heiss

They were also witnesses to major political events, such as President Richard Nixon stepping down after the Watergate scandal and President Gerald Ford taking office (and being memorably lampooned the next year on new television program “Saturday Night Live”). At Syracuse University, a less known yet still consequential development occurred.

That year, the department that became����was born.

On July 1, five College of Arts and Sciences departments came together to become “one new department under the chairmanship of Louis W. Roberts,” according to a press release from the time. The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures unified the former individual departments of classics, German, linguistics, Romance languages and Slavic languages and literatures to create, as then-Dean Kenneth Goodrich noted, “a needed synthesis of the traditional and the progressive in the field of foreign language and literature education.”

Excerpt from the 1974 news release creating LLL’s forerunner (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center)

The department’s name was changed under Dean Robert Jensen to “Languages, Literatures and Linguistics” in 1995 to recognize the breadth of world languages and cultures being taught and the strength of the linguistics program.

As part of celebrating its 50 years as a multilingual, multicultural department, the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (LLL) is hosting a film series this semester, including a discussion evening on Oct. 30. “Film is a critical medium through which students can develop cultural and linguistic competencies,” says , professor of Spanish and LLL chair.

The films span genres, cultures and times, reflecting the department’s commitment to global perspectives and the exploration of language through art.

The film series includes the following screenings:

October

• “” (Italy, 1994)—Oct. 9, 5:30 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium
• “” (France, 2023)—Oct. 10, 7 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium
• “” (France, 2011)—Oct. 17, 7 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium
• “” (Lebanon, 2018)—Oct. 18, 2 p.m., 341 Eggers
• “” (Italy, 1975)—Oct. 23, 5:30 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium
• “” (France, 2012)—Oct. 24, 7 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium
• “” (Taiwan, 2010)—Oct. 28, 7 p.m., 113 Eggers
• —Oct. 30, 5:30-10 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium:
  • “There’s Still Tomorrow” (Italy, 2023)
  • “Perfect Days” (Germany, Japan, 2023)

November

• “” (Germany, 2012)—Nov. 4, 6:45 p.m., Kittridge Auditorium
• “” (Italy, 2023)—Nov. 14, 6:30 p.m., Kittredge Auditorium
• “” (Soviet Union, Japan, 1977)—Nov. 21, 11 a.m., 107 Huntington Hall
• “Mal-Mo-E: The Secret Mission” (Korea, 2019)—TBD

For more information about the film series, contact��Gail Bulman.

Other events celebrating LLL’s 50th anniversary in 2024 included the annual Wor(l)ds of Love Valentine’s Day poetry festival in February, Women across the World events in March, theater and musical performances, an LLL majors and minors’ celebration and the department’s annual Culture(s) on the Quad in April.

Spring 2025 event dates will be announced at a later time.

During this prestigious fellowship, Kim will work on her new book “Dignity Archives: Accompanying the Dead and Posthumous Care.”

Eunjun Kim

Kim is among 31 fellows from 492 applicants. In addition to working on her research project, she will have the opportunity to share ideas in seminars, lectures and conferences at the HNC, headquartered at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

Kim’s book project asks what kind of political work the dying and the dead are doing and what kind of connections and disconnections are happening around them.

“The collection of cases includes disabled people who were killed in an institution in Japan; factory workers who became disabled and terminally ill from toxic exposure; and people who died from neglect in an AIDS care facility in South Korea,” explains Kim. “By exploring the ways in which mourning and the demand for justice are intertwined in cultural and political discourses, my book aims to encourage others to rethink the primacy of autonomy, ability and health in the understanding of dignity.”

“The National Humanities Center is the world’s only independent institute dedicated exclusively to advanced study in all areas of the humanities,” says , professor and associate dean for research in the School of Education. “NHC is a highly prestigious fellowship and former fellows have gone on win a number of distinguished awards, including the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.”

Additionally, SOE is represented at NHC by , professor of disability studies and a NHC Resident Fellow, who is researching for , “Fermenting Stories: Exploring Ancestry, Embodiment and Place.”

The NHC is the world’s only independent institute dedicated exclusively to advanced study in all areas of the humanities. Through its fellowships, the center promotes understanding of the humanities and advocates for their foundational role in a democratic society.

“WEIRD Barrio” depicts the Latino barrio experience in intricate detail. At its core, it is a testament to the power of storytelling and visual representation in shaping collective identity and fostering a sense of belonging within marginalized communities. By intricately depicting familiar settings, Westside neighborhood streets, community buildings, home environments and conceptual representations of a unique and distinctive character, Matías invites viewers to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of life in the barrios, capturing the essence of kinship and cultural pride that define these neighborhoods.

“WEIRD Barrio” (Photo by Daniela Dorado)

This project actively engaged with local youth through a series of summer artmaking workshops facilitated by Matías. Some of these pieces, created by children at La Casita and at the Everson Museum, will also be part of the show.

“The Westside reminds me a lot about the barrios where I grew up, between Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and the Lower East Side in New York City, ” says Matías. “I love working in miniature scale and seeing how something so tiny can have such a huge impact, like our barrios and our children. I want them to know how much they are valued and how unique and beautiful they are.”

This program is part of the 2024-25 Syracuse Symposium on “Community” co-produced with . Support for the WEIRD Barrio youth summer workshops at La Casita comes from the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation.

“WEIRD Barrio” will be on view through April 2025.

Story by Daniela Dorado

“WEIRD Barrio” (Photo by Daniela Dorado)

Brice Nordquist, founder of the Engaged Humanities Network, welcomed guests to the inaugural EHN Showcase at the Salt City Market in Downtown Syracuse.

The research and collaborative work of teams from Syracuse University in partnership with community organizations was front and center at the Engaged Humanities Network (EHN) showcase held in Downtown Syracuse’s Salt City Market on May 3.

The event marked EHN’s first open-house style celebration of community-engaged projects, courses and creative scholarship generated by interdisciplinary groups from the University and their local partners (view a full list of participants at the end of the article).

Guests perused information tables and chatted with researchers to learn more about their respective projects. Throughout the day, presenters took the stage to provide an overview of their research and share their team’s accomplishments.

Sarah Nahar, a Ph.D. candidate in religion in the College of Arts and Sciences and environmental studies at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, served as the emcee throughout the day and introduced each presenter.

The , which was founded by , Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of writing and rhetoric, has been seeding and supporting innovative opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research, teaching and learning that immerses them in the community. By applying their knowledge and skills to these initiatives, members of EHN help build relationships of trust and mutual support across communities.

This commitment to cultivating scholarly work for the betterment of society ties directly to human thriving and experiential inquiry, key areas of distinctive excellence in the University’s Academic Strategic Plan. Over the past four years, EHN has helped to foster collaborations that have connected teams at the University with 35 community-based organizations. In addition, EHN has supported 14 courses, 35 active projects and over 350 faculty, staff and students who are engaged in community work.

Phil Arnold (second from left), associate professor of religion in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Sandy Bigtree (second from right), a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, talked with guests about the Indigenous Values Initiative.

The student, faculty and community teams at the EHN Showcase included Project Mend (Syracuse University with Center for Community Alternatives); Write Out (Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, with YWCA); Doctrine of Discovery (Syracuse University with Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center); Breedlove Readers (Syracuse University with South Side Communication Center); Narratio Fellowship (Syracuse University with North Side Learning Center); La Casita Mother’s and Women’s Group; Listening to the Elders (Syracuse University with Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center and Onondaga Nation); Spanish in Action (LLL with La Casita); Data Warriors (Syracuse University with Nottingham High School); Environmental Storytelling CNY (EHN with SUNY ESF); Syracuse University Research in Physics (Syracuse University with Syracuse City School District); The Turning Lens Collective/Family Pictures Syracuse (SU with P.E.A.C.E, Inc.); Natural Science Explorers Program (Syracuse University with North Side Learning Center); CODA Educational Support Program (SU with Deaf New Americans Advocacy, Inc.); Photography and Literacy (PAL) (Syracuse University Art Museum with Mercy Works); Teens with a Movie Camera (VPA in collaboration with Nottingham High School); along with members of the inaugural : ENG 420: Everyday Media and Social Justice (Professor Roger Hallas and students), LIN 300: Linguistics at Work (Professor Amanda Brown and students) and WRT 114: Creative Non-fiction: Writing and Translating Courses (Professor Sevinç Türkkan and students).

Learn more about the .

For more photos and videos of the event, visit the .

The work of nearly 40 artists aged six to 12 who have participated in the center’s free will be displayed. The opening event and reception take place on Friday, April 19, at La Casita’s facilities at 109 Otisco Street, Syracuse. The event is free and open to the public.

Tere Panaigua

, executive director of the at Syracuse University, says center staff take great pride in the young artists’ accomplishments. “The children’s achievements are remarkable, and programming like this allows everyone involved to gain knowledge and understanding about different creative works as well as about each other. It is a wonderful way to learn more about the many cultures that abound in our city and our region and how people make connections through art.”

More than 200 Syracuse University students serve as interns and volunteers in the programs, working together with faculty members and community artists to help youngsters in the program with a range of art projects and musical and dance performances. The children who participate include residents of the City’s West Side, Syracuse City School District students, and those from other parts of Syracuse and neighboring towns.

Paniagua says the program is valuable for more than just the way it teaches children about the arts. “The children are engaged in a culturally centered, safe environment where they are learning and gaining new skills. They also are working with older students who mentor them and provide them with some amazing role models.”

The event will highlight the work of these activities:

Open Studio (artmaking): This workshop is led by graduate student Bennie Guzman G ’25, a College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) creative art therapy major and youth programming coordinator for La Casita since 2018. Guest artists who collaborated with Bennie in designing and facilitating workshops include , associate professor of film at VPA, who facilitated a two-week animation film workshop; and , a Syracuse teaching artist who exhibited at this year’s Latino Futurism show and who led a comic book illustration workshop. Two undergraduate students assisted in the workshop programming: Sidney Mejía ’24, a political science major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and Ana Aponte ’24, Gonzalez, a dual major in communications and rhetorical studies and women’s and gender studies in VPA and the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).

Danza Troupe: This dance ensemble will perform at the reception. It is led by Syracuse University student Gabriela Padilla ’25, a biochemistry major in A&S who has been the program’s dance instructor and choreographer for the past two years. She and the troupe plan a show for the opening event that features an about La Casita. The song was written by Alexander Paredes, who recently completed an executive Master of Public Administration at the Maxwell School and is now using his optional practical training year to work in administration at La Casita.

Children in the afterschool arts program study piano with instructor and undergraduate student volunteer piano instructor Myra Bocage ’26. (Photo by Edward Reynolds)

Children in the program’s piano and violin workshops will also perform along with their instructors, recent VPA violin performance graduate student Tales Navarro ’G 24 and piano instructor Myra Bocage ’26, an advertising major at the Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Students involved in the dual language literacy programs at La Casita include Andrea Perez Ternet ’24, a human development and family science senior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, who is completing a capstone internship at La Casita, and Diana García Varo G ’25, a graduate student in the multimedia, photography and design program at the Newhouse School.

La Casita, an arts and education center supported by Syracuse University, was established in 2011 as a cultural bridge for Latino/Latin American communities on campus and throughout the Central New York region.

Goode teamed up with staff at the�� and students across campus to explore the ways in which objects and artworks in the museum’s collection could be utilized as teaching resources. Over the past year, the transdisciplinary team has conducted countless hours of research to develop a collection of electronic museums (e-museums) called the��. The following section of questions and answers provide details and information about the curators, the extensive research that went into this effort and how teachers can utilize these resources.

Weems, an internationally renowned artist, will travel to Florence to deliver a public lecture, “Resistance as an Act of Love,” April 17. While there, she will review the work of students in the studio arts program.

Carrie Mae Weems (Photo by Jerry Klineberg)

The students will also attend the conference in Venice April 20 and 21. Weems and Florence faculty member will participate in the conference, which is co-sponsored by Syracuse University. Weems will be a panelist for the discussion “Black Realities through Digital Media,” and Nelson will serve on the “Radical Curricula” panel.

Students traveling to the conference include studio arts majors Anastasia Cardona, Sidney Hanson (a dual art history major in the College of Arts and Sciences) and Rumini Nguyen; computer art and animation major Mark Casadevall; and illustration majors Madeleine Herberger, Sarah Mednick, Sarah Skalski and Alissar Youssef.

Black Portraitures, now in its 14^th year, is organized in concert with the . This year’s theme “Shifting Paradigms,” brings together thought leaders in the arts from Africa and the African Diaspora. Founder Deborah Willis says the convening “will explore and expand narratives on memoir and memory studies; migration stories through family and politics; and reimagine ideas about art practices and the exhibition experience, all while considering new research practices.”

Rina Banerjee’s “Take Me to the Palace of Love”

One of the highest honors given by MANY, the Art Museum, along with fellow awardees that include peer museums, museum professionals, industry partners and legislative leaders, will be recognized for their exceptional achievements at MANY’s 2024 annual conference “Giving Voice to Value” in Albany, New York, in early April. “We are honored to be recognized by our museum colleagues for the Rina Banerjee exhibition and related programs- which included extensive collaborations with our campus community through faculty, student and staff-led programs, as well as the greater Syracuse area community,” says Emily Dittman, interim director, who will receive the award on behalf of the museum. “This project provided us the opportunity to truly fulfill our mission to foster diverse and inclusive perspectives by uniting students across campus with each other and the local and global community, engaging with artwork to bring us together, and examining the forces that keep us apart.”

From left: Romita Ray, Rina Banerjee and Joan Bryant

Inspired by “Take Me to the Palace of Love” a 2003 art installation by contemporary artist Rina Banerjee about home and diaspora, Ray accumulated a group of work from the Syracuse University Art Museum permanent art collection as well as from other Central New York museums, to install in the museum galleries in conjunction with Banerjee’s monumental sculptures. “Viola, from New Orleans” a work that explores inter-racial marriage in America, and “A World Lost,” an installation that critiques climate change, anchored the galleries and was placed in dialogue with work from the collections.

As a part of the robust slate of public programs associated with the exhibition, the museum invited the University community, new Americans and under-represented communities in the city of Syracuse (a resettlement city for Afghans, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Somalians and Syrians) to document their own stories about identity and place—individually and collectively—in dialogue with Banerjee who was the University’s Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities. “Take Me To The Palace of Love” was generously supported by the Syracuse University Humanities Center, along with 33 university departments and units at the University, The Republic of Tea and the National Endowment for the Arts.

“James Little’s contributions to contemporary American art have made him a standout among our talented alumni artists. His gift to the Art Museum expands its already impressive collection and increases our students’ exposure to important and diverse artistic works,” says Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer .

Emily Dittman, interim director of the museum, says the acquisition “is truly transformational to the museum collection, as well as our community of emerging artists, scholars, University students and colleagues and the central New York area. ‘Euclidian Squares’ joins other abstraction works in the permanent collection and adds an important voice of a critical artist. We are truly grateful to James for his generosity and commitment to the museum.”

Painting image credit: James Little, “Euclidean Squares,” 2022. Gift of the artist.

One of Little’s “white paintings,” “Euclidean Squares” is an oval canvas placed in a handsome diamond-shaped frame. Featuring an off-kilter grid of squares, the painting rewards close looking by revealing its densely and carefully painted surface. To make the art, Little first laid down a ground using dark paint populated with multicolor speckles. He then masked off the surface before pouring a thick layer of white pigment onto the canvas, waiting until it partially dried to expose the grid pattern. Areas along the margin also highlight the oil paint’s material quality, with tiny peaks disclosing the paint’s tackiness when the grid is revealed.

For this and his other works, Little draws on the repetition seen in the different patterns that populate New York City, where he lives and works.

James Little. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Little ‘15)

In a 2022 interview with Memphis Magazine, he shared: “There’s no narrative [to my painting.] It’s based on imagination…” Little’s commitment to abstraction, therefore, depends on a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of an interplay of color and shapes that relies on color theory and design principles. It also is in line with the rich history of teaching abstraction in painting at Syracuse. While earning a master’s degree in fine arts at the University in the late 1970s, Little studied with George Vander Sluis; their paintings share a similar tactility in surface. As Little also says in a 2022 Artforum interview, “You have to constantly investigate and engage with the surface; the movement is perpetual—it won’t stop.”

“Euclidean Squares” will be on view in the 2024-2025 reinstallation of the Collection Galleries at the museum and anchor one of its thematic sections.

Dittman says the painting continues the important shift in the museum’s collecting plan over the past three years, which is a continuation of the museum’s strategic plan and reflects a commitment to collecting and preserving works of art as a research tool and serving as a community educational space with the power to reflect and shape society. Through a critical examination of the scope of the permanent collection, the museum recognized large gaps in the representation of all voices, cultures and themes practiced in the visual arts, Dittman says, and Little’s painting adds to the museum’s strength in abstraction while complementing paintings by Black abstract painters currently in the permanent collection. Dittman says this gift continues to expand the museum’s holdings of works of art that reflect the global community and examine interdisciplinary interests such as science, history, politics and social justice.

Little earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Memphis Academy of Art and a master of fine arts degree from Syracuse University. He is a 2009 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painting. His work is featured prominently in the 2022 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and it has been exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions around the world. Those venues include MoMA P.S.1 in New York; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas; Studio Museum in Harlem; St. Louis Art Museum; and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. His work has been included in “The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse” at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

Recent solo exhibitions include “Homecoming: Bittersweet” at Dixon Gallery & Gardens: Art Museum in Memphis and an exhibition at Kavi Gupta in Chicago. Little also participated in a 2022 historic collaboration for Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts series. His paintings are represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Art; Studio Museum; the Menil Collection in Houston; Library of Congress; Maatschappij Arti Et Amicitiae in Amsterdam; Saint Louis Art Museum, Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse; New Jersey State Museum in Trenton; Tennessee State Museum in Nashville; Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock; Newark Museum in New Jersey; and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

�ճ����, in the (A&S), offers key grants and fellowships to graduate students that allow them to advance their projects and share their ideas beyond the walls of the University. Two such opportunities include�������Ի���

“Advancing graduate student research is so important. As the work of this year’s dissertation fellows and public humanities grantees amply illustrates, graduate students are pushing the boundaries of their fields and advancing the humanities in new ways for the 21st century,” says��, director of the Humanities Center. “Their projects explore how we think about transnational and cross-cultural solidarity movements to address legacies of settler colonialism; how we experience and navigate linguistic interactions; how we think about visual, photographic and historical archives—and address absences within them; and how we can use photography and literature to foster a positive transformation in ourselves and wider communities. We invite the broader community to join us for conversation and engagement with these cutting-edge scholars this spring.”

Humanities Center Dissertation Fellowship Recipients

The Humanities Center Dissertation Fellowships are competitive one-year awards in the form of stipends that allow the awardees, who are in their final year of their doctoral programs, to focus on completing their dissertations and immersing fully in their research without the demands of teaching.

To be eligible, students must be completing dissertations in Ph.D. programs at A&S in English, philosophy, religion or writing. (.) Selected fellows benefit from a support system within the Humanities Center, camaraderie with one another and the opportunity to present their work to an interdisciplinary audience.

The Humanities Center will hold a virtual��, where this year’s cohort will engage in dialogue and Q&A about their respective projects on Friday, Feb. 16, at 10:30 a.m. To register, visit the .

Çağla Çimendereli,��Ph.D. candidate, philosophy

Çağla Çimendereli

Çağla Çimendereli’s dissertation,��, identifies a new aspect by adopting an existentialist approach to spoken language, shifting the focus from the goals of speaking to the act of speaking itself.

As a native of Turkey, when she came to the U.S. to earn a Ph.D., she started noticing that occasionally using a foreign language for basic communication and academic discussion was quite different from existing in a foreign language while trying to be a free and authentic person. After discussing her experience with other nonnative speakers at the University, she realized there was a common lack of understanding of the phenomenon.

Çimendereli noted that speaking a foreign language was often considered a privilege or additional power, and that linguistic norms and practices help determine what language is spoken, often oppressing nonnative speakers in ways that have been ignored. Her experiences led her to question how these two simultaneous modes in nonnative speaking can be reconciled, which became the focus of her dissertation.

“It seems clear to me that there are many people who experience agency-restrictiveness of nonnative speaking, but the traditional frameworks for understanding language speaking do not allow for open discussion,” says Çimendereli. “Exposing the structural/systemic aspects of these experiences helps those affected better understand that if they are feeling powerless and inauthentic, there are reasons, and that is not simply their own failure. I’m hoping to initiate a new way of discussing linguistic agency in philosophy, which I believe will better guide the linguistics justice debates in political theory, sociolinguistics and language education.”

Florencia Lauria,��Ph.D. candidate, English

Florencia Lauria

Florencia Lauria’s dissertation,��, puts Indigenous and Latinx studies in dialogue by examining border narratives in contemporary novels and films. Her research looks at reading borders as sites of profound tension for Latinx migration and Indigenous sovereignty and addresses materials that range from novels and fantasy and science fiction to historical archives and climatology reports.

The project examines settler colonial histories and environmental injustices in the Americas from Argentina to Canada. Her dissertation aims to refocus the conversations about Latinx and Indigenous contemporary literatures around borders that are not places for comradery and healing but instead unresolvable “unfriendliness” between contested positions. She poses what kind of shared political future is possible for migrant and Indigenous subjects given the turbulent landscapes in which they meet.

“Literature can highlight important inter- and intragroup relations, establishing common ground between different justice movements and providing avenues of collective resistance against colonial racial capitalist structures,” she says. “In some cases, it can also elude important differences between justice projects, such as land back campaigns or anti-deportation campaigns. My project is interested in challenging easy connection, which I argue do disservice to these relations in the long run. My hope is that by highlighting difference and non-equivalence, my work will contribute to more profound solidarities between justice projects.”

Humanities New York Public Humanities Grants Awardees

A joint initiative between the Humanities Center and the��, these competitive grants are awarded by Humanities New York (HNY) to support publicly engaged humanities projects that foster meaningful public partnerships and strengthen the role of the humanities across New York state communities.

Recipients of the Humanities New York Public Humanities grants also have the chance to take part in various networking events and workshops designed to develop greater skillsets and expertise. (.)

The Humanities Center will host a virtual��, where this year’s cohort will engage in dialogue and Q&A about their respective projects on Wednesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. To register, visit the .

Chelsea Bouldin,��University Fellow, Ph.D. candidate, School of Education

Chelsea Bouldin

Chelsea Bouldin, who was recently awarded an��Imagining America Publicly Active Graduate Education fellowship, was selected for a Humanities New York grant for her work, So be it; See to it: An Archiving Project.

Bouldin’s interest in this topic comes from her understanding that elitist, exclusionary institutions often house the archives of public figures whose insights offer potential frameworks for a fuller understanding of people’s histories, present and future—something particularly true for marginalized communities with less access to these institutions and whose histories have been disproportionately subject to being erased from mainstream education.

With this understanding, Bouldin has combined her work in archival research on Octavia E. Butler, one of the first African American female science fiction writers, with her commitment to public-oriented scholarship to explore how she could extend her project beyond academia to include public influence. Curating Butler’s work to form a Black women-centered community-based project in Syracuse, Bouldin aims to showcase how their respective histories in particular offer transformative tools to engage the present for those who have limited “windows and mirrors” to see themselves through literature.

“It is my deep hope that this project will impact my area of research by widening our consideration of archives as sites of epistemic resources and as a model of expansively ‘doing’ scholarship,” Bouldin says. “I also hope this exemplifies the ways that singular academic projects can be creatively shared in a multiplicity of iterations across difference. This project verbalizes imagination, which is critical to my area of research.”

Caroline Charles,��Ph.D. student, English/film and screen studies

Caroline Charles

Another Humanities New York grant was awarded to Caroline Charles for her project,��Family Pictures Syracuse/Turning the Lens Collective. Charles’ inspiration comes from research done for her dissertation,��Practices of Black Visual Archive in Film, which examines how Black filmmakers utilize archival materials inside their work, as well as from her work co-curating an archival exhibition,��A Love Supreme: Black Cultural Expression and Political Activism of the 1960s and 1970s, inside Syracuse University Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

As part of her dissertation research, she encountered the work of����and his own community engagement project, which encourages local communities to share stories through their family photographs. This motivated her to collaborate with The Family Pictures Institute, as well as students and staff at Syracuse University, to create a Syracuse community-based project around family photographs. A native of Syracuse, Charles hopes her work might inspire others to do a dissertation project, thesis or other form of scholarly research that involves the greater Syracuse community.

“The photographs we take, display in our homes or keep in family albums are sites for public memory—windows into stories that too often go unseen and underwritten,” she says. “My hope is that this project will allow participants to see the value in their own photo archives, and that will inspire the community to narrate the stories behind their photographs to ensure that our histories are not lost or overlooked. Finally, I hope that the project will be an opportunity to connect the community to our local archives and learn more about the services and resources they provide.”

The lineup features lectures, art exhibitions and conversations that invite us as a community to immerse in art, narrative and architecture to raise our awareness about the environmental impacts of chemicals, mass extinction and colonialism. The events invite us to deepen a sense of ecological care, unpack environmental ethics and explore reproductive justice issues in a post-Roe world.

Contemplating Syracuse Symposium’s earlier this year, , director of the Humanities Center and of the Central New York Humanities Corridor, noted that the annual series is core to the center’s mission to advance humanities research, showcase the humanities as a public good and enhance our sense of shared community by bringing people together to confront some of the most pressing issues of our time.

“Connecting humanistic inquiry and expertise with broad questions of social justice and public welfare is fundamental to the Syracuse University Humanities Center’s mission,” observes May. “This spring, Landscapes explores complex global and local issues tied to our natural and built environments, but also our cultural and political landscapes. Whether through art, by learning from ancient trees, or by listening to reproductive justice advocates and health care workers on the ground, Landscapes examines the complex interplay of politics, histories and memories in shaping the diverse environments around us.”

Spring Symposium Events

The 2024 Spring Symposium kicks off on Feb. 13 with . Landscape architect Julie Bargmann (FASLA) will discuss imaginative strategies in architecture and design that reveal rather than conceal the chemical aspects and physical legacy of the built environment and post-industrial sites.

On Feb. 22, a lecture, , by philosopher Timothy Morton from Rice University will explore how art provides a model for ecological ethics in a time of mass extinction. A gallery reception for the Syracuse University Art Museum’s spring exhibition, “Assembly,” will follow.

Historian and author Jared Farmer from University of Pennsylvania will give a talk on March 4, , to discuss how ancient trees, regarded as cultural and religious symbols, are under threat due to climate change.

On March 7, Environmental Storytelling CNY welcomes Susanna Sayler and Edward Morris, both of Syracuse University, for a conversation, . They will discuss how art in the “Assembly” exhibition at the Syracuse University Art Museum deepens ecological understanding of the places we share.

, on March 26, will feature a series of multi-disciplinary panels over the course of the afternoon focused on navigating the post-Roe landscape, followed by a closing reception. Speakers include SeQuoia Kemp (Syracuse doula and birth-worker), Lori Brown (School of Architecture), Shoshanna Ehrlich (UMass Boston), Kimala Price (San Diego State) and Melissa Shube (Planned Parenthood Federation of America).

On April 4, artist Sophia Chai will talk about her current exhibition at Light Work, “,” featuring a collection of photographs centered on the Korean alphabet and ideas of language, optics and photography. A reception will follow.

Anna Arabindon Kesson from Princeton will lead a discussion on April 11 titled , exploring the representation of plantations in 19th-century British colonial art and how contemporary artists work with these histories to reimagine forms of care for each other and the environment.

Read more about the , including all event details, times and locations.

An opening reception will take place in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery at on Thursday, April 4, from 6-7 p.m. There will be a public lecture beforehand in Watson Theater from 5-6 p.m. The exhibition will run through Friday, May 17.

This event is part of the Syracuse University Humanities Center’s 20th annual Syracuse Symposium, focused on a “Landscapes” theme for 2023-24.

“60 Squares” (Photo courtesy of Sophia Chai)

“While being carried on the back of my mother in our neighborhood of Busan, I would point at the signs and repeat the words that Mom would read to me,” says Chai. “Soon I was able to read without understanding all of the words. The ease of learning to read the Korean alphabet is because there is a certain logic. The shapes of the vowel characteristics, for instance, correlate with how open or closed you could make the inside space of your mouth in making each word. Each character is a picture diagram of the space inside the mouth.”

In 1987, Chai immigrated to New York City from South Korea as a teenager without knowing English. Looking back, she has described that experience as feeling untethered to any internal compass that she could use to navigate her place in a new country with a new language. She visually explains these experiences by reinterpreting the Korean language’s characters in photographs that enable us to see the contradictions of visual and verbal communication. Her images rest in the space between intellect and intuition.

Chai’s curiosity about the interior space of her tool—the large format camera, comparable to the interior space of a mouth—leads to the idea of the camera obscura, a darkened room with a small opening to the world. Chai uses optics (focal length, perspective, perception and magnification) to pin down the marks, rubbings and paintings on her studio walls. The overall effect is a collage of ideas, with an efficient yet complicated economy of picture making with intentional gaps. These gaps can describe the moment right before the sound of a word comes out of the interior space of the mouth. One’s mouth may understand and sound out words, but one’s conscious knowledge of their meaning may not be fully there yet. This liminal space is the punctuated strength and slippery ambiguity of her photographs.

Chai is an artist who remains open and disciplined, committing to the mindset of the child at odds with that of the adult. The photographs born from this are restrained but not withholding.

About the Artist

was born in Busan, South Korea. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Chai has presented her work widely at sites including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Knockdown Center and multiple galleries. The city of Rochester and Destination Medical Center in Minnesota have commissioned her first permanent public outdoor art project to be completed in early 2024. Chai is represented by Hair+Nails Gallery. She lives and works in Rochester, MN.

Story by Cali Banks, communications coordinator, Light Work

Carrie Mae Weems (Photo by Jerry Klineberg)

Syracuse University Artist in Residence H’17 has joined the where a solo exhibition of her work will be held in Fall 2024.

Weems’ four decades of work, including groundbreaking and distinctive compositions of photography, text, audio, installation, video and performance art, depicts topics of race, gender, social injustice and economic inequity throughout American history to the present day.

Weems is the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum. She is represented in public and private collections around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art; Tate Modern; Whitney Museum of American Art; National Gallery of Canada; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Weems is a 2023 Hasselblad Award laureate and has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships, including the , the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts, the Joseph H. Hazen Rome Prize Fellowship, the National Endowment of the Arts fellowship and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award.

The production runs Nov. 24 to Dec. 31 in the Archbold Theatre at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

Melissa Rain Anderson, who dazzled audiences last season with “Disney’s The Little Mermaid,” returns to direct this co-production of “A Christmas Carol,” along with music director Brian Cimmet, choreographer Andrea Leigh-Smith and New York City-based 2 Ring Circus, together taking this timeless tale to new heights.

“This is absolutely my favorite adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol,’” says Anderson. “There is so much heart and joy woven into this classic holiday ghost story, and 2 Ring Circus’ work blends seamlessly into the production, using historic Victorian clowns and acrobatic lamplighters, as well as phantoms and ghosts that fly above the action and above the audience.”

Featuring a cast of over three dozen performers, “A Christmas Carol” joins seasoned pros from across the country with students from the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Drama and local young actors making their Syracuse Stage debuts in a music-filled spectacle that charts Ebenezer Scrooge’s soul-searching holiday sojourn, with help from a host of otherworldly spirits.

The production team, many returning from last year’s “Disney’s The Little Mermaid,” includes Kimberly Powers (scenic design), David Kay Mickelsen (costume design), Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz (lighting design), Jacqueline R. Herter (sound design), Ryan Moller (wig design) and Blake Segal (dialect coach).

Anderson adds, “Kim Powers’ scenic design allows the audience inside our magical world with steps leading out into the aisles, giving an immersive feel to the evening. We are grateful to share the true spirit of the holidays with the ultimate story of redemption, kindness, generosity and love.”

“We’re thrilled to create this all-new production of the quintessential holiday classic for our 50th season,” says Bob Hupp, artistic director. “This one has something for everyone; it’s a treat for young and old alike.”

With scores of memorable characters and iconic moments, Hellesen’s adaptation retains the playful, joyous and sometimes ominous tone of Dickens’ source material, while sprinkling in mesmerizing theatrical flair and spirited holiday songs like “Home at Christmastide” and “Wassail.”

“I love this particular adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ because it’s wonderfully faithful to Dickens’ novella and it brings to life the celebratory flavor of the season,” adds Hupp. “It’s also visually spectacular, which is something we’ve come to expect from this visionary creative team. It’s the perfect holiday celebration.”

Published in 1843 just days before Christmas, Dickens’ tale of generosity’s triumph over greed became an instant hit and is often credited with revitalizing the holiday tradition in England and the United States. “A Christmas Carol: In Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas” has since been adapted countless times for the stage and screen and continues to be a touchstone of popular culture today; Scrooge’s emphatic “Bah, humbug,” and Tiny Tim’s declaration of “God Bless us, everyone,” are phrases known the world over.

Charles Dickens, widely considered amongst the greatest writers of English literature, authored some 15 novels, including “Oliver Twist,” “Great Expectations,” “The Pickwick Papers” and “A Tale of Two Cities.” He died in 1870, at the age of 58, and is buried at Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey in London, England.

All evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. while all matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $40 with discounts available for students and groups. Tickets may be purchased online at , by phone at 315.443.3275 or in person at the Syracuse Stage Box Office.

Pay-What-You-Will performances for “A Christmas Carol” are Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 inclusive; prologue conversations, three pre-show discussions that take place one-hour before curtain time on Dec. 3, 9 and 14; the post-show talkback will take place on Sunday, Dec. 3, after the 7:30 performance. Syracuse Stage has its open-captioned performances scheduled for Dec. 6 and 17 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m., as well as an audio-described performance on Sunday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m.

In addition, Syracuse Stage will have a Spanish language open-captioned performance of “A Christmas Carol” scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 30, at 7:30 p.m. With a translation commissioned from Claudia Quesada, this one-night only event is the first time Syracuse Stage has offered this Spanish language option for the Central New York Community.

A special sensory friendly and open captioned performance is scheduled for Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. The sensory friendly performance provides a welcoming environment that lets all patrons enjoy themselves freely without judgment or inhibition. This live theater experience invites autistic individuals, as well as those living with ADHD, dementia and other sensory sensitivities, to enjoy a performance in a “shush free” zone. House lights will be dimmed, but not turned out completely, patrons may move about as necessary for their comfort and patrons will not be discouraged from vocalizing during the performance. Fidget toys and other materials will be provided for patrons. All tickets to the sensory friendly performance are $35 and include a 100 percent refund right up to the start of the show if unable to attend.

The Slutzker Family Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor for the 50th Anniversary Season. Additional season support comes from the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation and Advance Media New York.��The community partner for “A Christmas Carol” is Interfaith Works of Central New York.

Organizers of the community photographic project, “,” want to visualize just that and are asking Syracuse families to share their family photos and stories on camera to create a living photo archive. Community members—particularly those whose histories have been marginalized—are invited to talk about their family histories at a recorded interview station, digitize their family photos for later exhibition and have new portraits taken with their family photographs.

Thomas Allen Harris

The project is designed to build a more inclusive history of the city. It takes place Oct. 13-15 through a��series of activities and events with Yale University artist and filmmaker and his . The initiative is being coordinated by students and faculty in the University’s Turning the Lens Collective. The group is composed of , associate professor of English; , a Ph.D. candidate in English; , a Ph.D. candidate in history; Sarhia Rahim ’26, a policy studies major and Aniyah Jones ’25, an English and textual studies and psychology major.

Three Weekend Events

Events include a film screening and discussion of “: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People,” with Harris (, from 6 to 8 p.m.). The with community members takes place , from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A to celebrate the archived images and oral storytelling is planned on , from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and includes music, poetry and special guests. All events take place at the Everson Museum at 401 Harrison St. in downtown Syracuse.

Hallas says the project will build a testament to marginalized families from across the city, cultivate a more inclusive archival history of Syracuse and recognize the people suppressed, forgotten or lost to a highway (the I-81 viaduct) that created a decadeslong economic and racial barrier in Syracuse.

“Syracuse is experiencing significant transformation and renewed hope for economic progress spurred by Micron’s multi-billion-dollar investment in a semiconductor megafacility, the city’s decades of commitment to refugee resettlement and the redevelopment of housing, transportation and industry when a community grid replaces the I-81 viaduct,” Hallas says. “Yet, in moving forward equitably, it’s necessary to remember and document the past. Syracuse remains one of the most impoverished and segregated cities in the nation, specifically for its Black and Latinx communities. In its redevelopment of housing, transportation and industry, the city must not repeat the systemic violence of the past.”

Community members shared treasured photos with Jessica Terry-Elliot, right center, along with their memories of family.

Jessica Terry-Elliott, a project co-organizer, researches the application of various methodologies that comprise what scholars call “Black archival practices.”��She says Family Pictures Syracuse will use oral history methods��coupled with the captured moments of Black life in photographs that are��often held in domestic��repositories.

“Using these methods to develop this project��is an actual application of Black archival practices,” Terry-Elliot says. “It will reveal the complexities of how Black life in Syracuse was and is documented and remembered,��while at the same time constructing pathways to engage with memory for��the future.”

Collective member Charles is writing a dissertation on the Black visual archive in film. “I’ve discovered that family photographs play a tremendous role in shaping our identity and history beyond the purview of our institutional archives,” Charles says. “The photographs we all keep in our homes—hanging on walls or tucked inside family albums—contribute to a larger story. Yet, those items are not always seen as important historical knowledge. This project affirms our photographs are themselves invaluable archives that should be studied and celebrated as such.”

Collective member and undergraduate student Aniyah Jones ’25 looks over a collection of family photos.

Undergraduate students Jones and Rahim have supported the initiative through their Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) appointments as research assistants on the project. A team of undergraduate students from the department of film and media arts and the Orange Television Network will staff the photo-sharing event and students in Hallas’ upcoming “Everyday Media and Social Justice” and Jessica Terry-Elliott’s “Public History” courses in spring 2024 will further the project after its launch.

��The collective is also coordinating with the Network’s WriteOut Syracuse, a youth afterschool program designed to get students Interested In writing and storytelling, and Black and Arab Relationalities, a Mellon Foundation-funded research project led by College of Arts and Sciences faculty members and .

Wide Community Connections

Organizers are working with the Community Folk Art Center, Onondaga Historical Association and the North Side Learning Center and are collaborating with several other Syracuse community organizations for future programming.

Many sources of funding have made the project possible, including the University’s departments of African American Studies; anthropology; communication and rhetorical studies; English; film and media arts; history; Jewish studies; Latino/Latin American studies; LGBTQ studies; policy studies; religion; sociology; television, radio and film; visual communications; women’s and gender studies; and writing. External funding has been provided by Humanities NY and the Allyn Family Foundation.

Also sponsoring the project are the Democratizing Knowledge project; Engaged Humanities Network; SOURCE; Special Collections Research Center; Syracuse Humanities Center; The Alexa; Lender Center for Social Justice; Light Work and Orange Television Network.

In November, the Special Collections Research Center at Bird Library will host “Family Pictures in the Archive” (, 5 to 7 p.m.). The exhibition displays Black photographs from the University’s collections along with community photos archived during the Family Pictures Syracuse events.

Mary Schmidt Campbell

The Wali Lecture is an annual event where the sciences and humanities converge, fostering dialogue and new perspectives on current topics for all who attend. The on Thursday, Oct. 5, will honor the life, work and legacies of Professor Emeritus Kameshwar C. Wali and his wife Kashi. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Watson Theater, featuring distinguished alumna Mary Schmidt Campbell G’73, G’87, H’21 as speaker.

Schmidt Campbell’s lecture, “,” considers the expectations, assumptions and practices that she and her husband, George Campbell G’77, encountered at Syracuse University influencing their academic success.

“The Kashi and Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture in the Sciences and Humanities is a unique and truly interdisciplinary event that represents the spirit of the teacher-scholar model we seek to embody in the Syracuse University physics department,” says Jennifer Ross, professor and chair of the Department of Physics. “We are excited to welcome Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell and highly anticipate her talk, which will be especially informative given recent changes in the higher education landscape.”

Mary Schmidt Campbell was the tenth president of Spelman College from 2015 to 2022. She received a B.A. in English literature from Swarthmore College and earned a master’s in art history, as well as a Ph.D. in humanities from Syracuse University. She was also a curator at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse and an art editor at the Syracuse New Times. She holds numerous honorary degrees, including one from her alma mater, Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Schmidt Campbell is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was elected to the Unity Technologies Board in September 2020. She served as a member of the Alfred P. Sloan Board from 2008-2020, and she currently sits on the boards of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, as well as on the advisory boards of the Bonner Foundation and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.

Notably, Schmidt Campbell is an expert on Afro-American artist Romare Bearden, known for his large-scale public murals depicting the black experience in America. In the 1970s Bearden mentored her as she entered the art world at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which during her time there she nurtured from a struggling organization into one of the nation’s premier black fine arts museums. She went on to write about him in both her doctoral dissertation at Syracuse University, and a book, “” (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Vivian May, director of the Syracuse University Humanities Center, explained how Schmidt Campbell’s scholarship on Bearden is one of the many accomplishments that influenced the selection of her as speaker. “Through her multifaceted contributions, as a renowned scholar of Romare Bearden, as a visionary leader in higher education, and as a tireless advocate for the arts and humanities as core to any pursuit of justice and equity, she has transformed a range of educational, cultural, and institutional landscapes to be more inclusive and equitable for all,” says May. “We are so delighted to partner with physics and the Wali family to welcome Mary Schmidt Campbell back to campus. Her participation directly supports the Humanities Center’s mission to advance humanities research, showcase the humanities as a public good and enhance scholarly community by bringing people together to confront some of the most pressing issues of our time.”

Schmidt Campbell is a contributor to several publications, including Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis; “New York Reimagined: Artists, Art Organizations, and the Rebirth of a City” (Oxford University Press, 2016); and many others.

Kameshwar C. Wali was the Steele Professor of Physics Emeritus in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). He was internationally recognized as a theorist for his research on the symmetry properties of fundamental particles and their interactions and as an author. One of his books, “Cremona Violins: A Physicist’s Quest for the Secrets of Stradivari“(World Scientific, 2010) examined the world’s most valued violins through the lens of physics to discover how and why they produce their treasured sound—an example of his work at the nexus of the sciences and humanities.

Wali became a Syracuse faculty member in 1969. He had previously held positions at Harvard and Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France and the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Italy. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, whose India Chapter named him Scientist of the Year in 2022, along with receiving Syracuse’s Chancellor’s Citation for exceptional academic achievement. He was one of the founding members of the .

The Wali Lecture was established by his daughters, Alaka, Achala and Monona, to commemorate his vision and leadership and as an expression of admiration and gratitude for their parents’ dedication and contributions to the University and the greater community. The lecture began in 2008 and has been held annually, except in 2020.

This lecture is produced by the in partnership with the . Generous support is provided by the Wali Endowment Fund, with additional support from the Office of Academic Affairs; Office of Diversity and Inclusion; the College of Arts and Sciences | the Maxwell School, including the departments of African American studies, art and music histories, English and history; Syracuse University Art Museum and Syracuse University Libraries.

To honor the late professor, donations can be made to the Wali Endowment Fund at Syracuse University through an or mailed to the Office of Advancement and External Affairs, 640 Skytop Road, 2nd Floor, Syracuse, New York 13244.

The dialogue will occur at an all-day symposium, “Monumental Concerns.” It is being presented by University artist in residence Carrie Mae Weems H’17 and the University’s Office of Strategic Initiatives in conjunction with the Syracuse University Art Museum.

“Lincoln Memorial, 2015-2016” ©Carrie Mae Weems (Photo courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York)

The symposium will take place on Saturday, Oct. 7, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Watson Theater, located in the Robert B. Menschel Media Center, 316 Waverly Ave., Syracuse. The symposium is free and open to the public; guests are asked to . Communication Access Real-Time Translation (CART) will be available both days.

An opening presentation featuring Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman from the For Freedoms Collective will be held Friday, Oct. 6, at 4 p.m. in the Shaffer Art Building’s Shemin Auditorium. A reception will follow in the , also located in Shaffer Art Building.

The discussion will focus on:

• the role of monuments in contemporary society and their contested histories;
• the pros and cons of monument adjustment, removal or displacement;
• why racial conflicts erupt over the meanings and representations of monuments and how they can be addressed; and
• how the emotional and nationalistic role that monuments often play can be acknowledged, even while advocacy occurs for more inclusive historical framing.

Among the participants will be Weems; Willis Thomas; Gottesman; Paul M. Farber, director of Monument Lab in Philadelphia; Idris Brewster, executive director of Kinfolk and an artist using artificial intelligence to create interventions in public spaces; Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh; and Julie Ehrlich, director of presidential initiatives and chief of staff with the Mellon Foundation.

“The October convening brings together some of the leading thinkers and practitioners around monuments in the United States. In delving into the many histories that these public artworks commemorate, we will be addressing important and timely issues,” says Melissa Yuen, interim chief curator at the Syracuse University Art Museum. “It is our hope that the event will be the first step in helping us to build community and create a sense of belonging across the University in ways that will allow us to have productive conversations about these difficult topics.”

Below, Weems addresses why it is important to have this discussion, and how it can help move us forward.

“The film festival provides a space for faculty, students, staff and community members not just to view impactful films, but more importantly have a space in which we can share our reactions to them, ask questions of their filmmakers and learn more about the situations, people and events they depict,” says Roger Hallas, associate professor of English and director of the festival. “This is how films can change the world, one conversation at a time.”

“When Spring Came to Bucha”

Founded by Tula Goenka, professor and graduate director of television, radio and film in the Newhouse School, the festival has consistently engaged the urgent issues of our time, from climate change to institutional racism to ongoing wars. Two films about the current war in Ukraine, to be presented Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m., were made by filmmakers with Syracuse connections. Shashkov Protyah’s short film��“My Favorite Job”��offers an intimate look of Ukrainian volunteers rescuing civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol. “I was struck by how powerfully this short film conveyed the courage and resilience of the rescuers,” says Hallas. Protyah is a member of��, a film collective from the city, whose members include Oksana Kazmina, who is also a current graduate student in the M.F.A. film program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“My Favorite Job” is paired with the feature film��“When Spring Came to Bucha,” directed by Mila Teshaieva and Marcus Lenz, which follows the lives of the Ukrainian village outside Kyiv after liberation from Russian occupation as the full extent of the atrocities committed there come into full view. Photographer and filmmaker Teshaieva was an artist in residence at Light Work in 2016. Teshaieva, Protyah and Kazmina will all participate in the post-screening discussion.

The film festival is part of Syracuse Symposium, which is marking its 20th anniversary. The Symposium theme of “Landscapes” weaves throughout the films. “The film festival’s 2023 lineup takes up diverse meanings of the concept, from the politics of memory to questions of grief and trauma to human trafficking to war, traversing national boundaries and engaging in different genres and visual technologies,” says Vivian M. M​ay, director of the University’s Humanities Center. “Juxtaposing local and global human rights issues and weaving questions of justice across contexts is what SUHRFF does best.”

Opening the festival on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. is “North by Current,” a searing look at family trauma, grief, addiction and transgender identity captured by the filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax when he returns home to rural Michigan after the death of his niece. Minax will introduce the film and participate in post-screening discussion.

The dual national landscapes of Greenland and Canada are featured in “Twice Colonized” by Lin Alluna, featuring the lifelong struggle for the rights of Indigenous people by Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter who will be available for Q&A after the film screening on Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.

Similarly, director Sanjeewa Pushpakumara will discuss his film “Peacock Lament” that closes the festival on Saturday evening, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. Hallas calls the film an “enthralling drama” into the corrupt world of trafficking babies from unwanted pregnancies in Sri Lanka.

Aaju Peter appears in “Twice Colonized” by Lin Alluna, an official selection of the World Documentary Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute | Photo by Angela Gzowski Photography.

Festival founder Goenka remains both engaged and enthusiastic about this year’s screenings. “Collaborating with Roger on SUHRFF since 2010 has been one the most professionally rewarding and inspiring experiences I have had in all my years on campus,” says Goenka. “I am extremely thankful that he has now taken over as its sole director. The 2023 program is stellar and topical as always, and I am very excited about it.”

The festival also includes a new collaboration with the�� (UVP), another program at Light Work, which presents��large-scale architectural projection of the artist’s work onto I. M. Pei’s Everson Museum building in downtown Syracuse. “UVP’s director Anneka Herre suggested that our shared commitment to social justice and art would provide a strong opportunity for collaboration,” says Hallas. On Saturday afternoon, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. there will be an artist talk with which presents an Afro-Surreal poetic virtual reality experience featuring 3D renderings of objects from Afro-diasporic culture in local archives.

May points out that the film festival helps advance the mission of the Humanities Center, “showcasing the humanities as a public good, and enhancing the scholarly community by bringing people together to confront some of the most pressing issues of our time.”

All screenings are free and open to the public (no tickets are required). The has more details describing each screening with specific dates and times. All films are closed-captioned or subtitled and audio described in English. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is available during all Q&A sessions. For other accommodations, contact Jacqulyn Ladnier (humcenter@syr.edu) or 315.443.7192.

Even if you haven’t participated in Syracuse Symposium offerings yet, the intriguing and provocative annual themes still may have caught your eye. Topics like Justice (2007-08), Identity (2011-12), Repair (2022-23) and this year’s Landscapes, offer a kaleidoscopic platform for timely and urgent discussions held in a variety of immersive formats. Returning for its 20th anniversary season, , a public event series organized by the (SUHC) in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), is composed of performances, exhibitions, films, lectures, workshops and readings.

This series is core to the center’s mission to advance humanities research, showcase the humanities as a public good, and enhance the scholarly community by bringing people together to confront some of the most pressing issues of our time.

“The humanities provide important conduits for imagining a more just world and addressing inequity,” says Humanities Center Director . “Shared experiences in film, music, fiction, philosophical pursuits, or the visual arts, for example, can immerse us in new perspectives and open up space to engage in critical, even difficult dialogues.”

To commemorate the milestone, we sat down with May to reflect on the symposium’s origin, evolution and future.

What is the significance of Syracuse Symposium within the context of the Humanities Center’s mission?

Vivian May (VM): The series, which pre-dates the center’s founding in 2008, originated as a significant collaboration between A&S and the Chancellor’s Office to bring the University community together to examine the world of ideas via keynote speakers and diverse events proposed by teams of faculty. Nearly all Syracuse University schools and colleges have partnered with us over the years. Maintaining that Universitywide lens, and strengthening longstanding alliances, the series continues to break down institutional silos to engage our wider community. Syracuse Symposium plays a role in fostering inclusive, engaged intellectual spaces for diverse publics.

Originally, Symposium was contained to one semester but has grown into a series of events held throughout the year. Can you share why you and your team expanded the format and how it has changed the outcome of the event?

Vivian May

VM: In many ways, we expanded out of necessity. Interest in collaborating with the center has grown, so widening the season’s timeframe allows us to support more partners. Shifting to an annual lineup has also allowed for pivotal collaborations in spring tied to Black History Month and Women’s History Month. We are always fine-tuning our offerings to meet the needs of our scholarly community. This format enables us to engage across the academic year for a range of curricular tie-ins and community engagement.

The themes change each year and shape the narratives and conversations of the event series. What factors and considerations guide the annual theme selection?

VM: We’re grateful to have a humanities-passionate composed of faculty and academic staff from across campus. We solicit concepts from the board, which are then evaluated and voted on, up to two years in advance. We aim for concepts with multi-faceted, relatable connotations across disciplines and for diverse publics. A strong theme tends to have nuanced valences, and by this, I mean room to riff on possible interpretations. To flesh out its full potential, it should be broad enough for different genres, disciplines and audiences. For instance, most Symposium themes evoke both positive and negative aspects—including recent themes such as Silence, Futures and Repair. The ambiguity leaves room for interpretations through many lenses.

How have 20 years of symposium enhanced the Syracuse experience for students and faculty?

VM: Through symposium, faculty and students have access to intimate, curated opportunities to engage with renowned authors, musicians and filmmakers, to dive into a hands-on workshop or immersive experience. They can connect across disciplines to take up the big questions of our day. There have also been symposium themes woven into courses and first-year experiences. For A&S faculty, one of the center’s annual faculty fellowships ties into the annual theme, helping to support cutting-edge research in different areas each year.

Also, student work is frequently showcased. For example, this fall one of the films to be screened at the (SUHRFF), Fracture, on Sept. 23, is by a doctoral student in literacy education, Evan Starling-Davis. Sometimes graduate students partner with faculty to propose and host symposium events—this year, activities on Oct. 14 and Nov. 15 are being organized by the Turning the Lens Collective, which has student, faculty, staff and community members in the mix.

Syracuse Symposium is known for its public engagement. Can you elaborate on how the series bridges the gap between the University and the community, making humanities topics accessible and compelling for a non-academic audience?

VM: We are proud to support a range of thought-provoking programming that’s free and open to all—students, staff, faculty, and community members. One of our longest-standing partners, SUHRFF, taking place from Sept. 21 to 23 this year, offers a clear, visible example of broad community engagement. Where else can colleagues, friends, family and neighbors gather, at no cost, to see a weekend’s worth of acclaimed films, and oftentimes chat directly with the filmmakers afterward?

The Engaged Humanities Network’s Environmental Storytelling Series, in spring 2024, is another example of strong public-facing offerings. In partnership with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the series has an inclusive, multi-generational approach to addressing the climate crisis.

Looking ahead to the next 20 years, how do you envision further evolution of the series?

VM: Syracuse Symposium will, I think, have a certain constancy—the humanities shall always lie at the heart of the series and evolving research will shape new questions, genres, formats and solutions to help address the key questions and problems of the day.

Importantly, symposium’s kaleidoscopic lens—from theme generation to lineup—means it is a collective vision and shared endeavor. It will continue to pivot, take up new technologies, and unpack hidden narratives or silenced histories. No matter how our knowledge landscape changes, however, I do believe that keeping an eye on how to pursue a more just world, together, will always be core to what Syracuse Symposium is about.

This year’s theme, Landscapes holds significance on multiple levels—personal, societal and environmental. What will the lineup delve into and, for someone who’s never attended, tell us something that will entice them to check it out.

VM: In addition to the many examples cited above, this year’s Symposium partners explore everything from the Constitution, immigration, border politics, environmental justice and reproductive rights. One of the first events, on September 14, showcases the . His work has revived traditional Haudenosaunee pit firing, hand-built coiling and slab construction, via an exhibition at the . Another on Oct.r 4 brings together educators and STEM scholars who use to highlight minoritized youth as knowers. We are also excited to be partnering with YMCA Arts to host poet and essayist Camille Dungy on Nov. 16 and 17, author of “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.” I encourage everyone in the greater Syracuse community, the University and beyond, to check out the and connect!

Courtney Mauldin

This fall, the corridor marks 15 years in existence and its fifth year into the endowment that provides humanities research support in perpetuity, thanks to an award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Though the administrative home of the corridor is at the��, the corridor is a consortium of 11 institutions connecting faculty, academic staff, students and members of the wider community across disciplinary, geographic and institutional boundaries.

“The corridor has truly become a regional consortium with global reach,” says Vivian M. May, director of the Humanities Center and the corridor, and professor of women’s and gender studies. “Thanks to our support this past year, working groups engaged with over 3,800 individuals and collaborated with over 260 institutions and organizations across at least 37 states and 23 countries around the world.”

With funding from the corridor, Mauldin has been able to bring together educators and others who aspire to mentor Black girls to explore ways to give them more voice. As part of their research (the working group is now in its third funding cycle), Mauldin and her co-lead Misha Inniss-Thompson, assistant professor in the department of psychology at Cornell University, discovered that the adult educators first needed to explore their own beliefs, backgrounds and judgments and “discover the Black girl in all of us and unlearn some of what we had learned as girls” to more effectively mentor and inspire the next generation.

Misha Inniss-Thompson

“In a world where we are constantly bombarded with messages of who we ought to be (or not), in the working group we’ve cultivated a space that truly begins to embody what it means to express our thoughts freely, make space for our healing and co-construct spaces where current generations of Black girls can have a space to be in intentional community with one another,” says Inniss-Thompson.

Now, each event sponsored by Mauldin’s working group has an intergenerational element. “The corridor has given us an opportunity to do the kind of applied research that doesn’t fit into a box,” says Mauldin. “We go in with one idea and discover something new, always thinking about impact.” At an at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, New York, the art of Nydia Blas will be used as a springboard for participants to��consider the role of family, history and home in shaping understanding of Black girlhoods.

“The corridor brings to life our commitment as stated in the Academic Strategic Plan to support and encourage research focused on the community good and fosters empathy and civic engagement through the arts and humanities,” says Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives Marcelle Haddix. “Together with our academic colleagues across Central New York, we grapple with critical questions and address issues that have the potential to transform society in positive ways.”

The collaboration of researchers across disciplines and backgrounds is key to the corridor’s success in sparking new ways of thinking and ensuring that the humanities remain relevant as an area of study. “Many of us who were trained in the humanities didn’t really have to make a case for ourselves. It was a given that the humanities were important. It never occurred to me to wonder what I was going to do with the work,” says Lois Agnew, associate provost for academic programs and professor of writing and rhetoric. “The world has changed and students are pressing for answers on how to make the humanities more relevant and how they can make a difference in the world.”

Lois Agnew

Agnew, along with Stacey Langwick, associate professor of anthropology at Cornell, and Andrew London, professor of sociology at Syracuse, co-leads a working group on . “Health humanities is a broad discipline that provides a vehicle for acknowledging the complex factors that shape people’s experiences with health,” says Agnew. “For example, we know that illness is something everyone experiences. But we don’t always think about the structural inequalities that affect people’s access to medical treatments and the quality of care they receive. We are looking at the complex ways in which there are barriers that might not be obvious, as well as the sociocultural influences that shape people’s assumptions about health, medicine, disease and disability.”

An sponsored by Agnew’s working group is designed to move attendees beyond those assumptions by challenging them to consider how they define “healthy food” in the context of food deserts. Keynoter Hanna Garth, assistant professor of anthropology at Princeton University “illuminates how the concept of ‘healthy food’ is loaded with assumptions about the ways different racialized populations eat, and operates a racial signifier indexing whiteness and in opposition to Black and Latine ways of eating.”

“All of us in academia will likely take some of the questions she introduces back to our students and that should help them understand the world a little better, specifically how structural inequality in the world is interfering with people’s ability to live and flourish,” says Agnew.

Other corridor activities have included an early modern philosophy conference; a skills-building archival research workshop; writing workshops for military veterans; a colloquium on ethics and data science; a public lecture and youth workshop on grassroots organizing; Indigenous performance and art; a micro-theater festival; career workshops for doctoral students; the formation of a new public policy humanities network; several book circles and writing workshops to provide mentoring and advance research outcomes across all career stages.

“To my knowledge, there is no other program of its kind nationally, which is fiscally supported by a combined endowment physically located at three universities,” says Gregg Lambert, founding director of the corridor. He credits Chancellor Kent Syverud for providing the commitment and support that resulted in $3.65 million matching endowment grant from the Mellon Foundation, enabling the corridor to establish centers at Syracuse, and the University of Rochester, and include other institutions in the collaborative to form a whole that is truly more powerful than its parts (including Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Skidmore College, St. Lawrence University, Union College, Le Moyne College and the Rochester Institute of Technology).

“What is truly unique is a funding model that fosters interdisciplinary research that is organic and evolutionary,” says Lambert. “Through this faculty-driven collaborative model, the working groups have flexibility in developing and adapting their research in response to discoveries and innovations that broaden the creative process and impact.”

Vivian May

“In addition to advancing our mission to provide research support, build bridges and cultivate scholarly community for faculty, students and academic staff across our region, working group collaborations lead to diverse outcomes,” says May. “The ripple effects of our funding include publications, cross-institutional learning communities and teaching collaborations, external grants and fellowships, archive-building, newly commissioned musical scores, and more.”

“Central New York is fortunate to have such a thriving and engaged humanities community, and the consortium’s co-directors and I are proud to support the wide-ranging needs and interests of the region’s scholars, artists, performers and activists,” says May. “Such heterogeneity, evocative of a vibrant quilt of different fabrics, textures and colors, is key to our vitality as a research consortium that advances cutting-edge research and brings the humanities to bear on a range of local and global concerns.”

The semester kicks off with several key events next week. All are free and open to the public.

Thursday, Sept. 14

4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building

• Onondaga Nation artist ceramic works exhibition, “,” is part of the museum’s 2023-24 Syracuse Symposium, “Landscape.” His work illustrates Haudenosaunee culture as a continuum that has resisted and persisted despite attacks on the confederacy’s lands, sovereignty and cultural identity.

5 to 7 p.m.
Light Work, Watson Hall, 316 Waverly Ave.

• Photographs by taken in his childhood hometown of Phoenix, Arizona explore personal histories of family, community and environment.

5 to 7 p.m.
Light Work, Watson Hall, 316 Waverly Ave.

• Photographs from 2023 Grant in Photography award recipients Amy Kozlowski, Linda Moses and Tahila Mintz are featured.

Friday, Sept. 15

12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building

• Onondaga Nation artist Peter B. Jones will discuss how his art comments on the Haudenosaunee cultural continuance and the challenges the Haudenosaunee people have faced through time.

6 to 8 p.m.
La Casita Cultural Center, 109 Otiso St., Syracuse

• Highlighting the works of Chicano artists Cayetano Valenzuela (Syracuse) and Zeke Peña (El Paso, Texas) “” focuses on Latino futurism and includes art by La Casita’s summer program youth. This community event kicks off La Casita’s fall season and observes Latine Heritage Month, which runs Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St., Syracuse

• Local musicians perform music by African American jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane.

In addition, another exhibition opens the following week.

September 21

:
“In Pursuit of Justice: Pan Am Flight 103”
4:30 to 6 p.m.
Bird Library, 6^th floor gallery, 222 Waverly Ave.

• The exhibition documents the Dec. 21, 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland that claimed the lives of 270 individuals, including 35 students returning from studying abroad through Syracuse University. Featuring materials donated to Libraries’ Research Center by victims’ loved ones and investigative team members, the exhibition provides an overview of the disaster, investigation and first trial.

For details about current and upcoming exhibitions and other events hosted by the Coalition for Museums and Art Centers, refer to the throughout the year.

(Featured photo: “Bomba, 2022 by Eduardo L. Rivera)

“A Love Supreme: Black Cultural Expression and Political Activism of the 1960s and 1970s”

will be displaying Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center’s (SCRC) traveling exhibit of “A Love Supreme: Black Cultural Expression and Political Activism of the 1960s and 1970s” (A Love Supreme). The exhibition was . “A��Love Supreme” reimagines the Black Power and the Black Arts Movements by intentionally unmuting a multitude of Black writers, leaders and artists from SCRC’s manuscript and archival collections as well as the rare book and printed materials collection.

“We are excited to partner with CFAC, a fellow member, to travel this exhibition to their center. In so doing, we ensure the local community has an opportunity to experience and engage with these pivotal and inspiring stories of Black history and experience,” says Nicolette A. Dobrowolski, director of the special collections research center. A portion of the full exhibition will be on display at CFAC, located at 805 E. Genesee Street, from September 11 through mid-December. For more information on related programming or exhibition hours, please visit .

Peter Jones, “Twins,” 1989 Everson Museum of Art

A new exhibition of clay sculptures by acclaimed and highly innovative artist Peter B. Jones (Onondaga) will open at the on Aug. 24 and will be on view through Dec. 15. “Continuity, Innovation and Resistance: The Art of Peter B. Jones” comments on and actively resists the impact of colonialism on Haudenosaunee communities, past and present. His art presents Haudenosaunee culture as a continuum that has resisted and persisted despite serious attacks on Haudenosaunee lands, sovereignty and cultural identity.��

Under the direction of professors and (Akwesasne Mohawk Nation), this exhibition was co-curated by students at Syracuse University including Charlotte Dupree (Akwesasne Mohawk Nation), Eiza Capton (Cayuga Nation), Anthony V. Ornelaz (Diné), Ana Juliana Borja Armas (Quechua) and Jaden N. Dagenais. “It has been a distinct pleasure to co-direct this project with professor Stevens and to see the students who shaped the exhibition—Charlotte, Eiza, Anthony, AJ and Jaden—grow as scholars, curators and storytellers,” says Scott. “I am proud of the work they have done, which honors Peter Jones as a groundbreaking artist and has created space for teaching the Syracuse University and local communities about Haudenosaunee culture, history and vibrant present.”��

The exhibition features ceramic works lent from the National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C.), the New York State Museum (Albany, New York), the Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, New York), the Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, New York), the Longyear Museum of Anthropology at Colgate University (Hamilton, New York), the Iroquois Museum (Howes Cave, New York) and private collectors.��

About the Exhibition��

Peter B. Jones’s work is a testament to Haudenosaunee cultural continuity despite cataclysmic and overt challenges to Indigenous sovereignty owing to waves of colonialism, first by European powers and later by the United States and Canada. His traditional vessels revive ancient Haudenosaunee pottery techniques and styles, which were almost lost as Indigenous peoples adopted European trade goods and owing to profound disruptions by displacement, war and epidemics. Many of Jones’s innovative figurative sculptures celebrate Haudenosaunee worldviews and social organization, while others address��the negative impacts of missionary activities, Indian removal, assimilationist policies and capitalism. His sculptures of storytellers, wampum readers, medicine women, warriors and elders, remind viewers that, in the face of these tremendous pressures and challenges, Haudenosaunee peoples have maintained their culture, which is still thriving today. “Peter Jones has been recognized as the leading Haudenosaunee artist working in clay for over three decades and this exhibition gives us a great overview of his remarkable career,” says Stevens. ��

The exhibition and related programming has been made possible by generous support from a Humanities New York Action Grant, a mini-grant from the Engaged Humanities Network, which included access to a network to seed, support, and foster exchanges for the project, Syracuse University SOURCE grants, as well as co-sponsorship from the Humanities Center (Syracuse Symposium), College of Arts and Sciences, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Hendricks Chapel, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Strategic Initiatives, Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Native Student Program, Department of Art and Music Histories, and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program.��

About the Artist��

Peter B. Jones was born an Onondaga citizen (Beaver Clan) in 1947 and grew up on the Cattaraugus Seneca Reservation in western New York, where he now operates a pottery workshop and studio. He studied under Hopi artist Otellie Loloma while attending the Institute of American Indian Art in New Mexico. His pottery, which has revived traditional Haudenosaunee pit firing, hand-built coiling, and slab construction, is admired and collected by community members, art collectors, and museums across the country and internationally. Reminiscent of early Haudenosaunee pottery, Jones’ art both speaks to cultural continuity and directly reflects the issues that have impacted Haudenosaunee people. Jones works mostly in stoneware and white earthenware clay. He is currently teaching young potters at the Seneca Nation Sully, building a traditional arts and Seneca language facility on the Cattaraugus reservation.��

Featured Events��

Opening Reception: “Continuity, Innovation, and Resistance: The Art of Peter B. Jones”
Thursday, Sept. 14: 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum��

Peter B. Jones Artist Talk
Friday, Sept. 15: Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum��

Community Day
Saturday, Oct. 14: Noon to 4 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum��

Art Break: A Conversation with the Curators of Continuity, Innovation, and Resistance
Wednesday, Nov. 15: Noon to 12:45 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum��

website for more public programs surrounding the exhibition. Members of the media, please contact Emily Dittman, interim director of Syracuse University Art Museum, at ekdittma@syr.edu for more information or to schedule a tour.��

Students from Syracuse-area high schools participated in this summer’s Syracuse University Research in Physics paid internship program. The students presented their research during a culminating poster session on Aug. 4 in the Physics Building.

Thanks to the Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh) paid internship program, Syracuse City School District (SCSD) students and recent graduates spent six weeks on campus in labs and in classrooms where they worked alongside faculty to engage in cutting-edge research. Among the topics explored, students took a dive into the world of invisible subatomic particles, known as neutrinos, and probed the inner regions of distant galaxies using computational astrophysics.

SURPh was an idea developed last year by rising senior physics major��, who is also an alum of SCSD. The program provides SCSD students the unique opportunity to work as a paid scientist before entering college, which organizers hope will inspire the young researchers to continue in STEM.

The program is led by��, professor and department chair of physics, and also includes co-organizers Melanie Pelcher, a science teacher at Henninger High School in Syracuse, Devon Lamanna ’23, an SCSD alum who majored in economics in the and is now pursuing a master’s in the same subject, and Yudaisy Salomón Sargentón, operations specialist for the Department of Physics.

Now in its second year, SURPh is a collaboration of Arts and Sciences and SCSD and is supported in part by the , , and . The program welcomed 12 new student participants and five that returned from last year’s cohort to serve as near-peer mentors.

Faculty instructors included physics professors , who specializes in computational astrophysics and simulations of black holes and stars; , who focuses on experimental biophysics and bacterial biofilms; , who specializes on experimental biophysics and microtubule self-organization; and and , who specialize in experimental neutrino physics.

Physics professors Denver Whittington (second from left) and Mitch Soderberg (third from right) with the experimental neutrino physics research group.

The program wrapped up with a poster session where students presented their research to their peers, faculty, local high school teachers and families in the University’s physics building.

“It is exciting to see the science these students are able to achieve in just six weeks,” says Ross. “It is even more exciting that so many wanted to return as mentors and to do science with us a second summer. To me, that is the impact—creating the longitudinal pipeline going into the future.”

While one of the major goals of the program is to instill in these students an interest in science, Ross hopes the six weeks on campus serves as a recruiting tool that will bring them back to Syracuse University for the next step in their academic journey.

“(At the poster session) one local teacher said that the students from his school are all saying that Syracuse University is a top pick for them to go to college, and he wasn’t sure they were thinking about college before,” says Ross. “That is a major win. Any kids who continue their school after this is a win. Any kid who stays with science is a win. If they pick physics, double win. My top-level goal is to have a student do this program, major in physics, decide to stick with it for a Ph.D. and come back to teach for us at Syracuse University. We are trying to create our own pipeline of diverse talent from the local neighborhoods up.”

Ross says they plan to hold the event again next year and will get started in December with recruiting at local high schools.

From left: Fayetteville-Manlius High School student Anusha Saxena, Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central student Miranda Azemi (center) and Fowler High School Syan Castro present their research posters.

All photos by Yudaisy Salomón Sargentón

Cover of the inaugural issue of Mend.

Creative expression and community collaboration are at the heart of successful engaged humanities initiatives. Over the past year,��, associate professor of writing and rhetoric in the , has been working with justice-impacted people in Central New York and across the United States on the development of “Mend,” a journal that celebrates their lives and creative work. The national online and print publication emphasizes the crisis of mass incarceration based on the personal narratives of people who have been directly affected. The stories in “Mend” serve to educate the public about the incarceration system and help incarcerated people and their families develop new facets of their identities.

On July 20, 2023, authors and editors of “Mend” came together virtually and in person at the Central Library in Syracuse to launch the . The event featured readings and recognition of this year’s cohort, celebrating the group’s collaborative work over the past year.

“Supporting those impacted by the criminal legal system remains a pressing concern in our country,” says Berry. “This initiative aims to create a space where those impacted can engage with humanities programming through a paid apprenticeship while learning practical skills in publishing and editing.”

Writing and rhetoric professor Patrick W. Berry (center), with Project Mend members (from left) Brian T. Shaw, Troy White, Robert Ehrenberg and Carly Cernek at the Mend journal launch event.

Among the authors who spoke at the event was Brian T. Shaw. Shaw met Berry while he was living in Freedom Commons. He now works at the Center for Community Alternatives, an organization that provides support for people affected by mass incarceration, criminalization and community disinvestment. Shaw, who attended Syracuse University for a time before he was sentenced to 21 years in prison, earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree during his incarceration. Since being released in September 2022, he has been working with “Mend” and gaining valuable computer, editing and design skills.

“Being able to be part of this project and not be stigmatized has been so impactful. It’s been invaluable to me to truly be seen,” Shaw said in an A&S�� earlier this year. This fall, he will attend the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University to pursue a master’s degree in public health.

While����just completed its pilot phase, Berry intends for it to become an annual program. Project Mend was made possible through collaboration with the����and through a��, which is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation. The project has also been supported by the��, the��, the��, the����and a��.

View this year’s edition of “.”

In 2016 Syracuse Stage offered its first Sensory Friendly performance with “Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins,” which was met with overwhelmingly positive patron response. The community enthusiasm for this inclusive event prompted Syracuse Stage to include Sensory Friendly performances of the ever-popular holiday musical in each season that followed. This year, because of the continued success of these Sensory Friendly performances, Syracuse Stage’s leadership is honored to expand this programming, giving community members of all ages opportunities to engage with each production of the 50th anniversary season in safe, inviting and meaningful ways.

“Syracuse Stage aims to cultivate an inclusive space for all who attend our performances. There are a number of people who are able to enjoy a production better when it is presented in the relaxed, accommodated environment of a Sensory Friendly show. The joy and communal experience of live theatre is something that we want everyone to be able to participate in,” says Robert Hupp, artistic director.

Sensory Friendly performances are designed with unique considerations for autistic adults and children, patrons with anxiety, cognitive or physical disabilities and other sensory processing needs. Sensory Friendly performances operate differently from other traditional performances in several key ways. House lights will be dimmed at curtain though will remain on throughout the show’s runtime, the sound levels in the theater will be lowered significantly, guests will not be discouraged from vocalizing in response to the performance and patrons are invited to come and go as they please at any time during the show. By creating a nonjudgmental, “shush-free” atmosphere, Sensory Friendly performances are part of Syracuse Stage’s commitment to make the theater a more accessible and inclusive live experience.

To prepare for Sensory Friendly performances, Syracuse Stage has engaged with community members and professional consultants to identify elements and content that may prove distracting or irritating to those in the neurodivergent community. For each show, Syracuse Stage has developed a Sensory Friendly Guide that outlines such moments and themes in the production in order to prepare audiences for the experience. For example, if there is a loud sound effect or slamming door, the guide will give an approximate time the event will occur, and small lights on either side of the theatre will illuminate prior to the event.

During Sensory Friendly+ shows—family-friendly offerings, like this season’s “A Christmas Carol”—moments or scenes may be altered to facilitate a more enjoyable experience. Performance modifications will vary depending on the show, and every consideration is made to uphold the artistic integrity of the production.

In addition to accommodations within the theater, trained staff will be on hand to assist patrons, and quiet spaces will be available for use any time before or during the Sensory Friendly performance. During Sensory Friendly+ shows, full Sensory Rooms will be available­ and outfitted with sensory objects, gym mats and activity stations. Although Sensory Friendly shows are specifically designed for children and adults with sensory sensitivity needs, families of these individuals—as well as any member of the community—can also enjoy these performances.

Syracuse Stage remains committed to making each and every performance accessible to all patrons, which is why Sensory Friendly safety kits are available at all non-Sensory Friendly performances. These kits include fidget toys, sunglasses and ear plugs for patrons to use throughout the show. More information about Sensory Friendly performances and sensory accommodations can be found on .

All tickets for Sensory Friendly performances for the 2023-24 are $35 and may be exchanged or returned for a 100% refund up until show time. Tickets and subscriptions may be purchased through the Box Office (315.443.3275) or at .

2023-24 Productions

“What the Constitution Means to Me”
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Melissa Crespo
Sept. 13-Oct. 1
Sensory Friendly performance: Tuesday, Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.

“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill”
By Laine Robertson
Musical Arrangements by Danny Holgate
Directed by Jade King Carroll
Oct.18-Nov. 5
Sensory Friendly performance: Tuesday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.

“A Christmas Carol”
Written by Charles Dickens
Adapted by Richard Hellesen and David deBerry
Music orchestrations by Gregg Coffin
Directed by Melissa Rain Anderson
Featuring 2 Ring Circus
Co-produced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama
Nov. 24-Dec. 31
Sensory Friendly+ performance: Saturday, Dec. 30, 2:00 p.m.

“�������’s”
Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Chip Miller
Co-produced with Portland Center Stage.
Jan. 31-Feb. 18
Sensory Friendly performance: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m.

“Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express”
Written by Agatha Christie
Adapted by Ken Ludwig
Directed by Robert Hupp
March 12-April 7
Sensory Friendly performance: Tuesday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.

“Once”
Book by Enda Walsh
Music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
Based on the motion picture written and directed by John Carney
Directed by Melissa Crespo
May 1-19
Sensory Friendly performance: Tuesday, May 14, 7:30 p.m.

Maggie Sardino ’23

Recent graduate Maggie Sardino ’23 authored an article,��, featured recently in��, an online initiative of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) Foundation highlighting higher ed-based humanities projects. She graduated in May 2023 with two bachelor’s degrees: one in writing and rhetoric from the College of Arts and Sciences, and a second in citizenship and civic engagement from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The article shares the impacts of her experience as a student research assistant with the����(EHN), founded and directed by��, associate professor of writing and rhetoric and Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). An initiative for publicly engaged research, teaching and creative work, EHN supports and connects teams of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff working on community-based arts, humanities and STEM projects with historically marginalized communities in Syracuse and Central New York.

In her article, Sardino describes what engagement in community-based humanities can look like. To tell the story of residents living in Syracuse’s public housing, she shared some lessons learned through the process of writing and directing��. The documentary used local storytelling to present the history of Syracuse’s 15th ward, a neighborhood that was razed in the 1930’s to make room for new public housing, Pioneer Homes, originally intended for white families. By the 60’s the area was a thriving community with Black and Jewish families and businesses that was largely demolished for the construction of I-81, a highway cutting through downtown Syracuse. The documentary exposes current resident frustrations about the proposal to redevelop the area again. Sardino used the process of making the documentary to engage the community directly through panel discussions, gaining coverage by local news outlets. The project provided a voice to under-represented individuals in the renewal process. This led to increased accountability and input on the redevelopment project from a wider range of stakeholders.

Sardino was recently named a 2023 recipient of the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. Funded by the British government beginning in 1953, the Marshall Scholarship finances outstanding American students to study in the United Kingdom. Sardino is Syracuse University’s fifth Marshall Scholar. With this scholarship, she will pursue a master’s degree in digital humanities at King’s College London, followed by a master’s degree in applied anthropology and community arts at Goldsmiths, University of London.

In addition to her work with EHN, Sardino, raised in Syracuse, is both the Coronat and Remembrance Scholar, was named a����Research Assistant in 2020 and studied in Victoria, British Colombia as a����Intern in 2022. She is also a member of the��.

While at Syracuse University, Sardino maximized the opportunities these awards and scholarships presented to further her research, scholarship and civic engagement. In her article, she describes how her student experiences solidified her commitment to pursuing community-based storytelling as a career path. In particular, she cites how the collaborative relationships with EHN faculty, students, staff and community partners helped her realize the power of public humanities to expand important cultural discussions to effect change.

Carrie Mae Weems, center, at the opening of her show at the Barbican Art Gallery in London (Photo courtesy of the Goodman Gallery)

Widely considered to be one of the most influential American artists working today, Weems is celebrated for her exploration of identity, power, desire and social justice through work that challenges representations of race, gender and class. Through her intimate and thought-provoking images, Weems challenges societal norms, reclaims narratives and encourages views to critically examine their own assumptions and biases.

This presentation of Weems’ multidisciplinary work captures the performative and cinematic nature of her practice through photographs, films and installations, from the iconic “Kitchen Table Series” (1990) to “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried” (1995-96), focused on systemic racism, to the incisive film installation “The Shape of Things” (2021), calling out the “pageantry” of contemporary American politics.

The Evening Standard calls the exhibition “breathtaking” and “a transcendent show from an artist who has delivered for 30 years.”

“My responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals, to beautify the mess of a messy world,” Weems told Dazed. The exhibition’s co-curator, Raúl Muñoz de la Vega, added, “Beauty and elegance is a key formal aspect of saying her work. In order to lure you to enter a very difficult conversation, she does it with the trick of beauty.”

The exhibition is accompanied by “Carrie Mae Weems: Reflections for Now,” the first publication devoted to her writings. It will highlight Weems’ influence as an intellectual, reflecting the dual nature of her career as an artist and an activist.

Carrie Mae Weems, right, greeting guests at the Barbican Art Gallery in London. (Photo courtesy of the Goodman Gallery)

2023 has been a busy year for Weems. She was the guest of honor at the 12th Annual Brooklyn Artists Ball, presented by Dior, on April 25 at the Brooklyn Museum. She was honored for her “innumerable contributions as both a trailblazing artist and a community-focused activist.” An exhibition featuring “The Shape of Things” opened at the Luma in Arles, France, in May.

Together, with the Barbican exhibition, “Perhaps we’ll finally get the message on this side of the pond, too, that Carrie Mae Weems deserves our fullest attention,” wrote Caroline Roux in the Financial Times.

On Aug. 15, a video presentation and talk with Weems on her work “Leave, Leave Now” will be held at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts (Martha’s Vineyard). The event is presented by the University’s Office of Multicultural Advancement and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard.

Earlier this year, Weems was named a 2023 Hasselblad Award laureate by the��, a prize that is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of photography. An award ceremony will take place on Oct. 13 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

A����(a.k.a. “Genius Grant”) recipient and the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum,��Weems has used multiple mediums (photography, video, digital imagery, text, fabric and more) throughout her career to examine themes of cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, family relationships and the consequences of power.

Weems has created a complex body of work that centers on her overarching commitment to helping us better understand our present moment by examining our collective past. Determined as ever to enter the picture—both literally and metaphorically—Weems has sustained an ongoing dialogue within contemporary discourse for over 35 years.

As artist in residence at Syracuse University, Weems engages with faculty and students in a number of ways, including working with students in the design, planning and preparation of exhibitions. The artist in residence program is overseen by the .

Weems first came to Syracuse in 1988 to participate in Light Work’s artist-in-residence program. Over the years, she has participated in several programs at and has a long history of engaging with students and the University community.

She has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships, including the MacArthur Fellowship, U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts, Joseph H. Hazen Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, National Endowment of the Arts fellowship and Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, among many others.

Weems is represented in public and private collections around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Whitney Museum of American Art; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Weems has been represented by Jack Shainman Gallery since 2008.

Syracuse University has participated in “On My Own Time” ever year it has been offered since 1982. Over the years, it’s estimated that more than 1,800 faculty and staff have exhibited.

This year’s on-campus exhibition, which was displayed in Hendricks Chapel throughout late May and early June, comprised 34 pieces of art from 17 faculty/staff artists representing 14 schools, colleges and departments across the University. The diverse range of artwork submitted this year included drawing, photography, painting, sculpture, glasswork, jewelry making, printmaking, fiber art, computer art and collage/assemblage.

Of the 17 artists, six were selected to display their art at the “On My Own Time” finale exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art from Oct. 11-Nov. 7. Five artists were selected by CNY Arts judges and a sixth individual received the People’s Choice Award, nominated by folks on campus who visited this year’s exhibition.

From left: Margaret Voss, Margaret Butler, Jenny Saluti, Austine Emifoniye and Marie Luther at the artists reception and awards ceremony June 8. Congratulations to this year’s winners, including Shikha Nangia (not pictured). (Photo by Angela Ryan)

The artwork and artists selected to exhibit at the Everson are the following:

• “Birds in Winter” by Margaret Butler, administrative specialist, College of Arts and Sciences (People’s Choice Award winner)
• “Royal Procession” by Austine Emifoniye, graduate assistant, School of Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• “Two Water Lilies” by Marie Luther, accounting clerk, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• “See How Brain Protects Itself from Intruders” by Shikha Nangia, professor of biomedical and chemical engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science
• “Westie Holiday Surface Design” by Jenny Saluti, director of recruitment and admissions, College of Visual and Performing Arts
• “A Rococo Homage” by Margaret Voss, associate professor of nutrition and food studies, Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics

All of the winning artwork can be viewed below.

“Syracuse University’s steadfast history of participation in ‘On My Own Time’ highlights our commitment to community partnerships, connecting our campus community with the broader Central New York community,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer Andrew R. Gordon at the artists reception and awards ceremony, held June 8. “The program is a symbol of our SU employer culture—a culture where we engage our team and celebrate the unique gifts they bring to the organization to make it such a wonderful place.”

Creating art can be both a relaxing and rewarding endeavor, even for those who don’t do it professionally.

“Creating a piece is a journey of many decisions. When I hold a finished piece that means I have persevered through each decision and met every challenge. That is the reward!” says Luther. “To find a message important enough to express in a piece of art involves looking inward and outward with depth. It is an honor to have something that I created displayed in the Everson.”

Voss says this recognition is extra special, as she made the piece of jewelry she entered in “On My Own Time” for a friend of her daughter to wear to her junior prom.

“Usually I paint in my free time, but this year I tried my hand at designing jewelry,” Voss says. “Not only was she beautifully adorned for what can be an awkward adolescent milestone, but she now owns a unique piece of art that will reside briefly in the Everson Museum. I hope it gives her great joy, and a few bragging rights, in the future.”

For Emifoniye, creating art on his own time adds value to his routine outside the pace and routine of his normal work. “It gives a form of relaxation as I channel creative energies and inspiration from the SU environment into producing art,” he says. “Exhibiting the resulting art at the prestigious Everson Museum is quite fulfilling.”

Additional participating faculty and staff artists include Molly Cavanaugh, Jesse Darling, Christian Day, Lisa Kennedy, John Olson, Christina Papaleo, Scott Samson, Christine Signy, Joseph Stoll, Ronald Thiele and Lynn Wilcox.

This year’s participants in “On My Own Time” (Photo by Angela Ryan)

Thank you to all who entered this year’s “On My Own Time” exhibition. The entire campus community is invited to visit the Everson this fall to see the artwork of the University’s winners and other local organizations on display. More information can be found on the .

Butler with her piece “Birds in Winter” (glasswork), People’s Choice Award winner (Photo by Angela Ryan)

Luther with her piece, “Two Water Lilies” (glasswork) (Photo by Angela Ryan)

“See how brain protects itself from intruders” by Shikha Nangia (mixed media) (Photo by Randy Pellis)

Emifoniye with his piece, “Royal Procession”(metalwork) (Photo by Angela Ryan)

Voss with her piece, “A Rococo Homage” (jewelry) (Photo by Angela Ryan)

Saluti with her piece, “Westie Holiday Surface Design” (computer art) (Photo by Angela Ryan)

Maika Pollack, photograph courtesy Franco Salmoiraghi

Art historian, critic and curator Maika Pollack will join Syracuse University this fall as executive director and chief curator of the .

“Maika Pollack brings the talent and vision to support and expand the important role that Syracuse University Art Museum plays in campus life and in the greater Syracuse community. I look forward to working with her and watching the museum flourish under her leadership,” says Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter.

In her new role, Pollack will report to Marcelle Haddix, associate provost for strategic initiatives. Haddix’s portfolio includes, among other things, all University-wide arts and humanities affiliates and programs.

“We are excited to welcome Maika to campus this fall,” Haddix says. “She is an experienced, collaborative leader and talented arts professional whose contributions to the museum and the University will greatly benefit our students, faculty and staff.”

Pollack, who grew up in Central New York, comes to Syracuse from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Honolulu, where she is the director and chief curator at John Young Museum of Art and University Galleries. She says she is looking forward to joining the Syracuse University community and returning to her native New York State.

“I am honored to take this role,” Pollack says. “Syracuse University has a long history of graduates who are enormously influential in the arts, from Clement Greenberg and Sol LeWitt to LaToya Ruby Frazier. I’m excited to help make this unique history more visible through exhibitions and publications, and to work with the museum’s talented staff and leadership.”

At the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Honolulu, she established a founding endowment of nearly half a million dollars, created an imprint with nationally reviewed publications and curated shows with such artists as Ken Okiishi, Tadashi Sato, Stephanie Syjuco, Hadi Fallahpisheh, David Salle and Tetsuo Ochikubo and others.

She expanded diversity in programming and put together exhibitions lauded in local and national media, resulting in an attendance of almost 40,000 unique visitors in 2022-2023. She also oversaw the creation of a scholarly study room, the rehousing of the museum’s permanent collection, the transition to an updated collections management system and renovations to improve facilities.

Prior to Honolulu, Pollack was co-founder and director of Southfirst, a contemporary art gallery in Brooklyn that presented experimental exhibitions for almost two decades, where her curated shows were reviewed by major publications. Previously, Pollack worked as the curatorial assistant to the chief curator at PS1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens, where in 2000 she was part of the original curatorial team for the highly popular “Warm Up” summer performance series. Additionally, she founded the imprint Object Relations. Her writing on contemporary art and culture has been widely published. She was the museum exhibition critic for the New York Observer from 2011 to 2015.

Pollack earned Ph.D. and master’s degrees in the history of art and architecture at Princeton University and an A.B. in art history and social studies at Harvard University. She has taught art history and curatorial studies at Sarah Lawrence College, Pratt University, New York University, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and Princeton. Her research focuses on the history of photography, late 19th-century European art, feminist art, American art of the 1960s and 70s, contemporary art and postcolonial studies.

, an innovative female artist of her time and an outspoken champion of arts education, is regarded as one of the most important American Abstract Expressionist painters and printmakers of the 20th century. She established and endowed the foundation to advance her legacy and inspire a new generation of practitioners through philanthropic, educational and research initiatives.

The University’s art museum is now one of just 20 academic art museums in the U.S. to receive the award, says Emily Dittman, the museum’s interim director. The museum will receive 10 published prints, a full set of process proofs for one of those prints and the funds to host a project or program for the study, presentation and interpretation of the artworks. This is the second time the grants have been given.

Frankenthaler Prints Initiative grantees are chosen based on the institution’s demonstrated commitment to making the prints a significant collection area and teaching tool, according to Elizabeth Smith, the foundation’s executive director.

“These gifts advance the study of Frankenthaler’s work and invite new scholarly investigation about her printmaking practice. We are excited to see what fresh insights arise from the prints’ inclusion in curricula, curatorial programming and other new academic and artistic contexts at universities fostering the next generation of artists and scholars,” Smith says.

One of Helen Frankenthaler’s abstract works housed at the Syracuse University Art Museum.

“This grant is very exciting. It distinguishes our art museum as a top-level institution in the country and adds prominent recognition for the strategic work at the museum to build its large and impressive print collections that are used by our University community for interdisciplinary research and projects,” Dittman says.

Melissa Yuen, interim chief curator of SUArt Museum, says the University is extremely fortunate to receive the materials. “Frankenthaler is world-renowned as one of the most prominent American artists of the second half of the 20th century. She came of age when printmaking took off after World War II, then expanded her techniques to push the envelope artistically. She used traditional methods such as lithography, screen printing and woodblock, but added the use of diverse objects such as chainsaws and dental tools in the printmaking process to really upend how prints are made,” says Yuen.

Andrew Saluti, assistant professor and program coordinator of museum studies in the School of Design in��the College of Visual and Performing Arts, who with Dittman contacted the foundation upon initially hearing of the initiative, believes the award “is a validation of many years of advocacy for the museum and the extensive print collection that’s been built over the last 50 years. It will act as a conduit for research that crosses archive and art within the University’s holdings.”

The 10 museums selected as a part of the second cohort have few, if any, Frankenthaler prints in their collections. The art museum’s collection currently includes three Frankenthaler works: a painting gifted by alumnus Clement Greenberg ’30 and two screen prints. Syracuse University Libraries’ also maintains the Grace Hartigan papers, which contain correspondence and connections to Frankenthaler. Hartigan was an American Abstract Expressionist painter.

Selections of work going to each museum have yet to be determined. While waiting for the materials to arrive, museum staff members are developing ideas for educational programming and activities about the artist, her processes and her legacy in American art. They plan to involve students and faculty from programs across the University, including museum studies, art history, art education, studio arts, women’s and gender studies, language arts, architecture and anthropology. They also plan to explore ways to engage with the greater Central New York community, including activities for K-12 students and youth outreach efforts, to broaden the gift’s impact.

More than 650 guests from the art world and beyond gathered to celebrate Weems at the event, which is the Brooklyn Museum’s largest fundraiser. This year, a record $2.8 million was raised to support the museum’s programming, including special exhibitions, reimagined collection installations and educational programs.

Carrie Mae Weems, second from right, and guests at the Brooklyn Artists Ball, presented by Dior. (Credit: BFA, Joe Schildhorn, Ben Rosser)

“We are overjoyed to be honoring Carrie Mae Weems, an artist who has made a profound impact on our contemporary culture,” said Anne Pasternak, the Shelby White and Leon Levy Director of the Brooklyn Museum, in a news release prior to the event. “Over the years, the museum has collaborated with Weems in numerous ways—from mounting exhibitions to supporting her important COVID-19 relief efforts—and we’re thrilled to highlight her remarkable achievements at this year’s Artists Ball.”

In her remarks to guests that evening, Pasternak said, “Faced with a world shaken by inequality, division and crisis, [Weems] sought to change our field, and invited hundreds of artists to join her in magnifying the potential for cultural and social change.”

“Almost 20 years ago, I began photographing myself standing in front of museums, wondering about their function, failures and future, and remembering the forgotten ones,” Weems says. “Museums are meant to collect, serve, preserve, reveal and educate; the best of them open their arms in welcome providing respite, deep reflection and consideration. The least of them close us out and seem to exist to remind us of the power of privilege.”

“I have stood outside many museums and other cultural institutions—wondering how to get in,” she says. “Then one day, someone who understood the limits of power, and the winds of change, heard me knocking and led me in.”

The event’s creative art advisor, Brooklyn Museum trustee and artist Mickalene Thomas, worked with Dior to select table settings and décor inspired by Weems’ series “Slow Fade to Black” (2010), which highlights Black women in popular culture.

In celebration of the evening, Weems’ immersive video installation “Leave! Leave Now!” (2022) will enter the museum’s collection. The artwork is currently on view in the museum’s exhibition “A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration.”

A����(a.k.a. “Genius” grant) recipient and the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum,��Weems has used multiple mediums (photography, video, digital imagery, text, fabric and more) throughout her career to explore themes of cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, family relationships and the consequences of power.

Weems has created a complex body of work that centers on her overarching commitment to helping us better understand our present moment by examining our collective past. Determined as ever to enter the picture—both literally and metaphorically—Weems has sustained an ongoing dialogue within contemporary discourse for over 35 years.

In 2019, in Weems’ first solo exhibition in Toronto, Canada, curator Sarah Robayo Sheridan wrote of her work, “With a sensibility honed to the rhythms and workings of power, Weems points to a tidal pull of oppressions, inextricably linked, recurrent and indelible.”

Weems was recently named a 2023 Hasselblad Award laureate by the��, a prize that is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize” of photography. An award ceremony will take place on Oct. 13 in Gotherburg, Sweden.

As artist in residence at Syracuse University, Weems engages with faculty and students in a number of ways, including working with students in the design, planning and preparation of exhibitions. The artist in residence program is overseen by the Office of Academic Affairs.

The table settings and décor for the evening were inspired by Weems’ series “Slow Fade to Black” (2010), which highlights Black women in popular culture. (Credit: BFA, Joe Schildhorn, Ben Rosser)

Weems first came to Syracuse in 1988 to participate in Light Work’s artist-in-residence program. Over the years, she has participated in several programs at Light Work and has a long history of engaging with students and the University community.

She taught at Syracuse University previously, and out of her two courses Art in Civic Engagement and Art and Social Dialogue came the innovative and popular��. She previously was artist-in-residence in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (2005-06) and she was a distinguished guest of the University Lectures in 2014.

In 2018, the Syracuse University Art Galleries (now Syracuse University Art Museum) acquired three significant works by Weems through a generous gift from alumnus Richard L. Menschel ’55 and the artist: “People of a Darker Hue” (2016), a 15-minute video, and “All the Boys (Blocked 1)” and “All the Boys (Blocked 2)” (2016), archival photographic prints with screenprint.

Recently, through her nonprofit organization, Social Studies 101, Weems created RESIST COVID/TAKE 6!, a public-art campaign that addresses the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Latino and Indigenous communities, which has been activated by museums across the nation and abroad. In July 2020, she was honored by the City of Syracuse for the project.

Weems has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions at major national and
international museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Frist Art Museum, Nashville; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville, Spain.

She has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships, including the MacArthur Fellowship, U.S. State Department’s Medals of Arts, Joseph H. Hazen Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, National Endowment of the Arts fellowship and Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, among many others.

Weems is represented in public and private collections around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Whitney Museum of American Art; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Weems has been represented by Jack Shainman Gallery since 2008.

She was bestowed an honorary doctorate by the University in 2017 (along with honorary degrees from Bowdoin College, the California College of Art, Colgate University, the New York School of Visual Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art and Smith College).

Weems earned a B.F.A. degree at the California Institute of the Arts and an M.F.A. degree at the University of California, San Diego, and studied in the Graduate Program in Folklore at the University of California, Berkeley.

2023 is the 50th anniversary of this program, organized by CNY Arts, and faculty and staff are invited to showcase their talents along with other employers and businesses in the region.

All eligible artwork submitted will be displayed on campus in the Noble Room in Hendricks Chapel in a special exhibition titled “On My Own Time–Celebrating the Artistic Talents of Syracuse University Faculty and Staff.” The exhibition will run from May 30-June 8.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to support their colleagues by visiting the exhibition and casting a ballot for their favorite piece to win the People’s Choice Award. Also, during the on-campus exhibit, a selection panel of adjudicators—including a CNY Arts representative—will select pieces for an “On My Own Time Grand Finale” exhibition. The finale is a five-week exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art* from Oct. 7-Nov. 11 and will include a reception for artists, University colleagues, family and friends on Oct. 12. Tickets to the finale are available starting in September at .

*Grand Finale exhibition location and timing subject to change

Eligibility for Participation

All active full-time and part-time faculty and staff are eligible to submit artwork for adjudication. Fine arts faculty and professional artists are eligible to submit works outside of their discipline.

Criteria for Submission of Artists’ Work

• All artwork submitted must be original creations. Copies of published work or craft kits will not be accepted.
• All artwork must have been completed within three years of entry.
• Artwork must be finished and display-ready, to include mounting hardware (if applicable). Please submit display instructions or materials as necessary.
• Each faculty or staff member may submit one piece per category, not to exceed three pieces total.

Submission categories include:

• Painting (oil, acrylic, watercolor)
• Metalwork
• Drawing (pen, pencil, ink, charcoal)
• Jewelry
• Collage/assemblage
• Printmaking
• Computer art
• Photography (color or black-and-white)
• Woodwork
• Glasswork
• Sculpture
• Mixed media
• Ceramics
• Fiber art

Registration and Submission Instructions

All artists must register with their intent to participate by May 19 by completing a . Artwork submissions must be delivered to the Noble Room on May 26. Additional details will be shared upon registration. Artists are responsible for delivering and collecting artwork on schedule.

Volunteers Needed

Faculty and staff volunteers are also needed to staff the “On My Own Time” exhibition at Hendricks. If you would like to volunteer, email OMOT@syr.edu as soon as possible with your availability May 26-June 8. General questions about the exhibition can also be directed to OMOT@syr.edu.

A previous “On My Own Time” faculty and staff exhibition held on campus

Miranda Traudt

Traudt will provide operational and programming leadership for arts, humanities and community-focused academic initiatives at the University and within the Syracuse community to support faculty and student engagement. She will work closely with the Coalition of Museums and Art Centers, South Side and Community Initiatives, Light Work, the Shaw Center and various community partners and stakeholders.

Traudt is an experienced arts administrator and educator who has managed art centers and galleries in the region and has been responsible for multi-faceted arts programming. Most recently, she oversaw the curation, administration and promotion of arts and cultural initiatives at the State University of New York at Oswego, where she developed and implemented a shared vision for a comprehensive arts program serving campus and community audiences. At SUNY Oswego, she also spearheaded creation of the college’s first artist-in-residence program that focused on artistic engaging with issues of diversity, intersectionality, inclusion and belonging.

Previously at Syracuse University, she served four years as the managing director of Point of Contact. She also served as program director at Auburn’s Schweinfurth Art Center and has taught in the areas of arts management and museum studies and art history at several area colleges and universities.��

Traudt received a B.F.A. in the history of art and design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She earned two master’s degrees, one in museum studies and another in art history, from Syracuse University in 2011.

“We welcome Miranda back to the Syracuse University campus. We are excited to put her skills and knowledge to significant use in this integral role serving multiple arts, humanities and community relations arenas,” Haddix says. “She will be a wonderful asset to this office’s wide range of operations at the many important centers, art spaces and organizations we work with and with our campus and community stakeholders.”

But this semester, the baskets have taken the spotlight in a class taught by Heather Law Pezzarossi, assistant professor of anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Pezzarossi is one of six faculty members from across the University selected to participate in a pilot Faculty Fellows Program hosted by the museum.

The Faculty Fellows Program includes a workshop, faculty presentations and requires the creation of a museum-visit lesson plan with an object-based learning assignment. It is a way for the museum to promote innovative curriculum development and facilitate the fuller integration of its collection in Universitywide instruction, says Kate Holohan, curator of education and academic outreach.

One of the Akimel O’odham baskets studied by Heather Law Pezzarossi’s Native Americans and Museums course offered this semester at the Maxwell School.

“I think for me, the beauty and simplicity of object-based teaching is that it encourages curiosity and questions through simple observation,” says Pezzarossi. “When a student approaches an object for the first time, they start making a list of things that they notice. They may overlook some elements, but others stand out to them and begin to inspire questions in the students’ minds: What is this made of? How was this made? How did these baskets end up here? A big part of object-based teaching is encouraging students to ask those questions that come from their initial responses in academically rigorous ways.”

Pezzarossi designed her museum plan around the baskets for her Native Americans and Museums course. The baskets were likely purchased on Akimel O’odham territory in Arizona in the second half of the 20th century, but little else is known about their origins.

The indigenous Akimel O’odham people have made baskets for harvests, storage and even holding water. They are also well-known as masterful irrigators, spreading the waters of the Gila and Salt Rivers across their homelands through a complex network of canals to produce bountiful harvests in the Arizona desert.

In the late 19th century, much of Akimel O’odham lands were claimed by settlers and rivers were diverted for western agricultural enterprises. O’odham people, unable to maintain their agricultural livelihoods, catered to a booming tourist market for basketry in the early 20th century. By mid-century however, basket prices dwindled, and materials were harder to find in the parched riverbeds. It was more cost effective to work in local cotton fields, and as a result, basketmaking was less common among the Akimel O’odham, says Pezzarossi, an anthropologically trained archaeologist who has collaborated with Indigenous communities in North America on community-led heritage and archaeological projects.

Under supervision, students have been able to closely study the baskets, examining elements such as the weave pattern, materials used and workmanship. They researched the unique combination of plant properties and weaving techniques that creates a water-tight vessel and studied how basketry knowledge passes from one generation to the next.

Additionally, they researched the teachings of contemporary O’odham basket makers and the knowledge contained in each vessel—from ecological, to mathematical, to allegorical. They highlighted a revival of this knowledge in recent years since Indigenous-led riparian reform efforts have brought the waters back to Akimel O’odham territory, says Pezzarossi.

“The assignment encourages students to ask questions about the materials, the social relationships, the places, and the dominant and not-so-dominant historical narratives with which these baskets are associated,” she says. “They are asked to think carefully about why these baskets are here to begin with. And perhaps most importantly, who is an expert in these objects? Where does that knowledge come from, and where does it lead?”

The museum’s collection is among the largest academic art collections in the United States, encompassing more than 45,000 artworks and cultural artifacts from across the globe that span 5,500 years of human history.

The museum has installed a selection of course-related objects chosen by each faculty fellow in one of its study galleries. For courses being taught in spring 2023, objects will be on display through May 2023.

This story was written by Jewell Bohlinger.

Working with obsidian mirrors, and using movement, meditations and reflections, the artists will explore Smithson’s biography and land art. They will embody the deeper meanings of Smithson’s piece, which is commonly seen as a clear example of his indoor earthworks. Tracing histories of colonialism, extraction and the landscape, Rojas and Melo’s performance will attempt to contest Smithson’s idea of the non-site by connecting with layered notions of site, land sovereignty, and ritual.

Emilio Rojas

After the performance, Rojas and Melo will be in conversation with Assistant Professor , in the Department of English, at 4 p.m. This daylong performance and dialogue are free and open to the public.

On Thursday, April 6, the museum will host a workshop with Rojas. Taking Smithson’s “Double Nonsite, California and Nevada” as a starting point, the workshop will look at the history of obsidian in Smithson’s practice and will lead participants in a series of exercises to embody the symbolism of this rock in its pre-Hispanic context. The participants will discuss the history of land art as well as ideas and contemporary critiques around indigeneity, colonialism, landscape and the environment. Open to the Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry communities. is required for the workshop, and more details are available on the museum

These programs have been generously supported by a Learning and Engagement Grant provided by .

About Emilio Rojas

Emilio Rojas is a multidisciplinary artist working primarily with the body in performance, using video, photography, installation, public interventions, and sculpture. As a queer, Latinx immigrant with Indigenous heritage, it is essential to his practice to uncover, investigate, and make visible and audible undervalued or disparaged sites of knowledge. He utilizes his body in a political and critical way, as an instrument to unearth removed traumas, embodied forms of decolonization, migration, and poetics of space. His research-based practice is heavily influenced by queer and feminist archives, border politics, botanical colonialism, and defaced monuments.

He holds an M.F.A. in Performance from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a B.F.A. in Film from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Canada. He is currently a visiting professor at Cornell University in the School of Art, Architecture and Planning. His traveling survey exhibition “Tracing A Wound Through My Body,” accompanied by a bilingual catalogue, is currently exhibited in its third iteration at the Usdan Gallery at Bennington College in Vermont. It will also travel to SECCA, North Carolina, and Artspace, New Heaven.

About Katiushka Melo��

Katiushka Melo

Katiushka Melo is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist, born in New York and raised by Chilean parents. Her work often addresses the challenging questions about the role and representation of women in modern society. She gathers historical artifacts from other women, incorporating them into her performance practice. She finds meaning in the daily rituals of different cultures, collaborating with woman from different tribes and breaking bread in order to understand cultures distant from her own.

Melo’s work dissects issues of gender identity and beauty ideals as well as challenging the domestic roles of women in modern society. Her work creates a space for contemplation, whilst her own emphasis on physical endurance provides a backdrop for more visceral understanding of the body as material and its capabilities. Her work has been exhibited in the Americas, Europe and Asia, most recently at Miami Art Basel and a solo show at Veracruzana Cultural Center for the Arts in Mexico.

About Robert Smithson and “Double Nonsite, California and Nevada”

Born in Passaic, New Jersey, Robert Smithson (1938-1973) produced paintings, drawings, sculpture, earthworks, architectural scheme, films and video, photographs and slideworks, and writings.

In 1969, Smithson traveled to Chiapas and Yucatán, in Mexico, retracing the travels of writer John Lloyd Stephens. He believed he was impersonating the Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca, whom he claims spoke to him. After returning from his trip, he finished “Double Nonsite, California and Nevada” using obsidian from Truman Springs, Nevada. Obsidian is the rock that symbolizes Tezcatlipoca, or Smoking Mirror, an indigenous Mexican god of death, war, beauty, youth, and fatality.

The program focuses on object-based teaching and research to promote innovative curriculum development and to facilitate the fuller integration of the museum’s collection in Universitywide instruction. The fellows program consists of a three-day intensive workshop from May 22-24, followed by Faculty Fellows presentations on Sept. 8. Each Faculty Fellow will receive a $3,000 stipend or research subsidy, a hands-on introduction to the collection by museum staff and ongoing curricular support. Fellows will be expected to develop a museum visit lesson plan and at least one object-based student assignment to be integrated into their teaching in the 2023-24 academic year.

The program is open to all tenure-track and full-time non-tenure-track faculty members who are teaching in fall 2023 or spring 2024. Proposals may originate from any discipline and must include an existing course syllabus and a checklist of two to four museum collection objects for exploration.

The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, April 14. For additional information about the Faculty Fellows Program, contact Kate Holohan, curator of education and academic outreach, at keholoha@syr.edu. More information on the museum Faculty Fellows Program can be found on its .

The Syracuse University Art Museum invites gifts to support its Faculty Fellows Program. Each $3,000 gift will support a fellow and their work for a semester-long class. Contact Emily Dittman, interim director, at ekdittma@syr.edu or 315.443.4097 for more information about making a gift.

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The workshop will examine food culture, production and consumption through the interrelated lenses of diaspora and rice, a staple food around the globe. Along with staff from the museum, participants will examine and discuss Shih’s ceramic rice bag sculptures and related objects associated with rice culture from the museum’s permanent collection. The workshop also includes a hands-on art-making activity.

Participants are invited to join the larger community for a public reception at 3 p.m. featuring rice snacks and tea immediately following the workshop. This program is generously co-sponsored by the and the in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

About Stephanie H. Shih

Shih

Shih’s painted ceramic sculptures explore the way cultural identities transform as they migrate with a diaspora. She has had solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and at the Syracuse University Art Museum. Her practice has received support from the American Museum of Ceramic Arts, Lighthouse Works and Silver Art Projects. Activism is central to Shih’s practice, and since 2017 she’s raised over $110,000 for marginalized communities experiencing instability related to home through her art and platform.

About Lily Wong

Lily Chishan Wong joins the School of Architecture at Syracuse University as the 2022-23 Harry der Boghosian Fellow. As a transplant between Asia and America, she is interested in how global systems shape building cultures and vice versa.

Wong

Her project “Producing Nature” explores the use of plants in architecture and its planetary effects. It considers vegetation as atmospheric design—grown, stored and shipped globally—and charts the spaces and species involved in the production of “nature.” Inherently interdisciplinary, this exploration seeks to foster cross-pollination between architecture and other fields and to speculate on new environmental engagements.

Wong received a master of architecture from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and was nurtured with the Kohn Pedersen Fox Traveling Fellowship, Award for Excellence in Total Design, Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize, William Kinne Fellows Travelling Prize and Fred L. Liebmann Book Award. She cofounded : (pronounced “colon”), a publication and workshop dissecting the rhetoric and media that are rooted in the field of architecture.

For additional information or images, please contact Emily Dittman, interim director, at 315.443.4097 or ekdittma@syr.edu.

Carrie Mae Weems © Rolex/Audoin Desforges

“Syracuse University is proud to have Carrie Mae Weems, one of the most prolific, influential and intriguing artists of our time, as a member of our community,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “She has a way of challenging cultural norms and shedding light on injustices that push us to question our own perspectives and beliefs. Her contributions to the world of art, and on communities and our broader society are extraordinary. On behalf of Syracuse University, I extend my deepest congratulations on this once-in-a-lifetime achievement.”

The Hasselblad Award is an international photography prize that is granted annually to a photographer recognized for major achievements. It was presented for the first time in 1980 to Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson. The award includes a monetary prize of SEK 2,000,000 (about $188,000) and gold medal. The award also includes a medium format Hasselblad camera from the Gothenburg-based camera company Hasselblad.

An award ceremony will take place on Oct. 13 in Gotherburg, Sweden. That same day, an exhibition of Weems’ work will open at the Hasselblad Center and a new publication about Weems will be released.

“Carrie Mae Weems’s work has for decades anticipated salient issues of our time—the struggle for racial equality and human rights—with unflinching visual and ethical force. Her artistic practice is inherently activist, poignant and lyrical. She creates evocative, potent tableaux and confronts painful histories, institutional power and social discriminations,” the Hasselblad Foundation said in a statement. “At the core of Weems’s wide-ranging oeuvre is the still photograph, but she also deftly employs video, text, immersive multimedia installations and performance. She often inserts herself in her work, thus embodying and commemorating the Black female subject.”

“The Shape of Things” Installation View, 2021. ©Dan Bradica. Courtesy of Carrie Mae Weems and Jack Shainman Gallery

“In the midst of the radical shifts taking place across cultural institutions, and as the first African American woman to receive the Hasselblad Award, some might say, ‘it’s about time!’ Nevertheless, receiving the Hasselblad Award has left me speechless. I don’t have the words to express the depth of my gratitude. To have my family name inscribed on this historic roster, alongside some of the most outstanding photographers of our time, is a cherished honor,” Weems says. “To be recognized comes with the continued responsibility to deliver on the promise made to myself and to the field, which is to shine a light into the darker corners of our time and thereby, with a sense of grace and humility, illuminate a path forward.�� For this honor, I thank the Hasselblad Foundation and the jury.”

A����(a.k.a. “Genius” grant) recipient and the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum,��Weems has used multiple mediums (photography, video, digital imagery, text, fabric and more) throughout her career to explore themes of cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, family relationships and the consequences of power.

“Untitled (Colored People Grid),” 2019. ©Silver Street Studios. Courtesy of Carrie Mae Weems and Jack Shainman Gallery

As artist in residence, Weems engages with Syracuse University faculty and students in a number of ways, including working with students in the design, planning and preparation of exhibitions. The artist in residence program is overseen by the Office of Academic Affairs.

Weems first came to Syracuse in 1988 to participate in Light Work’s artist-in-residence program. Over the years, she has participated in several programs at Light Work and has a long history of engaging with students and the University community.

Weems taught at Syracuse University previously, and out of her two courses Art in Civic Engagement and Art and Social Dialogue came the innovative and popular . She previously was artist-in-residence in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (2005-06) and she was a distinguished guest of the University Lectures in 2014.

Weems also was bestowed an honorary doctorate by the University in 2017 (along with honorary degrees from Bowdoin College, the California College of Art, Colgate University, the New York School of Visual Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art and Smith College).

In July 2020, Weems was honored by the City of Syracuse for “Resist COVID Take 6,” her project to raise public awareness about the impact of COVID-19 on people of color, promote preventative measures and dispel harmful falsehoods about the virus.

Through image and text, film, video, performance and her many lectures, presentations and culturally significant convenings with individuals across a multitude of disciplines, Weems has created a complex body of work that centers on her overarching commitment to helping us better understand our present moment by examining our collective past. Determined as ever to enter the picture—both literally and metaphorically—Weems has sustained an ongoing dialogue within contemporary discourse for more than 35 years.

“Untitled (Woman and Daughter with Makeup),” from the series The Kitchen Table, 1990. ©Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery.

Weems has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions at major national and international museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Frist Center for Visual Art, Nashville; The Cleveland Museum of Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville, Spain. Most recently, Weems curated “What Could Have Been” in the Guggenheim Museum’s first-ever, artist-curated exhibition titled “Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection.”

One of her photographs, “The Shape of Things,” was the title piece in a 2016-17����in New York featuring works from the collection of alumnus Robert B. Menschel ’51, H’91.

She is represented in public and private collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

In total, seven publications of her work have been produced: “Kitchen Table Series” (2016), “Three Decades of Photography” (2012), “Social Studies” (2010), “Carrie Mae Weems: Constructing History” (2009), “The Hampton Project” (2000), “Carrie Mae Weems: Recent Work, 1992-1998” (1999) and “Carrie Mae Weems” (1994).

In addition to the MacArthur Fellowship, Weems has received numerous other fellowships, grants and awards, including the prestigious Prix de Roma, the Frida Kahlo Award for Innovative Creativity, the WEB DuBois Medal, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, the BET Honors Visual Artist Award, the Lucie Award for Fine Art Photography, the ICP Spotlights Award from the International Center of Photography, and she was named an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.

In 2012, Weems was awarded one of the U.S. Department of State’s first Medals of Arts in recognition of her commitment to the State Department’s Arts in Embassies program. In 2013, she received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She was one of four artists honored at the Guggenheim’s 2014 International Gala.

In 2018, the Syracuse University Art Galleries (now Syracuse University Art Museum) acquired three significant works by Weems through a generous gift from alumnus Richard L. Menschel ’55 and the artist: “People of a Darker Hue” (2016)—a 15-minute video—and “All the Boys (Blocked 1)” and “All the Boys (Blocked 2)” (2016), archival photographic prints with screenprint.

Weems earned a B.F.A. degree at the California Institute of the Arts and an M.F.A. degree at the University of California, San Diego, and studied in the Graduate Program in Folklore at the University of California, Berkeley.

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university that advances knowledge across disciplines to drive breakthrough discoveries and breakout leadership. Our collection of 13 schools and colleges with over 200 customizable majors closes the gap between education and action, so students can take on the world. In and beyond the classroom, we connect people, perspectives and practices to solve interconnected challenges with interdisciplinary approaches. Together, we’re a powerful community that moves ideas, individuals and impact beyond what’s possible.

Jessica McGhee ’19

Her resume would reveal a 2019 B.F.A. recipient from the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), a current graduate student in VPA’s art therapy program, an intern with a local hospital, an aspiring nonprofit leader, and a volunteer, instructor and arts programming coordinator with La Casita Cultural Center.

But she might describe herself in different terms—as a lifelong artist, a people watcher, a witness and observer of beauty, a survivor of intimate partner violence and sexual trauma, and an adamant believer in the power of art therapy.

“I love seeing the beauty in people, and oftentimes they cannot see it in themselves. I feel like being as I’m able to see it, it’s my job to communicate it,” McGhee says.

An artist from a young age, she is primarily a painter of surrealist landscapes, often created with mixed medias and on material that would otherwise be disposed of. Her work, with titles like “Roots,” “Mother Sun,” “Self-Actualization” and “On Coexistence,” evokes spirituality, connection to nature, self-expression, exploration of race and the prevalence of inner strength.

“My art has always tried to show people their value, the complexity of life, the complexity of existence in this physical place,” she says.

“On Coexistence” (mixed media on wood) by Jessica McGhee (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Art as a Therapeutic Intervention

Perhaps it was destiny that in 2019, the year McGhee graduated with a B.F.A., VPA announced the launch of its M.S. program in art therapy, housed in the Department of Creative Arts Therapy. She was intrigued by the program and eventually became part of its , beginning in the Fall 2021 semester.

McGhee says the program puts terminology and theory to what she felt she was already doing through her creative pursuits.

“Before I started the program, I feel I was doing art therapy with myself—but not fully understanding what was coming out,” she says. “I always learned a lot from my art and my creative investigation, but being in the program ties everything together and makes a lot of sense.”

Currently, McGhee puts theory into practice as an intern with a local hospital’s inpatient substance use disorder unit. She designed and facilitates a 28-day art therapy program that complements other treatment modalities for people with alcohol and substance use disorders.

Her clients receive support as they stabilize, build self-worth and find self-forgiveness, all critical to the recovery process, through principles of art therapy. “I teach about symbolism and metaphor, and it comes through in their artwork in ways that are so insightful,” McGhee says.

Based on her belief that substance use disorders are often a maladaptive response to trauma, McGhee emphasizes the importance of self-expression in healing and hopes to inspire others to find their purpose through art therapy.

“Once an individual can let go of all of the suffering and pain and actually start to investigate and get curious about their own interests, that’s when self-actualization comes to play,” she says.

Broadening her work beyond the hospital setting, McGhee holds multiple roles with , including volunteering with an Arts as Mindfulness group run by fellow art therapy student Bennie Guzman. The program is for adults to enjoy a space for creativity and self-reflection, build on community, manage stress and develop their creative expression.

“I teach different coping skills, meditation, strengths-based exercises and creative investigation into the self,” McGhee says. She is currently planning a community care workshop on April 3 at the .

Integrative Modalities

While art therapy is her main focus, McGhee incorporates other healing modalities into her work with clients and in the community.

Influenced by the principles of somatic therapy—which draws connections between emotions and where they are experienced in the physical body—she incorporates principles of vipassana (a Buddhist meditation technique), body scans, nature-based therapy and strengths assessments (she is fond of the ).

She explains that our emotional memories, particularly memories of traumatic origin, tend to be stored in the part of our brain that is non-verbal, or in the body, and surface later through these non-verbal realms—so practices that get us out of our brains and more connected to our bodies can help.

“All of those emotions and feelings, everything that’s going on inside of you, all of that nonverbal suffering… you can externalize it,” McGhee says. “In talk therapy, oftentimes you can re-experience the moment, and it can be re-traumatizing each time you bring it out of your mouth. But if you’re putting it on paper as it feels inside of you, then you’re actually exercising those emotions. You’re analyzing them, you’re investigating them, but you aren’t reprocessing that exact moment of trauma.”

Therapeutic Works on Display

Earlier this year, McGhee was invited to show her artwork at the University’s 38th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration as part of the held in the Club 44 VIP lounge in the JMA Wireless Dome.

“Never had I imagined I would be a part of something so big and so amazing,” she says of the experience, noting how surreal it was for her to see her art displayed on the JMA Dome’s giant videoboards. McGhee curated nine original works for the celebration, which welcomed over 2,000 students, faculty, staff and community members on Jan. 22.

The event was envisioned as a way for participants to celebrate the richness of Syracuse’s culture and beauty, in reflection of the theme of this year’s MLK Celebration, “Civil Rights and the City of Syracuse.” McGhee exhibited alongside fellow artists David R. MacDonald, Jaleel Campbell and Vanessa Johnson. Two pieces exhibited—“Self Actualization” (mixed media on a wood triptych) and “Rebirth” (mask)—were created as response art to her therapeutic work.

McGhee connects with a community member at the 2023 MLK Celebration in Club 44 of the JMA Wireless Dome. (Photo by Amelia Beamish)

“I was honored to be a part of the exhibition—it made me feel really wonderful,” McGhee says.

In the Works: Nonprofit Community Retreat Center

Upon graduating from the art therapy program next May, McGhee has aspirations to launch a Syracuse-based nonprofit offering alternative therapy services in a retreat-based setting to trauma survivors, regardless of their ability to pay. She and business partner Azra Gradincic have begun laying the groundwork to bring this dream to fruition.

The nonprofit, tentatively named , will offer inclusive access to integrative, holistic healing. Their ambition is to remove the financial barriers that often accompany retreat-style healing settings by offering a sliding-scale or free financial model, while also accepting Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance.

“I see a secure setting where people can heal and rebuild and have dedicated break time, when they aren’t trying to survive their day-to-day life, but can really focus on their personal needs and healing,” McGhee says.

McGhee with her painting “Lexical Priming” (mixed media on wood) at the 2023 MLK Celebration. (Photo by Angela Ryan)

To learn more about McGhee, visit . Her work is currently on display at (400 S. Salina St., Syracuse), Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and she plans to exhibit at La Casita later this spring.

Roslyn Pope

Growing up in the segregated south during the 1940s, College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) alumna Roslyn Pope’s first experience in an integrated society came during a Girl Scout trip to Wyoming as a teenager. As a young student she became determined to fight the evils of discrimination that plagued the United States. While a senior at Spelman College in Atlanta, Pope wrote the famous document, “,” which was published by major newspapers around the country outlining the right to equality in education, jobs, housing, hospitals, entertainment and law enforcement, citing these as not only civil rights, but human rights.

Pope graduated from Spelman the following year with a major in music and minors in English and French and continued her education at Georgia State University where she earned a master’s degree in English. She was later awarded a grant to attend Syracuse University, where she obtained a doctoral degree in humanities in 1974 from A&S.

In the following years, she accepted a position at Penn State where she taught in the Department of Religious Studies and was head of the music department. Pope continued to teach on the high school and college level until she retired from teaching in the early 1980s. She went on to work in advertising with Southwestern Bell where she excelled in sales and remained for 20 years until retirement. Pope passed away in January 2023. Read more about her .

Together, and are facilitating two simulations for art therapy students in spring 2023. The first simulation took place on Feb. 14 and a follow-up session is scheduled for April 4. “The clinical simulations will provide art therapy students with an opportunity to practice with a standardized client, played by an actor,” says Dotger.

Art therapy student Julia Mumpton G’24 performs a clinical simulation with School of Information Studies graduate student Chirag Sable G’23 in the Fall 2022 semester.

The art therapy simulations are part of an initiative by the (CEPP)—directed by Dotger—to invite new groups from across campus to experience simulations and learn how these face-to-face interactions with standardized individuals center on meaningful, real-world problems and emphasize skills that transfer from learning to practice.

To this end, Dotger has invited faculty and staff for pre-service teachers throughout the spring semester.

Supportive Group

Nolan first learned about CEPP through similar outreach efforts. “When I first began at Syracuse University, I learned about clinical simulations through the in the College of Professional Studies,” she says. She later attended an October 2021 SIMS retreat in Bird Library, where Dotger shared experiences, readings, and data, as well as plans for future simulations.

Emily Nolan

“It was a great, supportive group to be around,” says Nolan of the retreat. “I’m just grateful to know there are others solving the same challenges and doing similar work with experiential learning.”

Once CEPP formally opened in March 2022, Dotger’s and Nolan’s collaboration intensified. “We began to have more conversations about supporting my work,” says Nolan. “I shared how difficult it can be to hire and train actors to be standardized patients. Ben said that he would help do this and that we could write simulation vignettes together.” Dotger assisted Nolan with the logistics of her fall 2022 art therapy simulations, and the two agreed to strengthen their collaboration for spring 2023.

Nolan first used trained actors to interact with her students at her previous post, with Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, WI. There, she taught a class called Helping Relationships but found its experiential learning methods problematic. Students were being asked to practice therapy on friends and family, but without the necessary skills to follow up if a simulated session uncovered actual issues. “I wasn’t comfortable with this situation, and then one student came to me and said that a friend had to go to hospital after a practice session.”

Building Rapport

Dotger innovated clinical simulations by adapting the practice from the medical profession, which has trained physicians and other medical personnel for years using standardized, simulated patients. In parallel, Nolan first took notice of this training method thanks to her husband, who was performing simulations while in medical school. “So I went to the medical school to see how it is done. That’s when I started to use paid actors with my students.”

Adds Nolan, “We send students into the community for internships, and we’d love to see those sessions, but with confidentiality that’s also problematic. It’s a lot easier to view a student’s progress in a simulated environment.”

In spring 2023, art therapy students will simulate two sessions with the same client/actor. “This two-step method has been used with counselor education simulations in the School of Education,” observes Dotger. “In the first simulation, the student therapist and client/actor can build rapport, and in the second, they can move on to business.”

During the art therapy SIMS, an actor will play a patient based on an actual case study from Nolan’s practice. “The client is very depressed and has tried numerous other treatments,” she explains. “They have been referred to an art therapist by their psychiatrist. The student knows about the patient’s background and family history, as well as a history of sexual abuse. But that detail is a red herring that students must navigate.”

Areas of Growth

Aside from the actual simulation, critical elements of this experiential training method include observation, feedback, and reflection, which are built into the two-step art therapy SIMS. “In the first session, we will be looking at how the therapist creates a positive relationship with the client. We are looking at a hierarchy of ‘micro skills’ and how those are used to build rapport,” says Nolan. Students will be debriefed after the sessions “to look at their thought processes and learning opportunities.”

Further data will be gathered from the client/actor who will rate each student on an empathy scale. In addition, students will view video of their sessions, assess themselves using a skills rubric, and then write a reflection paper.

“Students also learn how to write a SOAP (for subjective, objective, assessment, and plan), a standard progress note that helps clinicians document a session,” adds Nolan. “After the second session, I view the video in a more evaluative way, looking for how micro skills are being deployed and for areas of growth.”

For Dotger, expanding SIMS to art therapy is further proof of the adaptability of simulated training and assessment. “There are similar forms of practice and rehearsal across all SIMS,” he says, “but they are flexible enough to be able to accommodate any number of professional learning environments and practice objectives.”

Already adapted to counselor education, educational leadership, , (for students to practice human subject data collection), and now art therapy, Dotger says more SIMS are in the pipeline—in financial management and accounting, human sciences, post-secondary inclusive education, and exercise science.

“It’s so cool that simulations can be used in such different ways and that we have such a resource on campus—I’ve never had that before,” notes Nolan. “It’s a relief to be around such like-minded people.”

Rob Swainston and Zorawar Sidhu, “July 4th 2020” (2021), museum purchase

“Dreams Deferred: Reflections on Liberty, Equality and Sovereignty in U.S. Art” is now on view at the . The exhibition examines the idea of freedom in the United States as expressed in art, including its possibilities, its oversights, its uneven implementation and its attacks on Indigenous sovereignty.

Curated by incoming master of arts students in art history and under the direction of Associate Professor , the exhibition is on view through May 14.

Featuring work drawn from the museum’s extensive permanent collection, including newly acquired artwork, the exhibition highlights how structural inequities, oppressive histories, disenfranchisement and degradation of personhood are variously perpetuated, elided and disrupted in U.S. art.

“Dreams Deferred” also highlights art that advocates for equality, accentuates personhood and unmasks structural racism and histories of misogyny, enslavement and dispossession—violences that are still felt today.

Associate Professor Scott says, “It was a pleasure to guide this project, as the first-year graduate students in art history honed their research, writing and interpretive skills throughout the fall semester. The student-curators of ‘Dreams Deferred’ offer compelling interpretations of artworks produced in the United States from the 19th century to the present, addressing the possibilities, exclusions and failures of concepts of freedom in the United States.”

Featured Event

Lunchtime Lecture: “Dreams Deferred” tour with the curators
March 23, 1 p.m.
Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building

Artist Rina Banerjee, with her artwork “Viola from New Orleans” (Photo courtesy of William Widmer)

While the world comes to terms with the profound impact of a global pandemic, it simultaneously continues to grapple with race, migration and climate change.��, associate professor in the Department of Art and Music Histories (AMH) in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), says one of the ways people can engage in important conversations about these pressing issues is through the power of art.

This semester, Ray opens “Take Me to the Palace of Love” at the , an exhibition she has curated of acclaimed artist��’s work, in consultation with Banerjee and Melissa Yuen, the museum’s interim chief curator. She will also host Banerjee as the Syracuse University Humanities Center’s in collaboration with students, faculty, curators and staff across the University.

Born in Kolkata, India, and having lived briefly in Great Britain before growing up in the United States, Banerjee has lived with the challenges of ethnicity, race and migration. Not surprisingly, her work examines how diasporas and journeys can affect one’s sense of place and identity.

Banerjee’s colorful sculptures feature a wide range of globally sourced materials, textiles, colonial/historical and domestic objects. Her previous experience as a polymer research chemist informs her unique style, as she received a degree in polymer engineering from Case Western University and worked in that field for several years before receiving an M.F.A. from Yale University.

She was recently appointed the inaugural Post-Colonial Critic at the Yale School of Art. Banerjee’s works have been displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and she has held a prestigious artist’s residency at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Banerjee’s exhibition and an upcoming residency at Syracuse University are supported by the , the Syracuse University Art Museum, the CNY Humanities Corridor, over 30 University departments and units, and Todd Rubin ’04, president of The Republic of Tea, who is providing tea for Banerjee’s different residency activities.

In addition, Ray was recently awarded a Grants for Arts Projects award from the (NEA), in support of “” and Banerjee’s public art-making project which will take place in the City of Syracuse on Feb. 25. Notably, this is the first NEA grant for an exhibition at Syracuse’s art museum.

NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson says, “the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide. Projects such as this one at Syracuse University strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”

“Take Me to the Palace of Love” on Display Through May 14

Banerjee’s exhibition includes one of her noted installations, a re-imagined Taj Mahal made out of pink plastic wrap. Officially titled “Take Me, Take Me, Take Me…To the Palace of Love,”��this artwork is based on the famous Mughal monument in India, which also inspired the exhibition’s title.

“The ‘pink Taj,’ as it is affectionately known, is testament to Banerjee’s background as an artist and a polymer scientist,” says Ray. “It also evokes her birthplace, India, while reminding us of the consumerist culture of America in which she grew up—a culture reliant on the global economies of trade and exchange.” Ray notes that the sculpture is a portable object which, like the artist herself, is diasporic.

“Viola, from New Orleans” by Rina Banerjee, 2017 (Photo courtesy of Lily LeGrange)

“It has traveled from museum to museum, across oceans, not unlike the very image of the Taj which emerged a cherished souvenir from the 19th century onwards,” says Ray.

The installation is accompanied by examples of early 20th-century images of the Taj and Mughal architecture from the Syracuse University Art Museum and Bird Library, as well as from the (Cornell University). A chair designed by American furniture designer Lockwood de Forest, on loan from the , greets visitors to the exhibition. A key figure in the Aesthetic Movement, de Forest was influenced by Mughal architecture and design.

Two additional critically acclaimed art installations by Banerjee in the exhibition alongside African, American and Indian art from the museum’s collections include “Viola, from New Orleans” (2017), a multimedia work that explores interracial marriage in America, and “A World Lost” (2013), another multimedia installation that critiques climate change.

“I hope exhibition visitors will be struck by Banerjee’s intricate constructions that remind us that beauty can reside in the most mundane objects and materials,” says Ray. “Most of all, I hope we can find our own stories to connect with her art installations and drawings, which are powerful, spectacular and thought-provoking.”

Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professorship in the Humanities

The University community will have the unique opportunity to interact with and work alongside Banerjee during her residency as the Humanities Center’s 2023 Jeannette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities from Feb. 20-March 3. Banerjee will engage with faculty, students and members of the Syracuse and Central New York communities during a .

, director of the Humanities Center and the CNY Humanities Corridor, is delighted to welcome Banerjee to campus and invites everyone to engage with the residency’s layered series of events. “Professor Ray’s interdisciplinary vision, combined with the scope of Rina Banerjee’s oeuvre, has resulted in an exciting, robust array of opportunities to interact with Banerjee’s ideas and work, from large-scale lectures to intimate dialogues,” May says.

Banerjee’s residency has been designed as a series of interactive conversations led by faculty and students from African American studies, architecture, English, geography, law, South Asian studies and Women in Science and Engineering. Banerjee’s residency also involves curators from the , which houses a unique����as well as a growing archive of artists of color.

“A World Lost” by Rina Banerjee, 2013 (Photo courtesy of Lily LeGrange)

Banerjee’s residency begins with a virtual talk titled�� on Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Graduate students ��(AMH) and����(Newhouse) will introduce Banerjee as the 2023 Watson Professor in a Zoom conversation moderated by��, assistant professor of art history. Arora has curated a wall of Mithila paintings from India, in response to Banerjee’s drawings displayed in the exhibition.

Next, Banerjee will give a public lecture on Feb. 23, which will be followed by a reception at the museum. Her residency will conclude on March 4 with a public (in-person) dialogue with internationally acclaimed scholar , University Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. Spivak’s event is supported by an award from the CNY Humanities Corridor to the�� working group, whose work focuses on public-facing humanities research, teaching and collaboration.

With support from the NEA grant, the CNY Humanities Corridor and an��, “Take Me to the Palace of Love” will be extended into the City of Syracuse, allowing new American and underrepresented communities to document their own stories about identity and place—individually and collectively— with Banerjee. The program, titled “,” is co-organized by��, Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in A&S.��, students, faculty and community members will be invited to collaborate on a public art installation with Banerjee.

“As a resettlement city with several new and older generations of immigrants and asylum-seekers, Syracuse is uniquely positioned to serve as a source of everyday stories of resourcefulness and resilience,” says Nordquist, who is also co-founder of the Narratio Fellowship.

Rooted in cultural memory and storytelling, Nordquist notes that the public art-making project will foster a shared understanding of the diverse communities that make up the City of Syracuse. This event is Feb. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Community Room at .

Four current Syracuse University students and Narratio Fellowship alumni will also compose poetry and create a film in response to Banerjee’s art installations and public art-making project. The poetry and film will be revealed during a March 30 event titled ��organized by Nordquist and����(Newhouse) at the Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., Syracuse.

Post-residency, the exhibition’s events will end with a chant performance by museum studies graduate student Amarachi Attamah. An online catalogue featuring essays and community responses to Banerjee’s art installations and the public art-making project, will also be published following the exhibition.

Collaborators who contributed to Banerjee’s exhibition and residency include Brice Nordquist, Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement (A&S); former Syracuse University Art Museum director Vanja Malloy; Vivian May, director, and Diane Drake, assistant director, Syracuse University Humanities Center; Sarah Workman, proposal development; Emily Dittman, Melissa Yuen, Kate Holohan, Dylan P. Otts, Jennifer Badua, Victoria Gray and Abby Campanaro, Syracuse University Art Museum; Pastor Gail Riina, Hendricks Chapel; Danielle Taana Smith, director, Renée Crown University Honors Program; Joan Bryant (A&S); Sascha Scott (A&S); Lawrence Chua (Architecture); Timur Hammond (Maxwell); David Driesen (Law); Mike Goode (A&S); Shobha Bhatia (Engineering); Nicolette Dobrowolski and Courtney Hicks (Bird Library); Mark Cass, Northside Learning Center; Susan Wadley, professor emeritus, anthropology; and students Ankush Arora (AMH), Natalie Rieth (Newhouse), Samaya Nasr (Museum Studies) and Julia Neufeld (AMH).

Two faculty members of are the recipients of an grant for research on race and racialization, social justice and community engagement.

Associate Professors and ’s project “Black-Arab Relationalities: Confronting Racism, Narrating Solidarities” will examine the impact of racism and discrimination on the interconnected histories and lived experiences of Arab and Black communities living in the city of Syracuse. The project is supported by a $500,000 award from the Mellon Foundation’s Higher Learning initiative. Fadda and Olwan will use the information gathered in Syracuse to study racial politics in the United States.

Fadda is an associate professor of English who holds faculty affiliations with the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and the Middle Eastern Studies program. Olwan is an associate professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and is affiliated with the Middle Eastern Studies and the Native American and Indigenous Studies programs.

Syracuse ‘Microcosm’

According to Fadda and Olwan, the project’s focus emerges directly from the racial and socioeconomic conditions shaping the politics, histories and realities of the city of Syracuse and Syracuse University. Located on the traditional territories of the Onondaga Nation, the city of Syracuse is home to one of the oldest Black communities in the U.S. that dates to the early 19th century. In the past two decades, and against the backdrop of urban racism, declining employment opportunities and increased poverty for racialized communities, Syracuse has served as a point of arrival and settlement for immigrant and refugee communities from various countries, including Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia. As such, Syracuse “is a microcosm of national racial structures and hierarchies that are constituted through the geographic separation of communities in relation to their racial, ethnic, and national origins,” Fadda and Olwan say. Expressing their investment in this initiative, they state: “As non-Black Arab feminist and humanities scholars, we focus on Black and Arab relationalities within the city of Syracuse, where we both live and work, to develop ethical, non-hierarchical and accountable solidarity politics integral to anti-racist work.”

Three Focal Points

Fadda and Olwan will focus their work over the three-year initiative in a trio of arenas: community-building and support; pedagogical transformation; and living partnerships and collaborations. The activities through which they plan to accomplish those goals include:

• Engaging the intersecting histories and realities of Arab and Black communities in Syracuse
• Developing collaborative spaces that highlight the relations between Black and Arab local communities as informed by the city’s racial histories, current realities and future trajectories
• Supporting solidarity among those communities through pedagogical, scholarly and community-based interventions
• Creating multiple constituencies of partnerships and sustainable community relations within the University, the city of Syracuse and beyond
• Inviting local Black and Arab communities to share their histories and stories for a living archive of materials that capture the rich, interconnected and shifting relations among these communities
• Rethinking modes used to generate knowledge at institutions of higher learning through collaborations with community partners

Local, National Value

University Vice President for Research says the Mellon Foundation’s recognition of Fadda and Olwan’s work demonstrates the importance of humanities research and the impact of their scholarship in improving people’s lives. “The community-based, locally invested work that Professors Fadda and Olwan are undertaking will engage the University’s neighbors in discussing pressing issues in American racial politics and policy. The knowledge the project will produce will help communities across the United States improve racial and multi-cultural understanding,” Brown says.

College of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean says, “On behalf of the College, I congratulate Professors Fadda and Olwan for this prestigious award, which will support their efforts in taking on the very real issues of racism and discrimination facing Arab and Black communities right here in our city. The humanities give us the critical tools needed to both understand other peoples’ experiences and to forge the ethical and effective solutions that can change long-standing challenges. I look forward to seeing the fruits of this project, locally and beyond.”

The Mellon Foundation to 11 other projects in the category of race and racialization. Eight other grants were presented for projects focused on social justice, and six more were given for initiatives on civic engagement and voting rights.

The supports inquiry into “issues of vital social, cultural and historical importance…to help illuminate the significance of voting rights controversies in U.S. history from numerous humanities perspectives; demonstrate the complex import of race and racialization within U.S. culture and society and highlight the role of the literary imagination in making and remaking worlds and societies, past and present.” Higher Learning Director Philip Brian Harper says its focus is “to highlight the essential role of the humanities—including those disciplines concerned with the interpretation of expressive culture—in addressing our society’s most salient social issues, past and present. We seek to support not only incisive analytical work but also projects that creatively envision more just and equitable futures.”

Madelaine Thomas

Thomas (she/her) is a third-year graduate student pursuing consecutive master’s degrees in art history and museum studies. She graduated with a bachelor’s in art history with a minor in global studies from the University of Arkansas in 2019. She currently works as a reference assistant at the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Libraries and in the collections department at the Everson Museum of Art. Her studies center on medieval manuscript illumination and the complex visual and textual narratives of Europe’s collective cultural heritage and patrimony.

As the Palitz Art Scholar, Thomas is currently developing a pilot project for hyperspectral imaging of medieval manuscripts on campus. In digital archaeology and art preservation, the non-invasive digital technique she plans to use can reveal hidden materials, pigments and inks that are invisible to the naked eye, which can be used as evidence that researchers can study to discuss how art, literature and religion developed together during the Middle Ages.

The forum will offer University community members the opportunity to have input regarding the position and the desired characteristics and experience of someone in that role, says Marcelle Haddix, associate provost for strategic initiatives.

The virtual Zoom meeting takes place from 10:30 a.m. to noon .

Search Committee Named

The Office of Academic Strategic Initiatives also announced the formation of a committee consisting of faculty, staff and students to take part in the search process. Committee members are the following:

• Evan Starling Davis G’20, doctoral student in the School of Education and coordinator of the University’s Coalition of Museums and Art Centers
• Courtney (Asztalos) Hicks G’17, G’22, lead curator and curator of plastics and historical artifacts at Syracuse University Libraries
• Heather Nolin ’94, G’04, chair of the Syracuse University Art Museum Board
• Raj-Ann Rekhi Gill ’98, member of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees
• Andrew J. Saluti ’99, G’09, assistant professor and program coordinator of the museum studies program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)
• Sascha Scott, associate professor and director of the art history graduate studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences
• Michael A. Speaks, professor and dean of the School of Architecture, search committee chair
• Robert Wysocki, associate professor of studio arts and director of VPA’s School of Art

Installation view of “Collections Highlights: 5,500 Years of Art. (Photo by Lily LaGrange)

Haddix says the University seeks a leader “who will continue to raise the museum’s visibility, student engagement and scholarly impact to position Syracuse University to become the national standard for a research-focused academic museum.”

The person will also be looked to for creative and strategic leadership to foster collaborative, co-curricular partnerships contributing to excellence in teaching, research and the student experience.

Meow Gallery Talk at the Syracuse University Art Museum (Photo by Jeremy Brinn)

Former Art Museum Director Vanja Malloy left the role in the fall for a position at the University of Chicago. Emily Dittman G’06 is currently serving as interim executive director and Melissa Yuen is serving as interim chief curator.

The Syracuse University Art Museum holds one of the largest and most global art collections of any academic museum in the country, with more than 45,000 objects. As a member of the University’s , the art museum serves as the main campus venue for the visual arts, hosting temporary and permanent exhibitions that showcase interdisciplinary perspectives and engage diverse campus and community audiences.

Curated by , associate professor of art and music histories in the College of Arts and Sciences, the exhibition features three monumental sculptural works by Banerjee, as well as works from the museum’s permanent collection, and loaned artwork from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University and the artist’s personal collection.

Rina Banerjee, “Take me, take me, take me…to the Palace of Love,” 2013 (Photo courtesy of the artist)

In conjunction with the exhibition, Banerjee is the 2023 Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Syracuse University. Banerjee’s two-week residency, “Diaspora, Displacement and the Science of Art,” will take place from Feb. 20-March 3.

The exhibition and Banerjee’s residency is generously supported by the Syracuse University Humanities Center, the Department of Art and Music Histories, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Art Museum, along with 33 departments and units at the University and The Republic of Tea.

“We are delighted to bring Rina Banerjee’s creative spirit to Syracuse University,” says Ray. “’Take Me to the Palace of Love’ is not just an exhibition; it is fundamentally a love letter to nature, community and identity.”

About the Exhibition

“Can we rescue love?” is the fundamental question at the heart of “Take Me to the Palace of Love,” which includes Banerjee’s drawings and three critical art installations. It is through the nourishing power of love that we define our sense of place in our communities and on our planet.

Yet love, as Banerjee’s work discloses, has been distorted to create inequity and destroy our relationship with the natural world. The exhibition urges us to restore our social and planetary connections with love. Rooted in cultural memory and storytelling, it invites us to ask: Does love play a role in how we view ourselves and shape our sense of place? Has climate change been shaped by a loss of love? How does love shape or resist gendered and racialized identities? As we come to terms with a global pandemic, these questions grow sharper and more relevant than ever.

About the Artist

Now based in New York City, Rina Banerjee was born in Kolkata, India, and lived briefly in Manchester and London before arriving in Queens, New York. Drawing on her multinational background and personal history as an immigrant, Banerjee focuses on ethnicity, race and migration and American diasporic histories in her sculpture, drawings and video art. Her sculptures feature a wide range of globally sourced materials, textiles, and colonial/historical and domestic objects, while her drawings are inspired by Indian miniature and Chinese silk paintings and Aztec drawings.

Artist Rina Banerjee, with her artwork “Viola from New Orleans” (Photo courtesy of William Widmer)

In 2018 the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the San José Museum of Art co-organized Banerjee’s first solo retrospective, “Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World,” featuring 60 works, including sculptures, paintings and video. The retrospective’s North American tour included exhibitions at the San José Museum of Art and the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles before ending at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2020.

Banerjee has exhibited internationally, spanning 14 biennials worldwide, including the Venice Biennial, Yokohama Triennale and Kochi Biennial. Banerjee’s works are included in many private and public collections, including the Foundation Louis Vuitton, Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, San José Museum of Art, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.

Banerjee returned to teaching in 2020, as a critic for the Yale School of Art Graduate Program. Between September 2021 and January 2022, she served a prestigious artist’s residency at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Featured Events

• , Feb. 20 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. ET, virtual
• , Feb. 23 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., Life Sciences 001, followed by a reception at the Shaffer Art Building
• , March 3 from 3-5:30 p.m., Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse 3

for more public programs surrounding the exhibition and Banerjee’s two-week residency.

Members of the media, please contact Emily Dittman, interim director of Syracuse University Art Museum, at ekdittma@syr.edu, for more information or to schedule a tour.

To express the celebration theme of “Civil Rights and the City of Syracuse,” four local artists were selected to show their works in the specially constructed gallery, which will be open to the public on Sunday, Jan. 22, before and during the traditional celebration dinner. The art gallery will open at 4:15 p.m. and the dinner will begin at 5 p.m. For more information, visit .

The exhibition will spotlight artists David R. MacDonald, Jaleel Campbell, Jessica McGhee ’19 and Vanessa Johnson. Curators for the exhibition include Qiana Williams and Cjala Surratt of the Black Artists’ Collective; Ken Harper, associate professor of visual communications and art curator in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications; and Hendricks Chapel staff.

THE ARTISTS

, professor emeritus at Syracuse University, is an acclaimed and celebrated ceramic artist, who has lived in Syracuse for many years. MacDonald joined the faculty of the School of Art and Design at Syracuse University in 1971. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, MacDonald’s work received most of its creative inspiration from his investigation of his African heritage. MacDonald draws much of his inspiration from the myriad examples of surface decoration that manifests itself in the many ethnic groups of sub-Saharan Africa. MacDonald’s work spans the complete spectrum of ceramic forms of a utilitarian nature.

Artwork by Jaleel Campbell

’s passion for creating knows no bounds. Whether it be through illustration work that showcases the often underrepresented, video work that captures the beauty and essence of Black life and culture, or handmade dolls that aim to honor and acknowledge African traditions, there is no limit to his creativity. “I create work that reminds Black people of their worth; even when the world becomes too heavy,” he says.

“Lexical Priming” by Jessica McGhee ’19

, originally from Los Angeles, California, moved to Syracuse in 2008. She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Syracuse University in 2019 and is currently enrolled in the University’s creative arts therapy M.S. program. Her primary medium is painting, though she works in a variety of media. McGhee works therapeutically and believes strongly in art’s nonverbal ability to communicate, heal and transform the self in ways that impact the overall well-being of its creator. She is currently the arts programming coordinator and an instructor at the University’s La Casita Cultural Center.

“Hye Won Hye” by Vanessa Johnson

is a griot (storyteller) in the West African tradition. She is also a writer, playwright, actor, fiber artist, museum consultant, community activist, historian, educator and teaching artist. Johnson received the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Creatives Rebuild NY Grant for 2022-24. At Onondaga Historical Association, Johnson used her storytelling talents to tell the history of Onondaga County and she has been teaching in school programs since 2005. Presently, Johnsonteaches at Syracuse University’s Community Folk Art Center and is the artist-in-residence for the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation

“We are excited for this year’s participants to celebrate the richness of Syracuse’s culture and beauty…and there’s no juicier way to do that than through art,“ says Harper, who has been on the MLK Event Planning Committee for the past three years. “We hope to expand the gallery next year to include collaborations with additional local artists, the Community Folk Art Center and the Syracuse University Art Museums.”

Tickets for the dinner and program, which will include student and community group performances, presentation of the Unsung Hero Awards and a keynote address from the Rev. Phil Turner,��.

The grant has been awarded to the project’s co-directors, faculty member , associate professor and director of the art history graduate studies program, and (citizen of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation), associate professor of English and director of the Native American Studies program. They will coordinate with , interim director of the and instructor of museum studies in the School of Design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Sascha Scott

Scott Manning Stevens

Undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom are of Indigenous heritage, have played a central role in the research, design and curation of the exhibition. The student research team includes Eiza Capton (member of the Cayuga Nation, B.F.A. in illustration); Charlotte Dupree (citizen of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation; B.A. in art history); Anthony V. Ornelaz (citizen of the Diné Nation, M.F.A. in creative writing); Jaden N. Dagenais (M.A. in art history; M.S. in library and information science); and Ana Borja Armas (Quechua, Ph.D. in the cultural foundation of education). The research team is also developing an exhibition catalog and is working with Jones on an oral history project.

mission is to strengthen civil society and the bonds of community by using the humanities to foster engaged inquiry and dialogue around social and cultural concerns. The organization’s offer funding to implement humanities projects that encourage public audiences to reflect on values, explore new ideas and engage with others in their community.

Peter B. Jones – “Twins,” from the Sky People Series, 1989
(Stoneware – 11.25 x 10.25 in., photo courtesy Everson Museum of Art, PC 2010.9)

Jones has ceramic works in museums nationwide, including the National Museum of the American Indian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was among the first class of students at the Institute of American Indian Art. In subsequent decades he has been instrumental in reviving historical styles and techniques of Haudenosaunee pottery making. He has also developed a form of figurative pottery that highlights Haudenosaunee history and culture and that represents indigenous dispossession, oppression, genocide, resistance and resilience.

Future Template

According to Scott and Stevens, the project aims to provide a template for future student- and community-engaged exhibitions of contemporary Haudenosaunee art at the University. A second goal is to draw more Indigenous students to humanistic work and museum professions and illustrate how those professions can serve Native communities and inspire and enact social change. “Our Indigenous student-curators have seen their cultures and histories either misrepresented or not represented at all in school curricula and museums. These students are learning more about Haudenosaunee art and culture, sharing their perspectives with the research team, which is also comprised of non-Indigenous students, and guiding how Indigenous art, history and culture is represented on campus and shared with the local community,” says Scott.

Emily Dittman

Community Education

The project also involves several community educational components. The museum will host public lectures by scholars and contemporary artists and a workshop for University faculty to illustrate how they can incorporate the exhibit into their courses. In addition to working with faculty, the curator of education and academic outreach Kate Holohan will also conduct a community outreach day. Wider community outreach efforts will include student researcher visits to local grade school classrooms.

Spring Course

Scott and Stevens will also co-teach a cross-listed course for undergraduate and graduate students in spring 2023, “Indigenizing Museums.” It focuses on the history, critique and interventions of museum practices related to the collection, stewardship and display of Indigenous visual and material culture. One unit of the course will focus on Jones’s work and the museum’s exhibition.

“The Syracuse University Art Museum is a wonderful setting for hosting this exciting exhibition and for bringing about the important awareness, outreach and educational activities associated with this project,” says Marcelle Haddix, associate provost for strategic initiatives. “We look forward to showcasing Haudenosaunee culture, art and history through this exhibition and to cultivating the important dialogues and understandings these events will help generate. We appreciate the funding that Humanities New York has provided for this worthwhile project.”

Credit: Dawoud Bey

Impressive in its breadth and depth, the exhibition is a thoughtful curation of images and objects that have entered Light Work’s collection since the organization’s inception in 1973. Only the generosity of former Light Work artists-in-residence, grant awardees and individual donations have made this possible.

Light Work’s 50th anniversary presents a unique opportunity to share with the local, regional and national community the legacy of support the organization has extended to emerging and under-represented artists working in photography, lens-based media and digital image-making.

More than 4,000 photographic prints, objects and ephemera from an extensive and diverse archive are the basis of this exhibition. The selection maps out the many programs and partnerships representing 50 years of our commitment to increasing the visibility of lens-based artists.

The exhibition also highlights the hundreds of artists who came to Syracuse to expand their practice and make new work. Highlights in the show include images from acclaimed photographers Dawoud Bey (residency 1985), Wendy Red Star (Ellis Gallery 2019), Alessandra Sanguinetti (residency 2002, Main Gallery 2003), Cindy Sherman (residency 1981), Hank Willis Thomas (residency 2006), Carrie Mae Weems (residency 1988), James Welling (residency 1986) and many more.

Deborah Willis

The five-month celebratory retrospective will boast a full roster of exhibition-related special events, workshops, docent-led tours, and an artist lecture with award-winning historian, author, curator, photographer and former Light Work residency participant (1990), Deborah Willis, Ph.D. Light Work will host Willis’ lecture in the Everson Museum’s Hosmer Auditorium on Thursday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m.

Willis is a University Professor and chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She is also the director of NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture. Her body of work examines photography’s multifaceted histories, visual culture, contemporary women photographers, and beauty. She is the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Her many landmark publications include “The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship” and “Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present.” Professor Willis’s curated exhibitions include “Home: Reimagining Interiority” at YoungArts in Miami, “Framing Moments” at the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, “Migrations and Meanings in Art,” and “Free As They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory” at FotoFocus 2022.

Alesandra (Sasha) Temerte

Through the philanthropic gift of Syracuse University alumni and prominent artists Luise ’46, G’51 and Morton Kaish ’49, the Kaish Fellowship program was established in 2021. The program provides funding for undergraduate students from every discipline to undertake original research on the permanent art collection and to work with museum staff on exhibitions, scholarly publications and public programming.

Temerte is a senior at Syracuse University, double majoring in economics and writing and rhetoric studies, with minors in Spanish and strategic management. She is a Coronat Scholar, a member of the Renée Crown Honors Program and a 2022-23 Remembrance Scholar.

As a writer, Temerte has been interested in the concept of storytelling through fragments. Through her courses at Syracuse University, her fragmented storytelling approach continues to take shape in prose, depicting stories through the lens of passing moments and snippets of meaning that tell a greater narrative.

Recently, she has explored writing in multimedia forms, often combining prose, poetry, images, and video together. Temerte’s interest in the abstract and the surreal drew her to apply for the Kaish fellowship, and she envisions creating a small booklet of poems for her final project.

Through this opportunity, Temerte plans to work alongside interim Chief Curator Melissa Yuen to explore works of art by both Luise and Morton Kaish, as well as other artists in the permanent collection, which engage with collision and interruption.

Students pose for a photo during the 2022 Diwali celebration on the Orange Grove.

In 2015, College of Arts and Sciences art history Professor�� organized the University’s first public Diwali celebration on campus. Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a Hindu festival held each October or November in India where people use oil lamps, candles and rangoli (a type of floor art) to decorate homes, streets and public buildings.

Ray, who specializes in the art and architecture of the British Empire in India, thought by bringing the festival to Syracuse it would offer a new way for students in her art and architecture of India course to connect with the traditions and culture of India. She says her students enthusiastically joined in, and have been instrumental in helping the celebration grow each year—a testament to the power of art.

Students set up more than 2,500 tea lights ahead of the Diwali celebration.

“One of the objectives of this course is to experience the��living heritage of Indian art and architecture,” says Ray. “Architecture becomes ethereal, and art comes alive through the interplay between light and design during Diwali. I wanted my students to recreate this aesthetic experience, and in doing so, to experience a vibrant cultural tradition that they may or may not be familiar with.”

In 2021 and again this year, Ray and her students collaborated with the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students at Syracuse University (NOMAS) to light up over 2,500 tea lights. The NOMAS students, many who are enrolled in Ray’s art and architecture of India class, created rangoli patterns that were installed in the Orange Grove and illuminated with lights.

“Seeing students come together this way to embrace and celebrate a living art of India is one of the highlights of this course,” Ray says. “With their creative energy, our SU Diwali tradition has expanded in wonderful ways.”

About the Class

As the sun set and the night sky emerged, the lights sparkled across the grove. Pictured is one of the illuminated rangoli patterns.

This course introduces students to 5,000 years of art and architecture in India. They study painting, sculpture, photography and architecture created in the Indian subcontinent from 2600 B.C. to the present. Ray and her students explore major themes, which have emerged from a complex interweaving of art and architectural customs, political histories, religious traditions, cultural norms and histories of technology.

Who Should Enroll?

Anyone, but the course typically features students from art history, English, anthropology, the School of Architecture, the Newhouse School and the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

What are some of the fundamental questions students explore?

In this course, students investigate how different, intersecting cultures shape the making of art and architecture in India. They do this by charting the cultures of the Indus Valley, the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism, the evolution of Indo-Greek links, and the influx of Islam and Christianity. The course also examines the impact of British colonialism, the rise and fall of the British Empire, the role of nationalism in the making of modern Indian art, and the emergence of contemporary art in the post-Independence era.

Hands-on Experience

The class involves field trips to study two unique collections at Syracuse University: a collection of historic Indian calendar art in the Special Collections Research Center in Bird Library, and a collection of Indian indigenous art in the Syracuse University Art Museum. Students also participate in the Diwali illuminations evening.