Downtown Syracuse
Calendar of Events

I've Learned To Hold Myself Softly: Cali M. Banks

Comprised of 30 images and one film, Banks has created an exhibition with Syracuse as her muse.

She began documenting her hometown of Syracuse in November 2022. When she traveled back to places of importance during my "coming of age" years, she realized many places of both solace and nostalgia have been demolished or abandoned. Banks started to rework this experimental, documentary project with ideas of "teardown towns" and blind tradition. She utilizes self-portraiture, still-lives, and architecture that is specific to Syracuse, and symbolism depicting bodies, ritual, and sensuality, which in turn uses nonverbal communication as a way to emphasize tradition. This project also explores the complexities of layers of existence through materialistic remnants and the essence of non-tangibility. With a rapidly changing hometown as the core of the work, Banks is capturing attention with a familiar setting to the community.

Unique

Coordinated by ARISE, a non-profit agency based in Syracuse, UNIQUE celebrates the artistic talents of Central New Yorkers living with disabilities. The works included in this exhibition eloquently speak to the myriad thoughts, ideas, and feelings that all humans share, regardless of individual ability or circumstance. The annual competition invites submissions of art and literature which are then selected for display by a panel of judges, and the works are exhibited at the Everson Museum.

Jewels from the Fire: 20th Century Enamels Exhibition

Because they use similar materials and processes, enamels and ceramics share a close relationship. Enamellists work on metal surfaces instead of clay, creating everything from functional jewelry and dinnerware to wall-mounted panels. They use pigments called enamels in the process, which behave similarly to ceramic glazes. Comprising mineral pigments and a glassy powder called frit, enamels can be painted as a liquid or sifted and sprinkled onto a surface while dry. Enameled metal is then fired in a kiln at temperatures ranging from 1400°F to 1650°F. Artists often add additional layers of enamel after cooling and fire their pieces multiple times, which creates seductive, jewel-like surfaces.

Sascha Brastoff: California King

There are many wild and colorful characters in the history of American ceramics, but most pale in comparison to Sascha Brastoff. We most remember Brastoff as a prolific designer of midcentury dinnerware, but he also served in the US Army during World War II, where he created props and costumes for Special Services events to entertain troops. Brastoff also performed as his drag alter-ego, G.I. Carmen Miranda, and was cast in a Broadway production, Winged Victory (later adapted into the 1944 movie of the same name).

When the war ended, Brastoff moved to Los Angeles to design costumes for film stars, including the real Carmen Miranda. Brastoff then built a dinnerware empire (bankrolled by a Rockefeller) after taking a top prize in the Syracuse Museum of Fine Art’s 1948 Ceramic National exhibition. Throughout his career, Brastoff rubbed elbows with celebrities and was at the heart of L.A.’s Queer underground. Besides his work in ceramics, Brastoff also mastered jewelry, metalwork, enamels, and created erotic works for many private clients.

Paulina Velázquez Solís: Unseen/forgotten

Unseen/forgotten: Ode to the humble landscape | Invisible/olvidado: Oda al paisaje humilde is a continuation of the project A river of all ages that Paulina Velázquez Solís developed during the pandemic. She found herself in a new environment in Brooktondale NY, surrounded by a creek where the change of pace and isolation brought via COVID accentuated the sound perception of the river, and its presence as a neighbor and living entity.

This sonic connection was similar to her home in Costa Rica, which is also next to a river, making the sound experience of the river both grounding and nostalgic. This experience brought a new perspective not only in the sense of place through bodies of water but also in the creatures and plants that are particular to a place.

Unseen/forgotten: continues these observations focusing on plants of Central New York natural areas that present a post-industrial natural wonder – where many species prevail after the severe deforestation through the end of the 19th century and the start of the 1900’s 1 presenting through visuals, media performance and soundscapes, stories learned during the explorations of natural areas, and visits at the L. H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium at Cornell University.

The narratives and images of two plants that are highlighted in this project are Micrantheumun micranthemoides, a semiaquatic plant that is extinct, and originally found near the mud plains by the Hudson River, that now can only be found in the archived specimens, and recent images of seeds from an electromagnetic microscope. The second plant, Calamagrostis perplexa, is an endemic grass in Tompkins County that according to the observations and analysis by botanist David Werier exists only in a specific area. This ancient plant has lived in the same location for hundreds of years bearing witness to the changes of the larger landscape.

Getting to know the landscapes where these, and other unassuming plants live or have existed, aims to re-direct our curiosity of discovery, wonder in natural spaces and our connection to the past and the future.

1 According to the Department of Environmental Conservation “by the 1880s, less than 25% of New York State remained forested” Department of Environmental Conservation, History Of State Forest Program, A History of Human Impact, last visited on July,5,2024 https://dec.ny.gov/nature/forests-trees/state-forests/program-history#:~....

About the Artist

Paulina Velázquez Solís (she/her) is a multimedia artist from Latinoamerica with an interest in the oddities hidden within nature and the body. She was born in Puebla, Mexico and grew up between Mexico and Costa Rica, where she went to art school. She works in diverse media, including installation, sculpture, drawing, animation, and multimedia performance.

She graduated in Art and Visual Communication in Printmaking at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica and obtained an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute as a Fulbright Scholar. She moved to Ithaca, NY in 2018 where she is currently faculty at the Art Department at Cornell University and Ithaca College. Her work has been shown around the world, including at the Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, TEOR/éTica in Costa Rica, Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan, ExTeresa Arte Actual in México City, Museo de Arte in San Salvador, Torino Contemporanea in Italy, La Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, Mengi in Reykjavik, Iceland, Museum of the Americas in Washington DC, UCLA Biennial in Los Ángeles, and the Berkeley Art Museum in the San Francisco Bay area.

Artist Website: multifungi.com

Tim Atseff: Final Edition

Fifty years following his Everson Museum debut, Syracuse-native Tim Atseff returns with a solo exhibition dedicated to a topic he knows intimately—the news media. Atseff spent nearly five decades working in the newspaper business in various professional roles and is perhaps best-known for penning editorial cartoons that satirically skewered political and public figures in print. Atseff’s artistic practice is similarly grounded in current events, but as a platform for expressing his personal views about existential crises facing the world today, it is writ large and in full color in paintings, assemblages, and installations. For the Everson, Atseff presents a selection of recent works about the continued shuttering of American newspapers—and what it means for the future of journalistic integrity, an informed public, and national political debate.

Walking & Talking Wednesdays: Historical Lunchtime Tours of Downtown Syracuse

Spanning from spring to fall, our Walking & Talking Wednesdays give you the chance to spend your mid-week lunch hour with Curator of History Robert Searing, listening to some local history as you get in a midday walk around town.

The tours will leave from OHA’s downtown museum at 321 Montgomery Street at 12:00 and end in Clinton Square. Each will last approximately 45-60 minutes and cover a wide array of topics, including abolition, architecture, general historical happenings, and some of the city’s lost historical treasures. Please arrive and check in at OHA’s front desk 10 minutes prior to the start of your tour.

Tour dates are 5/1, 5/15, 6/5, 6/26, 7/10, 7/24, 8/14, 8/28, 9/4, 9/18, 10/2, & 10/16

Each tour group is capped at 15 guests, so book your spot soon!

Les Miserables

Cameron Mackintosh presents the acclaimed production of Boublil and Schönberg’s Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Misérables. This brilliant staging has taken the world by storm and has been hailed as “a reborn dream of a production” (Daily Telegraph).

Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. The magnificent score of Les Misérables includes the songs “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More” and many more.

Disney's The Lion King

More than 100 million people around the world have experienced the phenomenon of Disney’s THE LION KING, and now you can, too, when Syracuse’s best-loved musical returns to the Landmark Theatre. Winner of six Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, this landmark musical event brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams on Broadway.

Tony Award®-winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. THE LION KING also features some of Broadway’s most recognizable music, crafted by Tony Award®-winning artists Elton John and Tim Rice. There is simply nothing else like THE LION KING.

Mamma Mia!

A mother. A daughter. 3 possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget!

Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is beautifully told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago.

For nearly 25 years, people all around the world have fallen in love with the characters, the story, and the music that make MAMMA MIA! The ultimate feel-good show.