Stephen Kuusisto, Urayoán Noel and OlaRose Ndubuisi—three poets whose work embody resilience, identity and the radical possibilities of language—will present their work at the annual poetry reading on

The event, produced by Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact, takes place at the , where the “” spring exhibition, which recognizes artists who live with disabilities, is currently displayed.

“This unique setting provides ��much excitement for our Cruel April series this year,” says , the University’s executive director of cultural engagement for the Hispanic community and Point of Contact director. “Just as the exhibition’s artistic expressions expand on ideas of creativity shaped by body, mind, culture and history, the works of the three poets enter into a dialogue across cultures and disciplines. Both forums offer varied perspectives on how artists navigate the world on their own terms.”

The poetry program begins at 5:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Poet and essayist is a University Professor and director of the . Blind since birth, Kuusisto has built a celebrated body of work that redefines understandings of perception and beauty. His poetry collections, “Only Bread, Only Light” (2000) and “Letters to Borges” (2013), along with memoirs including “Planet of the Blind” and “Have Dog, Will Travel,” have established him as one of the most compelling disability voices in American letters. His work has appeared in Harper’s, Poetry and The New York Times Magazine.

is an internationally recognized poet and scholar, an associate professor of English and Spanish at New York University and a defining voice in Latinx and Nuyorican literary traditions. He is the author of the landmark study “In Visible Movement: Nuyorican Poetry from the Sixties to Slam” (2014) and the poetry collections “Buzzing Hemisphere/Rumor Hemisférico” (2015) and “Transversal” (2021), which was a New York Public Library Book of the Year. He is also the winner of the LASA Latino Studies Book Award. His work explores neurodivergence, migration and the politics of language. Cruel April is presented in partnership with the , , , and the .

’29, the 2024–25 New York State Youth Poet Laureate, is a Syracuse student pursuing dual majors in biology and journalism. She is also a Coronat Scholar and Renée Crown honors student and is enrolled in SUNY Upstate Medical University’s B.S./M.D. program. Her poetry draws on her experience with scoliosis, her Nigerian heritage and her commitment to uplifting marginalized communities. A premature birth survivor, she is the founder of The Finding Scoliosis Kindly Project and a Prudential Emerging Visionaries award winner.

This spring, the Syracuse University Art Museum will present three new exhibitions that challenge how we think about art, freedom and the human body. Together, they examine whose stories get told and how the images we see shape the way we understand our world and each other.

“Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards,” “Afterimages: Legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment” and “Undressed: The Nude in Dutch Art, circa 1550-1800″ will join the permanent collection exhibition “Human/Environment: 4,000 Years of Art” and the Art Wall Project by artist Bhen Alan, “Why Does My Adobo Taste Different?”

‘Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards’

For 20 years, the Wynn Newhouse Awards have recognized and celebrated the excellence of contemporary artists living with disabilities. This exhibition brings together 11 of those artists—painters, sculptors, photographers and video artists—chosen from 115 award recipients for the force and clarity of their work.

Curated by Daniel Fuller G’04, “Possible Worlds” spans generations and approaches. The works vary from quiet and intimate to bold and confrontational, exploring themes that include memory, time, care, power, communication and the body. The exhibition makes no attempt to define what disability means to these artists or present a unified narrative. Instead, it offers visitors a chance to spent meaningful time with each artist’s individual practice and consider how these artists navigate the art world— and the world at large—on their own terms.

Fuller will engage in a virtual conversation about the exhibition on Wednesday, Feb. 4, from 6 to 7 p.m. is free and required. A range of programming inspired by the exhibition will be presented throughout the semester.

Generous support for this exhibition is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), the Joe and Emily Lowe Fund, Louise B. and Bernard G. Palitz Fund, the Burton Blatt Institute and the Center on Disability and Inclusion in the School of Education.

‘Afterimages: Legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment’

The 13th amendment, ratified by Congress in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. Except for a critical exception: slavery could continue as punishment for a crime. That loophole has shaped American life ever since, from convict leasing in the Jim Crow South to mass incarceration today.

“Afterimages,” curated by first-year graduate students in art history under the guidance of Associate Professor Sascha Scott, highlights art from the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s collection to trace this complicated legacy.

This exhibition invites reflection on the impact the amendment had on Black communities, as well as the continued violence and coerced labor still permitted through the exclusion clause. Themes explored include community, resistance and resilience present in abolitionist and civil rights movements, some of which persist today.

“Afterimages: Legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment” will be on view in the James F. White Gallery through March 8. A free curator talk, led by Scott and the student curators, will be held on Feb. 13 from 3 to 3:45 p.m.

‘Undressed: The Nude in Dutch Art, circa 1550–1800’

In the 1950s, influential British art critic Kenneth Clark argued that great art depicted not “naked” bodies but “nude” ones, elevated above everyday reality. “Undressed: The Nude in Dutch Art, circa 1550-1800” disrupts this conventional idea about nudity in art by examining the works artistically and within their cultural context. Encompassing 21 works across a range of mediums, the exhibition surveys the portrayal of nudity and semi-nudity in Dutch art over several centuries from artists including Rembrandt, Lievens and Goltzius.

This exhibition is curated by eight senior art history majors with the guidance of Distinguished Professor Wayne Franits, chair of the Department of Art and Music Histories in the College of Arts and Sciences. The student curators spent a semester considering what these works reveal about the “nude” within their cultural context and now they’re inviting visitors to look closely and draw their own conclusions.

The exhibition will be on view from March 17 to May 9. A free curator talk led by Franits and the student curators will be held on Thursday, April 2, from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m.

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Department of Art and Music Histories in the College of Arts and Sciences and includes loans from the Johnson Museum of Art, the Westphalen Collection in New York City and private collections.

For more information on exhibitions, events and museum hours, visit�� or explore the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s free digital guide on .

Cheryl Hatch knew as soon as she saw a����capturing the columns of names stretched across a wall inside the��, that she had to see it.��

The memorial display outside the Joyce��Hergenhan��Auditorium lists the 2,510 journalists killed globally since 1992, along with the date and location of their death. ��

Hatch, a��,��covered conflict and its aftermath in the Middle East and Africa. She��drove five and a half hours to see��the memorial, to find the names of friends and colleagues��she’s��lost. When she arrived, she helped mount a photo of her friend,��, in the gallery. Then, she placed her hands over each of her friends’ names: Gilkey,��,��,��. ��

“Each year, sadly and horrifically, there are more and more journalists being killed,” Hatch says. “And when I was working in conflict zones, yes, people got killed, but now more frequently people are targeted. Some of my friends were targeted. It’s incredibly important to remember those names and remember their commitment to witnessing and documenting what’s happening in the world, literally giving their lives for it.”��

Raising Awareness

The wall is part of a project developed by��, an associate professor of visual communications and graduate program director for multimedia,��photography��and design at Newhouse, that��seeks��to honor media professionals who have been killed and raise awareness about the threats journalists face.����

Harper says he was moved to create the memorial gallery and its accompanying event series,����in response to the record number of journalists and media workers killed in 2024. ����

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 124 journalists were killed in 2024, with 103 of the deaths related to their work. The rise was driven by the increase in deaths of journalists during the Israel-Hamas war, which has seen 250 journalists killed during the course of the ongoing war, .��

“I thought, is there anything I can do to further the conversation?” Harper says. “To remember those people who gave their lives, to bring the truth forward and to shed light in places that are��really hard��to be. They gave everything for it, and the least we can do is recognize that.”��

Addressing Challenges

Harper says his hope is to bring people together for inclusive conversations around the broader consequences for journalism, exploring the risks of reporting on violence and conflict, while also preparing students planning to enter the profession. ��

Harper worked with fellow Newhouse professors��,����and����to develop the��, which includes discussions, film screenings and workshops on risk assessment and trauma-informed journalism. Events were held in the fall and will continue through the spring. ��

The memorial wall, which uses data from CPJ, was unveiled on Nov. 6 and will be on display until��July. Harper collaborated on��the��design for the wall with��, lead artistic designer for the��office of communications at��Newhouse.��

“Intellectual discussion is critical because it reminds us how real this is,” Harper says. “And then now what do you do about it? If journalism is anything,��it’s��about practical ideas and solutions to real problems we bring forward to the community to address.”��

Beyond the spring, Harper says he hopes to find a permanent home for the memorial on campus.��He’s��also looking for funders to create a traveling exhibition��for the project, to bring the memorial wall to other journalism schools around the country��and internationally.��

Loghman��Fattahi, U.S. advocacy representative at CPJ, says documenting and preserving the stories of every journalist��who’s��been killed is vital for pursuing accountability. ��

Until its��, the Newseum honored journalists killed related to their work on a memorial wall. But Fattahi��says he is not aware of any other current memorial to slain journalists listing the collective names as the “Silenced” project has, giving visitors a concrete visual for understanding the risks journalists around the world take in service to their vocation and society.��

“The journalists have fallen in different places, in different contexts, different years, their��lives are taken by different actors and circumstances,” Fattahi says. “But seeing all their names together brings a sense of cohesion and wholeness to the bond among journalists and the role and importance of press freedom in bringing credible information, reliable information, independent information, to audiences all around the world.”��

Remembering—And Continuing the Work

, a Fox News��senior��correspondent, was on campus in November for his own reporting when he learned about the memorial gallery and that two of his former colleagues were included in the display. Hall����covering the Russian invasion alongside photojournalist����and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha”��Kuvshynova��in March 2022 when their vehicle was struck by Russian fire, severely injuring Hall and killing his colleagues. ��

“I knew no matter how busy it was, I had to go down and see it,” Hall says. “Not only to pay respects to Pierre and to Sasha, and to every other journalist who’s lost their lives covering conflict, but to also just thank Syracuse for having this wall.”��

Like Hatch and Fattahi, he says the memorial reminds people of the importance, not only of journalism and covering conflict, but of having reporters on the ground. ��

“In my eyes, journalism is more than just a job,” Hall says. “It’s more than just something you go and you do, to write stories here and there. It is something that has a vast impact on how society sees the world. It strives to educate people so they can help make better decisions, so they can hold governments to account, so they can hopefully try and change the world for the better.”

Zakrzewski and��Kuvshynova, and other former colleagues remembered on the wall, believed the work they were doing was essential, he says. ��

“They cared so deeply about what we were doing, and I know they would not want what happened to them to stop journalism,” he says. “They would not want people to stop telling these stories. No, they would want people to continue doing the work that they thought was so important.”

When Brian Tarrant’s email arrived in the inbox of design faculty in the (VPA), it carried with it more than a simple project proposal. It carried the weight of history, the story of college football’s most famed number—the legendary 44—and those who wore it.

Tarrant ’96, a former Orange football player and senior vice president with MC2, a brand experience solutions agency, reached out to partner with the University. He sought help curating the memorabilia and developing the storytelling for the Legend of 44 exhibition, which his company designed.

The primary stakeholder, Rob Konrad ’02, the last Syracuse football player to wear the number before it was retired in 2005, invested a significant amount of time and personal resources to help acquire the iconic memorabilia. “His generosity and deep love for the University truly made this project possible,” Tarrant says.

The is not just a jersey at Syracuse; it is part of the University’s identity. From 1954 to 1998, 11 players wore the number, beginning with Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown ’57, who ushered in the modern era and transformed it into a symbol of excellence.

The most notable players to follow Brown include Ernie Davis ’62, the first African American Heisman Trophy winner in 1961; Floyd Little ’67, H’16, a three-time All-American at Syracuse and Hall of Fame running back with the Denver Broncos; Michael Owens ’90; Terry Richardson ’94; and Konrad, who went on to play six seasons with the Miami Dolphins.

Honoring the Legend of 44

To create the exhibition, environmental and interior design students Trisha Mohta ’28, Katja Wetzel ’27, Carmela Garcia ’26, Isabel Lamporte ’26 and Holly Ishiro-Randall ’26—along with museum studies graduate student Daniel Griffaton G’26—worked alongside faculty members Zoriana Dunham, assistant teaching professor, Andrew Saluti, associate professor, and Tarrant and his team.

The students learned the stories behind the artifacts, including game-worn helmets from Brown and Konrad and cleats from Davis’ Heisman season. They visited the storage site to measure objects and examine them firsthand. The challenge was to translate decades of achievement, sacrifice and cultural significance into a cohesive narrative that would resonate with fans across generations.

Within the exhibition’s design, larger cases feature Brown, Davis and Little, and smaller cases feature Owens, Richardson and Konrad. A backlit 44 display lists all 25 players who were known to wear the number on the football field.

A Rewarding Experience for Students

As the project progressed, the team saw how individual stories wove together into something larger—a tapestry of excellence that transcended any single student-athlete. They collaborated through shared digital whiteboards, collecting sketches and concepts, refining their vision through multiple meetings with Tarrant’s team.

Garcia has focused on big-scale design in her studies, and this project taught her that human-centered design must prioritize the small scale.

“It was so exciting to see this project come to life within the course of a few weeks,” Garcia says. “And it made me realize the power of cooperation, various skills and a shared interest.”

Randall says the students were involved in the full design process. “For the first time, we were able to follow a project from initial ideation through installation, and I am proud to have been able to contribute to a project that celebrates Syracuse’s legacy,” she says.

“A particularly meaningful element for the students was shaping the ‘legend story’ of the iconic number 44,” says Dunham. “They worked to design a display that would connect fans across generations while preserving the legacy and significance of the number within the school community.”

When installation week arrived in mid-November, the students and faculty completed the hands-on work. The exhibition, now permanently situated outside Club 44 at Gate C in the JMA Wireless Dome, features the artifacts alongside a timeline honoring every player who wore the number, plus video and photo displays that bring the legacy to life.

“Working with students from the environmental and interior design and museum studies programs was an incredible opportunity,” says Tarrant. “The students assumed ownership of the storytelling, including image selection, artifact descriptions and overall layout, which became a major asset to the project’s success. I could not be more proud of this project and the role the students played in bringing it to life.”

The unveiling ceremony in November was attended by Konrad and William Schoonover ’65, who also wore the 44, along with the families of the legendary players and Chancellor Kent Syverud.

For Dunham and Saluti, watching their students succeed was deeply rewarding. “The students gained experience in artifact research, narrative development, client collaboration, iterative design and team project management,” says Dunham. “It is a rare opportunity for students to leave a permanent mark on campus while applying the skills they are learning—what could be more powerful than that?”

Snapping photos with just a smartphone, ��spent four months traveling across southeastern Europe to create a powerful collection of images that capture life in a region still shaped by its history of conflict and resilience.

The results from Strong’s overseas endeavor are now on display. The new “Call to Me, Balkans” photo exhibition is open on campus in the Schine Student Center’s Panasci Lounge. The exhibition, also simultaneously on display in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, features black-and-white images from Strong’s travels to the region during his 2023 sabbatical and two subsequent trips.

The timing is significant: “Call to Me, Balkans” commemorates the 30th anniversary of the��Dayton Peace Accords, the agreement that ended the Bosnian war of the 1990s.

“‘Call to Me, Balkans’ captures the rich, diverse and interconnected cultures of the region,” says Strong, an associate professor of visual communications who teaches photo and video storytelling at the . “It celebrates the resilience and beauty of an area heavily impacted by such a devastating conflict.”

Strong has said he hopes the exhibition also fosters connections with Central New York’s Bosnian immigrant community.

Strong is The Alexia Endowed Chair at the Newhouse School. Through grants, scholarships and special projects for photographers, filmmakers and other visual creatives,����promotes the power of visual storytelling to shed light on significant issues around the world.

The November opening of the exhibition at Schine featured remarks from , dean of the Newhouse School; , senior associate dean for academic affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; , professor and undergraduate director of Maxwell’s anthropology department; and Imam , assistant dean for religious and spiritual life at Hendricks Chapel.

The exhibition is curated and designed by his wife, , the curator of communications, design and exhibitions for The Alexia, who also teaches graphic design and writing courses at Newhouse. Strong’s travels took him through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia.

Strong developed the Schine exhibition with support from the Newhouse School’s , which funds faculty and student research. The National Gallery exhibition in Sarajevo was funded by the University’s .

Strong said he challenged himself on this project to work exclusively with a smartphone in order to push creative boundaries and prove that powerful storytelling doesn’t always require expensive equipment.

This project has already received international acclaim, with work from the exhibition awarded by the Sarajevo Photography Festival and featured in China as a solo exhibition at the Pingyao International Photo Festival in 2024.

For half a century, (POC) has served the University and local communities as a hub for artistic and literary exploration. Two special programs will be held this year in celebration of the organization’s 50th anniversary.

On Thursday, April 2, a reading by acclaimed Mexican American poet will kick off POC’s Cruel April poetry series, which is held annually in observance of National Poetry Month. The reading will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at the , located in Shaffer Art Building on campus.

The event will also feature a pop-up show of five artist books commissioned in honor of POC’s 50th anniversary. The exclusive works—created by POC advisory board members (board president and associate professor of studio arts in the College of Visual and Performing Arts), Pedro Roth, Matías Roth, Joseph Kugielsky and Maritza Bautista—are inspired by Delgado’s poems and by poetry selections from POC’s early literary publications, including Argentine author Julio Cortázar’s “Five Erotic Sonnets.”

The 2025 Cruel April series is dedicated to the memory of poet , associate professor emeritus of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, who died in December. Burkard was a longtime partner of and contributor to POC, and his poetry was published in the POC poetry collection “Corresponding Voices, Vol. 4.”

Guests at the Delgado reading will also be able to view the exhibit “,” curated by , assistant professor of Latinx literature and culture, who will also speak at the event.

POC’s second 50th anniversary event will be a major exhibition of Latin American art from the permanent collection. “50 Sin Cuenta” will open Friday, Sept. 19, at the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Warehouse Gallery in the Nancy Cantor Warehouse, 350 West Fayette Street, Syracuse.

Artistic Evolution

Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact was founded by late scholar Pedro Cuperman. It began in 1975 as an independent editorial project at New York University, where Cuperman first taught when he migrated from Argentina in the late 1960s. He brought POC to Syracuse in 1976, and it evolved to include the “Corresponding Voices” book series, poetry editions and, in 2005, an art gallery. Cuperman, who died in 2016, taught Latin American literature and semiotics in the Arts and Sciences’ Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics for more than 40 years.

“I’ve always felt that Point of Contact is sort of a rare, hidden gem—a fiercely creative space where voices correspond across borders, disciplines and cultures,” says ’82, executive director of the Office of Cultural Engagement for the Hispanic Community. “I am incredibly fortunate to have spent 22 of those 50 years working closely with Pedro Cuperman and with so many amazing colleagues, artists, poets and scholars. Point of Contact has also served as a training ground for students, many who now hold top positions as arts administrators, curators and museum professionals across the country, extending the impact of our mission far beyond Syracuse.”

For more information about POC and scheduled events, visit .

Special Collections Research Center’s () Spring 2025 exhibition, “The Making of the Medieval Book,” opens Monday, Jan. 27 on the 6^th floor of Bird Library.

Curated by Irina Savinetskaya, curator of early to pre-20th century, the exhibition showcases SCRC’s collection of predominantly Western European medieval manuscripts from the 13^th to the 16^th centuries, alongside examples of bookmaking from Persia, Japan and Ethiopia. The exhibition also features early printed and modern books inspired by the medieval book.

Medieval manuscripts have long fascinated the public with their hand-painted illuminations and decorated bindings. Often viewed as esoteric, precious works of art, they can seem largely inaccessible to all but specialists. Much more than treasures to be gazed upon, medieval manuscripts are dynamic and unique objects that hold a variety of stories, including about the natural and animal worlds, trade, religious movements and the everyday lives of their makers and owners. By examining how medieval books were made, used and reused by various individuals and communities, along with their place in modern imagination and book design, the exhibition explores the storied history behind the making of the medieval book.

The exhibition’s opening reception is on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 4:30-6 p.m. on the 6^th floor of Bird Library. Those interested in attending the reception can . Communication Access Realtime Translation will be provided at the reception. Those requiring other accommodations can email mlwagh@syr.edu by Jan. 20.

When it comes to sustainable construction materials, there’s no contest: mass timber buildings require less heavy equipment, save on labor costs and take less time to install than concrete and steel. By utilizing mass timber, the construction industry can utilize green building practices without compromising efficiency.

That was the message of “Managing Mass Timber: From Forest to Future,” a lecture delivered by , and ��of Kent State University. Presented on Sept. 30 at the , the lecture was part of a national tour showcasing Mirando and Onsarigo’s research at Kent State’s .

Mass timber refers to a class of engineered wood products (EWPs) that are often used for wall, roof and floor construction. Because commercial-scale mass timber construction projects are on the rise across the United States, Professors Mirando and Onsarigo highlighted the importance of educating the next generation of professionals about these green building materials.

The lecture featured data from one of the tallest mass timber buildings in the United States:�� in Cleveland, Ohio. A mixed-use structure with 300 apartment units and ground-floor commercial space, the project was uniquely efficient because of the use of mass timber materials such as Glued-Laminated Timber (GLT) beams and columns, as well as Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) slabs. The real estate developer reported that construction time was about 25% faster than typical concrete or steel construction.

“Managing Mass Timber: From Forest to Future” also included a weeklong exhibit in Link Hall where students could examine real-life examples of mass timber building materials, including dowel laminated timber, nail laminated timber, and connections and assemblies used in mid- and high-rise construction projects. The “Managing Mass Timber: From Forest to Future” national exhibition tour is funded by the (SLB) headquartered in Portland, Oregon.��, department chair of civil and environmental engineering, and Reed Kelterborn, director of education for SLB, delivered welcoming and opening remarks.

The visit from Kent State University faculty was organized by��, associate teaching professor and undergraduate civil engineering program director, and , civil and environmental engineering professor emeritus. “We were thrilled to host Drs. Mirando and Onsarigo’s national touring exhibition on the construction management aspects of the mass timber building industry, and to highlight the benefits of mass timber as a sustainable construction material to the Engineering, Architecture and Construction (EAC) community here in Central New York,” says Professor Shi. “Interest in mass timber buildings is rising rapidly throughout the country. Skilled labor and seasoned professionals are in great demand. This state-of-the-art exhibition and lecture can help bring our students up to speed and get them ready for the next generation’s EAC industry.”

“In addition, we are training students to design and build more sustainable and resilient infrastructure to approach the immense challenges of climate change and natural disasters,” Professor Davidson adds. “Mass timber can be one of the most effective construction materials to meet these challenges.”

Students in engineering, architecture and other disciplines who are interested in the topic of sustainable building materials may also want to register for the��, which will be held in Syracuse this coming March.

For nearly a century, in the north entrance to the , a lone statue of President George Washington greeted all who entered the school. A former farmer, land surveyor, American Revolutionary War hero and first president who presided over the Constitutional Convention, his presence stood as an important reminder of the duties and responsibilities of Maxwell students as citizens.

Two years ago, other voices and individuals joined the first president in the building foyer with the installment of a collection of portraits from Robert Shetterly’s “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series, part of the Maxwell School’s wide-ranging effort to make its physical space more representative of its diverse community. Now in its second installment, the exhibition of portraits flanking the famous founder—titled “A Conversation with George Washington”— is designed to further contemplation and discussion around the topic of citizenship.

Some might be surprised to see contrasting figures like gold-medal Olympian and world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who was stripped of his titles and sentenced to five years in prison for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War, amid his fight for civil rights for Black Americans. “We wanted to get viewers to want to learn more about how and why someone like Muhammad Ali has something to say about citizenship,” says historian , who spearheads the effort as the school’s associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The surprise is intentional, but not intended to be confrontational. According to the artist’s website, “The portraits are the opposite of hot takes or quick opinions. They invite you to ponder a person, their words, the issues that inspire their life’s journey, work, activism and imagination. And then they welcome you into that vital conversation—across time and space—about what it means to be an American citizen.”

The update also includes portraits of famous and lesser-known activists working in the areas of disability rights, environmental sustainability, rural issues and voting rights, among others.

“The latest batch of portraits emerged out of ones the school considered from the first iteration of the collection,” says , who works alongside McCormick as the school’s strategic initiatives specialist for diversity, equity and inclusion. “We wanted to include folks who represented issues we felt were important to members of our community.”

“We also always have two portraits that put accountability on the table, in this case from the military for veterans and from an investigative journalist,” adds McCormick, referring to Paul Chappell and Ida Tarbell, respectively.

McCormick and Williams are in discussions with Maxwell colleagues to organize a series of events that relate to the new installation. On Oct. 8, Professor , director of the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration, led a workshop on Civic Skills for Civic Life that modeled the objectives of the conversation with Washington. In the spring they will host additional workshops guiding conversations around challenging topics like equity and responsibility.

In addition to , the second collection includes:

• 
  Diagnosed with ALS in 2016, Barkan shifted his activism from economic and labor reform to America’s health care system; he spent the last seven years of his life advocating for Medicare for all.
• 
  A prolific writer, Berry raises awareness of the destructive effects of large factory farming on rural communities, among other issues. A fifth generation Kentucky farmer, he cultivates his land with horses and organic methods of fertilization.
• 
  After leaving active duty, the former Army captain became focused on the idea that society should train individuals to wage peace like they train soldiers for war. He has authored six books and is founder of the Peace Literacy Institute.
• 
  As the first Black woman in Congress, “Fighting Shirley” introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and fought for racial, gender and economic equality. She was the first Black woman to seek the Democratic nomination for president, winning 28 delegates despite being barred from televised debates.
• 
  A biologist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer blends science and Indigenous wisdom to advocate for a deeper relationship to the land and legal recognition of��Rights of Nature. A Distinguished Teaching Professor at the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, she works with the Haudenosaunee people of Central New York on land rights actions and restoration.
• 
  A chief strategist of the campaign for the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, Paul employed “deeds not words,” like pickets and hunger strikes, to promote Federal reform. Subjected to arrests, beatings and forced feedings, she and other members of the National Women’s Party continued to fight until its passage.
• 
  Stanton helped organize the first U.S. women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, drafted the women’s bill of rights and championed women’s suffrage. She also worked to reform laws governing marriage and property, as well as education and religious issues.
• 
  Among many influential works, Tarbell’s 19-part series for McClure’s “The History of the Standard Oil Company,” an expose on how the business monopoly exploited the public, is known as one of the 20th century’s most important works of journalism.
• 
  Tenayuca became a vocal advocate for Mexican American and other workers in her home state of Texas at age 16. Blacklisted following the largest riot in San Antonio’s history, Tenayuca left the state, returning 20 years later as a teacher for migrants.

Since 2008, the Upstate Medical University Life Sciences exhibition at Syracuse’s Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) has fascinated millions of visitors. With giant reproductions of human body parts, it allows mini pathologists to explore internal anatomy and organs common to all humans.

But its depiction of one organ—the skin—was not as encompassing as it could be.

Now, the has received a much-needed inclusive makeover, thanks to a professor, ., who also is a dual professor in the and an associated professor in the , and his former student, Karyn Meyer-Berthel G’21.

Preserving art

For close to 30 years, Meyer-Berthel has worked as a professional artist, becoming known for her ability to combine paint colors into perfect matches to any skin tone.

This skill came over time, she says. Her start was painting theater sets.

For theater, she painted backdrops and scenery, primarily for opera and musicals. “Musical theater was my favorite to paint because it was usually really dramatic and full of character,” Meyer-Berthel says, who had to stop after an injury. “That kind of work is heavy labor—you’re carrying five-gallon buckets of paint; you’re standing on your feet all day. I loved it, but having that injury, I had to give it up. So that led to a world of figuring out all these different jobs in the arts.”

A slew of roles followed, including working for three different art material manufacturers, as well as a year as a Mellon intern, where she assisted in the conservation department at the National Gallery of Art.

“The work I did there was on painting conservation and understanding what materials last a really long time,” Meyer-Berthel explains. She learned not only how to preserve art for future generations but also how museums can protect pieces from the public, learning which materials work best to seal historic treasures, especially from the oils on little fingers that crave to touch them.

According to her former arts education teacher, this notable professional background combined with her art materials expertise made her a perfect fit to help complete a needed update to the MOST’s human body exhibition.

Rolling—who has taught arts education at Syracuse since 2007 and serves as interim chair of the Department of African American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences—also runs JHRolling Arts, Education, Leadership Strategies, a DEI consultant entity. In his role as consultant, he was tapped to help the MOST make improvements to its exhibitions, with an eye toward equity and inclusion.

Creative placemaking

MOST staff identified models in the Upstate Medical University Life Sciences exhibition as a key area where improvements in representation could be made.

“Our main objective with this project was to better fulfill our core values by making sure that the models and images in our exhibitions reflect the people who visit them,” says Emily Stewart, Ph.D., senior director of education and curation. “Our community is dynamic and diverse, and our exhibitions should be too.”

This led the MOST to Rolling because his consultancy utilizes the concept of “,” a way of transforming a lived environment so it is accessible, inviting, and representative of the community. “That life sciences exhibition was over 10 years old, and it’s striking that there were no persons of color represented,” Rolling says. “Out of all those body parts—none.”

The Upstate exhibition explores the science of human anatomy with larger-than-life body parts, including a heart visitors can walk through, a brain that lights up and a giant ear, nose, lips and more.

Rolling immediately thought of his former student, connecting the MOST to Meyer-Berthel, due to her materials and preservation skill, unique background and understanding of inclusivity, .

Perfect balance

Meyer-Berthel and staff settled on the MOST’s giant ear display to receive the upgrade. “Different ethnicities have different shape ears, certainly, but this anatomy is a little more streamlined across the globe, so an adjustment with paint can change the representation,” she says. “The ear was the clearest choice, because changing the shape of something might actually mean completely rebuilding the object, and that part wasn’t quite in my wheelhouse.”

But the skill Meyer-Berthel does excel at is combining colors to match skin tone. “No matter the ethnicity, every skin tone includes blue, red and yellow,” she explains. “You can often tell by looking at a person’s wrist what their undertones are … Finding the perfect blend and balance is the joy.”

Because 28% of Syracuse’s population is African American, the MOST wanted to change the ear to a brown skin tone, but the answer wasn’t as simple as mixing up a batch of paint and applying it.

Other factors Meyer-Berthel had to consider were the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s lighting and how this would impact the hue, and how well the paint would hold up to being touched. “The beauty of this exhibition is being able to touch it,” she says, noting that the paint needed to adhere to the material already coating the ear, the composition of which she and the MOST did not know.

After testing samples under the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s warm lighting, Meyer-Berthel first cleaned the existing model, using a micro sanding product to help her paint layer adhere. She chose acrylic paints, because she finds these to be the most versatile, and utilized Golden Artist Colors, a New Berlin, New York-based manufacturer of professional artist paints best known for its acrylics, where she also worked as a commercial applications specialist for three years.

“While house paint is wonderful for painting a house, it’s not going to be good for a museum because it has too many fillers in it, like chalk,” Meyer-Berthel explains. “For a museum model, a piece that needs to be so brilliantly colored, you don’t want much in it besides pigment and resin.”

Lastly, Meyer-Berthel coated the paint with a sealant because of how much the ear is touched, protecting it from absorbing oils and dirt from hands.

“We are so thrilled with the work she has done,” says Stewart. “Her thoughtful consideration and expertise helped us to identify the right paint colors, finishes and techniques to give our older anatomical model a new life.”

Story by Ashley Kang ’04, G’11

A new exhibition featuring the work of renowned photographer, writer, poet, musician and composer Gordon Parks will open at the Syracuse University Art Museum on Aug. 22 and be on view through Dec. 10.

“Homeward to the Prairie I Come” features more than 75 of Parks’ images, examining his wide-ranging artistic ideas. The exhibition not only includes Parks’ documentary photography such as the series Paris Fashions, Fort Scott Revisited and The Redemption of the Champion��(featuring images of Muhammed Ali), but also his thoughts on photography as a fine art medium and his engagement with celebrated paintings and sculptures.

Most significantly, the photographs instigate cultural change by challenging viewers to imagine a more inclusive culture than the one they know: a world where Black skin represents ideal beauty, where an African American athlete embodies the exemplary hero and where an artist of African heritage has a place within the lineage of excellent artists in Western art history.

“This exhibition leverages the power of art to catalyze dialogue about the wide range of issues that Parks engaged with in his photography, from systemic racism to the labor and ethics of the global fashion industry to ideas of celebrity and home,” says Melissa Yuen, the ���ܲ���ܳ�’s interim chief curator.

Interim director of the museum Emily Dittman says, “Gordon Parks was a visionary interdisciplinary artist whose work had a lasting impact on the world. His dedication to continually tell the stories of individuals that were—and still are—too often hidden and overlooked is clearly evident and inspiring throughout his artistic work.”

In this spirit, the museum is taking steps to creating an accessible, diverse and multilingual space for all communities and families. The interpretive text in the exhibition is bilingual, providing both English and Spanish text for visitors, large-type text will be available and a family guide is provided to help youth and families explore the exhibition. An open access digital exhibition catalog for the exhibition will be available for visitors in the reflection area, as well as reading materials on Gordon Parks and his multifaceted career. The exhibition will be accompanied by a dynamic slate of public programming, all free and open to the public.

Co-curated by Aileen June Wang, Ph.D., curator, and Sarah Price, registrar, at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, the tour is organized by Art Bridges. The exhibition and related programs have been made possible by generous support from Art Bridges, the Wege Foundation and the Humanities Center (Syracuse Symposium).

About the Artist

Parks, one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century, was a humanitarian with a deep commitment to social justice. He left behind an exceptional body of work that documents American life and culture from the early 1940s into the 2000s, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights and urban life. Parks was also a distinguished composer, author and filmmaker who interacted with many of the leading people of his era—from politicians and artists to athletes and celebrities.

Born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1912, Parks was drawn to photography as a young man when he saw images of migrant workers taken by Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographers in a magazine. After buying a camera at a pawn shop, he taught himself how to use it. Despite his lack of professional training, he won the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942; this led to a position with the photography section of the FSA in Washington, D.C., and, later, the Office of War Information (OWI). Working for these agencies, which were then chronicling the nation’s social conditions, Parks quickly developed a personal style that would make him among the most celebrated photographers of his era. His extraordinary pictures allowed him to break the color line in professional photography while he created remarkably expressive images that consistently explored the social and economic impact of poverty, racism, and other forms of discrimination.

Featured Events

• Opening Reception and Keynote—Sept. 6, 4-6:30 p.m.; keynote: 4-5 p.m., 160 Link Hall; reception: 5-6:30 p.m., Syracuse University Art Museum
• The Duke Ellington Orchestra presented in partnership with the Malmgren Concert Series—Sept. 22, 4 p.m.; Hendricks Chapel, with reception to follow at the Syracuse University Art Museum
• Community Screening of “Shaft” (1971), directed by Gordon Parks—Oct. 4, 7 p.m.; The Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St., Syracuse
• Community Day—Oct. 5, noon-4 p.m.; Syracuse University Art Museum
• Art Break: Gordon Parks with Nancy Keefe Rhodes—Oct. 16, noon;��Syracuse University Art Museum
• Celebrating the Legacy of Gordon Parks—Nov. 9, noon-4 p.m.; Syracuse University Art Museum;��1 p.m.: Art Break with contemporary photographer Jarod Lew; 2:30 p.m.: screening of “A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks” (2021)
• Gordon Parks Community Gathering/Showcase—Dec. 7, timing TBD;��Deedee’s Community Room, Salt City Market, 484 S. Salina St., Syracuse

Visit the for event information. Members of the media may contact Emily Dittman, interim director of Syracuse University Art Museum, for more information or to schedule a tour.

[Featured image: Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks, “Mrs. Jefferson,” from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017, gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches. Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.373. Image courtesy of and copyright by The Gordon Parks Foundation]

Two events happening this summer showcase the unique scholarly and cultural contributions of College of Arts and Sciences faculty. Comics: A nine-film series at The Dryden Theatre in Rochester, New York, will explore comic book adaptations in film. Canvas: An exhibition at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, New York, will juxtapose Indigenous perspectives on land with 19th-century American landscape paintings.

From Page to Screen

Both comic books and movies have been around for well over a century. The first adaptation of a comic to a live action film was in 1939, featuring the well-known superhero, Captain Marvel. Two fty faculty members have teamed up with Jared Case, curator of film exhibitions at the in Rochester, New York, for a nine-film series to explore the varied ways filmmakers have taken source material from comic books and brought it to the screen.

, professor and department chair of the department of English, and , professor in communication and rhetorical studies from the College of Visual and Performing Arts, have collaborated with Case in . The series will run from June through August at the Dryden Theatre in Rochester and spotlight films from the past 45 years.

In addition to the Marvel and DC Universes, popular in the past 15 years, the series will look at additional film adaptations from the last 45 years, including “Rocketboy” (1991), “Road to Perdition” (2002) and “Scott Pilgrim vs The World” (2010). The series will examine the diverse methods filmmakers have used to adapt comic book stories to big screen, focusing on the themes and visual expressions—both essential elements of comic books.

Admission is $9 for George Eastman Museum members, $12 for nonmembers, $5 for students with ID and $5 for 17 and under. See the full schedule and buy tickets at the .

In Context: Hudson River School and Indigenous Art

, associate professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, curated an exhibition at the in Catskill, New York. “Native Prospects: Indigeneity and Landscape” explores the relationship between Indigenous perspectives on land and the American landscape paintings of Thomas Cole.

The exhibition contrasts Indigenous perspectives on their homelands and environment with Thomas Cole’s American landscape paintings, which are based on European traditions. Cole is celebrated as the founder of the 19th-century American art movement known as the Hudson River School of landscape painting.

It also features contemporary art by such Indigenous artists as Teresa Baker (Mandan/Hidatsa), Brandon Lazore (Onondaga, Snipe Clan), Truman T. Lowe (Ho-Chunk), Alan Michelson (Mohawk, Six Nations of the Grand River), and Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee). The exhibition is accompanied by a collection of original essays by Manning and many other Indigenous scholars.

An expert on American Indian history and museum studies, Stevensis Karoniaktatsie (Akwesasne Mohawk). He directs at Syracuse University. The exhibition runs from May 4 to Oct. 27 and then will be featured at the in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where it will be on display until early February of 2025, followed by the in Rockland, Maine, until July.

To learn more, between Stevens and the chief curator and director of curatorial affairs, art and fellowship at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. Read in the online publication, Hyperallergic, sharing contemporary perspectives on art, culture and more.

UPDATE 2/29: Tonight’s opening reception has been postponed due to inclement weather.

Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center’s (SCRC) Spring 2024 exhibition, titled “Plasticized: The Proliferation of Plastics in the 20th Century,” opens Monday, Feb. 26, and will run through August 2024 on the sixth floor of Bird Library.

In the second half of the 20th century, and particularly during the American post-World War II period, plastic technology and manufacturing progressed so rapidly that scholars have deemed this period the “Great Acceleration.” During these years, the spread of plastics exploded globally both in production and consumption, forever changing how we live our lives within the material world, altering Earth’s environment and human and non-human bodies in ways just now coming to the surface of our collective understanding.

Curated by lead curator and curator of plastics and historical artifacts, Courtney Hicks, “Plasticized: The Proliferation of Plastics in the 20th Century” presents archival materials that document a selection of plastics’ former lives, aspirations, applications and affects while also offering a glimpse into the world of those individuals and communities often invisible behind the plastic objects themselves.

Featuring materials from the ��at Syracuse University Libraries’��,�� these selections provide historical traces of those who imagined, designed, worked with, consumed, promoted, marketed and resisted this uniquely synthetic material. Explore plastic through its industrial introduction to its universal presence in our everyday lives.��

The opening reception for the exhibition is being held on Feb. 29 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Those interested in attending the opening reception can .

Debuting at Light Work on Friday, Jan. 19, is Sophia Chai’s “.” The exhibition is comprised of photographs that are a return to Chai’s mother tongue, Korean. In these studio-made images, Chai references these written characters and enacts three key ideas of language, optics and photography.

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.

“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

Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center’s (SCRC) new exhibition titled “In Pursuit of Justice: Pan Am Flight 103” will be on view Sept. 5, 2023 through the Fall 2023 semester.

The exhibition commemorates the 35th anniversary of the 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. It will be on display on the sixth floor of Bird Library.

An opening reception for the exhibition is being held on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 4:30 p.m. .

Curated by Pan Am 103 Archivist Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn, the exhibition features materials donated to the Pan Am Flight 103/Lockerbie Air Disaster Archives at SCRC by the victims’ loved ones, communities and members of the recovery and investigative teams. It provides an overview of the disaster, investigation and first trial at Kamp van Zeist in the Netherlands.

“’In Pursuit of Justice: Pan Am Flight 103′ is a tribute to the 270 lives lost on Dec. 21, 1988,” says Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn. “The investigation, collective action and changes to victims’ services that followed the bombing are just some of the enduring examples of how the disaster continues to shape contemporary conversations around terrorism and trauma. This exhibition provides a glimpse into the journey from the longest night of the year in a small Scottish town to the present day.”