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-The Folks at Delavan Art Gallery

Do you attend a variety of arts events?

I'd like to post some recent data I stumbled upon. The report was published in 2005 and is called, "Motivations Matter." The report was produced by the Wallace Foundation, which commissioned the Urban Institute to conduct a national survey of cultural participation.

Of particular interest to me in the findings was the following information:

"Motivations varied even among cultural forms that tend to share audiences. For instance, respondents who had been to art museums in the previous 12 months were also more likely to have been to plays and vice versa. Yet there are striking differences in the reasons that respondents go to those events. This reinforces the point that the same people may go to different types of cultural events for very different reasons. It may well be that a desire for a diversity of experiences is exactly what drives these individuals to attend diverse cultural forms."

The findings also make the following notes about frequent attendees.

"Note that frequent attendees not only attend more cultural events, they also attend a greater variety of events."
and
"...The findings show frequent arts attendees to be individuals with a wide variety of interests and the ability to derive fulfillment from a wide array of activities- both cultural and otherwise. Frequent attendees not only attend more arts events and a greater variety of arts events, but they tend to be "joiners" who are also more likely to engage in other civic, social, and religious activities."


Since many of you probably fit into the frequent attendees categories and certainly tend to be "joiners," I'm curious if these statements is true. I ask you this:

What venues do you go to? How often? Do you go to different kinds of arts events?

Putting my own attendance history (and memory) on the line, I'll answer my own questions.

Venues I've been to 3 or more times in the past year:
Delavan Art Gallery (obviously)
Everson Museum of Art
Eureka Crafts
Light Work (Robert B. Menschel Media Center)
Onondaga Historical Association and Museum
Redhouse / Rothenberg Gallery
Spark Contemporary Art Space
Spark Video Screenings
Syracuse Technology Garden
ThINC's Company Gallery
The Warehouse Gallery
Syracuse Int'l Film & Video Festival (went almost every day)

Venues I've been to once or twice in the past year:
Community Folk Art Center (CFAC)
Edgewood Gallery
Jazz Central
Landmark Theater (as part of Film Fest)
MOST (as part of Film Fest)
Onondaga Community College (Arts Across Campus)
Palace Theater (as part of Film Fest and individually)
Point of Contact Gallery
Stone Quarry Art Park
SUArt Galleries
Westcott Community Art Gallery

Conclusion:
I've certainly done very well at keeping tabs on the visual arts venues, in part due to Th3, but I've never been to a theater, Symphony, or Opera in Syracuse. I attend visual arts and film arts events, with the occasional history lesson from the OHA in the middle. For me, the statement "respondents who had been to art museums in the previous 12 months were also more likely to have been to plays and vice versa" is not as true.

Is it true for you?

-Courtney Rile
Gallery Coordinator, Delavan Art Gallery

Reviews of the Everson Biennial

REVIEWS OF EVERSON BIENNIAL

They are not posted online, but we have copies here in the gallery. Here's a brief overview of the articles from The Post-Standard:

1. Katherine Rushworth reviewed the Everson Biennial by interviewing Jeremy Bailey, who won best in show, on Sunday June 18, 2006.

2. Katherine Rushworth reviewed the Salon de Refuses on Sunday, June 25, 2006 with the title, "Second Chance, Work in 'Salon des Refuses' brings 'Biennial' unevenness to light"

After reviewing the history of the Salon de Refuses, Katherine writes, "Biennial selection poor / I'll say it upfront. I'm not particularly fond of this year's rendition of the 'Everson Biennial.' / Juror Claire Schneider, associate curator of contemporary art at the Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, should have taken a couple of additional passes through the slides before she made her final decision as to what works made the cut. / As a result, clutter reigns; too many works of art fill the two main galleries. Why choose three to six pieces by an artist when one or two would have done the job just fine and space is definitely a factor? / The show is uneven; shallow, or poorly executed works hang around the corner from solid conceptual and technically sound pieces. The drawing and painting category is expecially weak with several pieces glaringly out of place. / I found some of the work to be derivative rather than insightful, trendy versus enduring. / Good works of art linger with you after you've experienced them like a good meal. I left the Everson Biennial hungry for something substantial. / Finally, the deep, aquamarine blue covering the main wall in the Coyne Gallery detracted from rather than enhanced the works of art. Vivid color photographs and pastel drawings fought for their visual lives agains the over-powering color. / So how did the works in the 'Salon des Refuses' compare to those in the 'Everson Biennial?' There were two or three pieces in the former show that could have held their own amongst those in the latter. / However, there were many more pieces included in the 'Everson Biennial' that would have been more at home beside those in the 'Salon des Refuses.'"

3. On Thursday, July 6, 2006 under the headline "Everson show is not a reflection of region," Victoria Romanoff of Ithaca writes:

"To the Editor: / Kudos to Katherine Rushworth, contributing art editor, for writing it like it is. The Biennial Show is abysmal! The emperor has no clothes on, while strutting around arrogantly on the second floor of the Everson Museum. / No criteria (that's evident) were used to select this exhibition, and the quiet and empty museum should alarm the board of directors. / That is not to say we should all start painting damp dog noses or pansies in bisque baskets. But pseudo-post-Dada art does not represent the varied and interesting work currently being created in the Finger Lakes area."

4. On Thursday, July 7, 2006 under the headline "Different juror may have chosen Victoria's work," Sandra Trop, the director of the Everson Museum of Art writes:

"To the Editor: / I'm sure Victoria from Ithaca didn't mean to disparage all of the artists in the Biennial exhibition at the Everson. Of the 231 artists who entered, Judge Claire Schneider, associate curator of contemporary art at the Albright Knox, selected this exhibit. Every judge selects a different show. / I'm sorry Victoria didn't get selected. A different juror might have chosen her work. The Salon Des refuses exhibits pieces not at the Everson. / No need to criticize the Everson, nor the Biennial. Please come and visit the Everson when it is crowded or when it is quiet. It is worth the trip and it is free."

Additionally, the New Times published an excellent review by Carl Mellor, which can be read here:

5. http://newtimes.rway.com/2006/070506/art.shtml



Comments? I love the debate. This is the most print I've seen about one show in quite awhile.

-Courtney Rile, Delavan Art Gallery

Summary of comments from the last post

The comments are great! Keep 'em coming!

Ideas about the visual arts in Syracuse from the last post's comments (paraphrased):

THE ARTS IN SYRACUSE

-The more artistic venues we can have the better. More people will come out and support artists. (Anonymous)

-Former Syracuse residents say Syracuse is like a city that just gave up. There is a small group of people who appreciate the arts, and they come out to the events & art shows, but in general, it seems like the city does not place a value on the arts. (Anonymous)

DOWNTOWN

-From my outsider's perspective, it seems that Armory Square is the best thing that could have happened in downtown Syracuse. (HollyK) Armory Square seemed like a promising area ripe for galleries & art venues, but it's turned into another Marshall St- bars, bars, bars- with some shops sprinkled in. And don't even try to park there! (Anonymous)

-This city still needs a lot more invigoration like a major bookstore downtown... more walking traffic... more window displays, more galleries, more eclectic shows displaying people's works... more entertainment.... Newberry St. in Boston, Mass and ParkSlope, Brooklyn were cited as comparisons and the Landmark was criticized for tappering off. (Anonymous)

-Towns that thrive like New Hope, PA, Lambertville, NJ, Doylestown, PA, Clinton, NJ, etc. are the ones who have a wide variety of shops, retaurants and galleries for tourists to visit, as opposed to having a random shop here and there. (HollyK)


GALLERY SPACE FOR AREA ARTISTS

-The Cultural Resources Council's (CRC) Visual Arts Committee, a volunteer group, hung four shows a year in the Civic Center (a facility built largely due to the efforts of the CRC then sold to private interests) until the Civic Center began charging for the use of the space. (Anonymous and Courtney Rile)

-A local artist's co-op would be ideal as well, similar to the one in Cazenovia. (HollyK) I think HollyK's idea about the artists co-op is great! (Anonymous)

-The libraries help fill the gaps (for public gallery space) in a generous way. (Anonymous) A recent article in Art Calendar magazine pretty much shot down doing such exhibits. The author basically said, "Do you want to be known as the local artist who had their work in the library? People looking for free books and to get out of the rain go to libraries. They don't go there to buy art." I've found that to be true, yet I've also heard that it can't hurt to get your work "out there" as much as possible. (HollyK)


SELLING ART IN SYRACUSE

-Artists thrive in Syracuse due to a low cost of living, but it's difficult to sell art work here for a fair price. (Caroline S.)

-Art is perceived as for the "disposable income" crowd- yet those same critics will spend a few thousand on a snowmobile. (Anonymous)

-Quote by Robert Henri, early American artists and author of "The Art Spirit": "If the buyers of pictures could be brought to believe that, whatever may be their interest in accredited old masters, they have equally with artists their part to play in the development and the progress of art in our own time and place." (Anonymous)

-I'm going to guess that perhaps many local artists feel they have to look elsewhere to show/sell their work because there just aren't many venues in the region, which is a shame. (HollyK)


ROCHESTER, SKANEATLES, MARCELLUS

-Art work sells at higher prices and perhaps at more venues in Rochester than in Syracuse. (Anonymous)
Is it because Rochester is white collar and Syracuse is somewhere in between white and blue collar? Does Rochester have more galleries than Syracuse or the clientele that Syracuse doesn't draw, with money, willing to spend it on the arts? (HollyK)

-Skaneateles is such a mecca for tourists with the gorgeous lake and restaurants and gift shops, but there are no art galleries for local artists to exhibit in! I believe Long Lake Gallery used to have such a space in front of their shop but since they moved to Fennell St. they now just do picture framing, and the other gallery/galleries are run by photographers who only exhibit their own work. (HollyK)

-William Lucchetti had plans to develop the old Crown Mills in Marcellus, turning it into shops, a hotel and restaurant. I’d love to see that actually happen, but am not sure what the status is as construction seemed to come to a halt months back. (HollyK)

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

-Now the Ford Foundation will help locate usuable space in abandoned buildings in Syracuse. Whoever will decide to what use that space will be assigned needs to look at the dire lack of public gallery space... Wausau, WI and Raleigh, NC were cited as cities that have provided public space in many forms for similar endeavors. (Anonymous)

Question: ...Care to elaborate on what the Ford Foundation is doing? There are a number of art and real estate ideas out there, but I am not familiar with this one.

-We've heard much about the Cultural Corridor. Forget the corridor and simply find and offer a space to the hundreds of hard-working artists in our area. We have an underfunded, understaffed Cultural Resources Council with numerous devoted volunteers ready to help. (Anonymous)

Question: Has this area ever had an open studio tour, similar to Ithaca's Art Trail?

Question: Can you point us to those reviews (about the Everson Biennial)?

Question: What is The Connective Corridor?

Welcome

Hello!

Please leave your thoughts on the visual art scene in Syracuse and Central New York! We are proud of recent efforts to make the visual arts more prominent. If you are involved in one of these efforts, please tell us about it. If you would like to share something positive about the scene, please communicate it. If you have an issue pertaining to the visual arts in the area that you would like addressed, please do so. Let's start the conversation!

-The Folks at Delavan Art Gallery