VPA, Cultural Resources Council, Everson host free open house for artist services in community spaces at The Warehouse Nov. 2

VPA, Cultural Resources Council, Everson host free open house for artist services in community spaces at The Warehouse Nov. 2October 18, 2006Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

The College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at Syracuse University, the Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse and Onondaga County (CRC) and the Everson Museum of Art will co-host an open house for artist services in the community spaces of The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St., on Thursday, Nov. 2. The open house begins at 5:30 p.m. in the community spaces located on the ground floor, Rooms 001-004. “Syracuse: My International Base Camp,” a lecture by sculptor and VPA professor Sam Van Aken, will follow the open house at 7 p.m. in the Warehouse Auditorium. Both events are free and open to the public.

“I am excited to collaborate with the CRC and the Everson on this event,” says Daniela Mosko-Wozniak, executive director of community art programs for VPA. “Together, we will realize Chancellor Cantor’s vision for The Warehouse’s community spaces.”

The open house will offer the community a chance to view the spaces available at The Warehouse and learn more about the facilities and how to request the spaces. Staff members of all three organizations will be on hand to showcase the community spaces and answer questions. Refreshments will be served.

The Warehouse community spaces include the Office of Community Outreach and Artist Support, a joint office of VPA and CRC; the community classroom; the community conference room; and the Everson Arts Studio. The goal of the collaborators is to further the arts, artist support and development.

Following the open house is a lecture by Sam Van Aken, assistant professor of sculpture in VPA’s School of Art and Design. The lecture is the first in a series offered by the Office of Community Outreach and Artist Support.

Van Aken’s art is staged between the false realities inhabited through media and technology and the lived reality apart from it. His multi-media installations and environments explore documentation and fiction, authenticity and imitation, artifice and nature, selfhood and impersonation. They have been recognized nationally and internationally.

Following his graduation from Slippery Rock University, Van Aken lived and worked in Poland under the auspices of the Andy Warhol Foundation and the U.S. Information Agency. Interacting with dissident artists under the former communist regime, Van Aken produced work shaped by the belief that art provides an alternative message, view and concept of the world. After several years in Europe, Van Aken received his M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since then, his work has grown to employ such elements as sculpture, video, performance, installation and interactive environments.

The community spaces at The Warehouse were realized through the generosity and advocacy of community partners New York State Sen. John A. DeFrancisco, the Allyn Foundation, the Central New York Community Foundation, the Gifford Foundation, National Grid, Henry A. Panasci Jr. and family, and the Verizon Foundation.

On and off street parking for the open house and lecture is available in areas adjacent to The Warehouse. For more information, contact Daniela Mosko-Wozniak at (315) 443-0296 or dmoskowo@syr.edu.