Stone Canoe to have exhibition at XL Projects

A display of artwork from the fifth edition of Stone Canoe: A Journal of Arts, Literature, and Social Commentary, will be on display beginning Jan. 26 and run through Feb. 20 at the XL Projects Gallery, 307–313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse. The gallery is the downtown art space for SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. It is open to the public Wednesday-Sunday from 12:30-6 p.m. The works of the artists participating in the fifth annual exhibition reflect the journal’s goals of commitment to diversity and community partnerships throughout the Upstate region.

Stone Canoe Number 5 features the work of more than 100 artists and writers with ties to Upstate New York, ranging from those with international reputations to those who have not previously published or exhibited their work. Lynette Stephenson, a professor at Colgate University, is this issue’s visual arts editor and curator of the current exhibition.

This year, the exhibition includes two prizes in the visual arts category. One recipient is Jolene Dosa, a sophomore at Nottingham High School, for her Bicycle Graphic print. She is one of four Syracuse City School District high school students whose work was selected for publication in Stone Canoe. Through the sponsorship of the Rosamond Gifford Foundation, the high school students will receive an award certificate and a check for $500. Elizabeth Emery, a mixed media artist currently living in Cleveland, received the 2011 Hedy and Michael Fawcett Prize for Visual Arts for her plaster and ceramic sculptures.

Other featured artists include Mary Lum, a 2010 Guggenheim fellow and professor at Bennington College, who makes collages, paintings and installations that explore the poetic undercurrents of urban space. Her acrylic, comic and photo collage was selected for the cover of the journal.

Roberley Bell and Rebecca Murtaugh are also featured in the journal. Bell is a professor in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. His work has been internationally recognized. Murtaugh, an associate professor and chair of the art department at Hamilton College, has been published in The New York Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Artweek, Artworld Digest, Metro UK and Shamenet Magazine.

Previous Stone Canoe awards include a bronze medal in the 2007 Independent Publisher’s Book Awards; a Certificate of Excellence in the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Region, University Continuing Education Association Awards; a Silver Medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher’s Book Awards; a Gold Medal from the UCEA National Conference; and a silver medal from the 2008 UCEA National Conference.

Stone Canoe is published annually by University College of Syracuse University. For information about the publication, contact Allison Vincent at 443-4165 or advincen@uc.syr.edu.