Maggy Rozycki Hiltner, “#2 Gas Money,” 2013
The Syracuse University Art Galleries celebrates the strength of Syracuse University students, alumnae and scholarship with the presentation of two new exhibitions that opened April 6.
“Hindsight: Four Alumni Artists from the College of Visual and Performing Arts” examines the careers of four women who met during their time as students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts: Sarah Provoncha Burda, Angela Earley-Alves, Maggy Rozycki Hiltner and Jenny Kanzler.
“Taking Flight: Richard Koppe’s Works on Paper” features over 20 original prints and drawings selected from the Syracuse University permanent art collection, and is the first exhibition to highlight Koppe’s work, maintained by the Art Collection, in over 40 years.
Richard Koppe, “Waiting,” 1946
The exhibitions will be on view April 6 through May 14, 2017 in the Shaffer Art Building at Syracuse University. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; and Thursdays 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. The Gallery will be closed on Easter weekend and University holidays. The SUArt Galleries will host a gallery reception from 5 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 13. Patrons are welcome to view the exhibition until the gallery closes at 8 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.
“Taking Flight: Richard Koppe’s Works on Paper” explores for the first time in 40 years the holdings of this important abstract artist housed in the Syracuse University permanent art collection. The display examines an artist whose career exemplifies the interconnectedness of art, design and engineering in the 20th century. The paintings and drawings on exhibition can be linked to his experiences as a student of the New Bauhaus, a wartime aircraft production engineer and art educator at one of the first design schools in America.
Installed in the Wiezel Gallery, the exhibition was curated by Theresa Engelbrecht G’17, dual master’s candidate in museum studies and art history and recipient of the 2015 and 2016 Louise and Bernard Palitz Art Scholar Award. The topic corresponds with her thesis research on the artist, which she will present at the conclusion of her graduate work in art history.
“Hindsight: Four Alumni From the College of Visual and Performing Arts,” installed in the Study Gallery, features the work of artists Sarah Provoncha Burda, Angela Earley-Alves, Maggy Rozycki Hiltner and Jenny Kanzler. Each has grown in artistic practice since graduating in 1997, taking on new media and shifting subject matter that progressed from their original course of study. In addition to their campus connection, the work of these artists share overarching themes of memory, nostalgia, storytelling and the idea of their work being more than what meets the eye at first glance.
Burda, Earley-Alves, Hiltner and Kanzler look back on their experiences from childhood and their migrations from Syracuse, to and from various cities, rural areas and suburbs in their post-collegiate artistic careers. Students enrolled in the Graduate Program in Museum Studies course Advanced Curatorship, organized the exhibition, guided by Andrew Saluti, chief curator of exhibitions, programs and education at the Special Collections and Archives Research Center at Syracuse University Libraries.
Select programming associated with the exhibitions includes an artist panel with the four artists from “Hindsight,” presented by the Visiting Artist Lecture Series sponsored by the School of Art, on Thursday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Shemin Auditorium in Shaffer Art Building. There will also be a Lunchtime Lecture, highlighting the exhibition “Taking Flight” with curator of the exhibition Theresa Moir Engelbrecht, on Wednesday, May 3, at 12:15 p.m. Please check the SUArt Galleries website for updated information on the lectures, as well as additional programming including lunchtime lectures and a special SUKids event in April.
