Chronology
1973
Phil Block and Tom Bryan form Light Work while running Community Darkrooms, a public access photography facility at Syracuse University. They begin the process of incorporating Light Work in March and complete that on August 28, when Light Work officially becomes a non-profit corporation in New York State. Light Work’s first artist program is a workshop by Les Krims from April 16 to 18. Light Work applies to the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for support and receives a $5,000 grant on October 4 for a series of exhibitions, workshops, and lectures. Light Work converts the main corridor outside Community Darkrooms into our first gallery.
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Gallery Cerebus, Karl Baden • Solar Light Impressions, David Broda • Video Images, Andy Buck • Impaired Vision, Ben Levine • White Underpants, Arno Rafael Minkinnen • Oletha, Bud McLouth • Soft Images, David Ruether • Children I Know, Barbara Weiss • Workshops Linda Connor • Les Krims • David Ruether • Peter Schlesinger • Michael Spencer • Burk Uzzle • Warren Wheeler (at the New York State Fair) Lectures Ellen Manchester.
1974
The IRS recognizes Light Work as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. The organization’s official name is Light Work Visual Studies, Inc.
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Gallery Revelations, Deb Bai • Recent Photographs, Stacey Bogdonoff • Experimental Studios Group Show, Gary Geer, Thomas Lindley, Bud McLouth, Crystal Scriber, and David Russell • Recent Photographs, Howard Goldbaum • Children’s Photos, Syracuse Institute for Enabling Education • Warren Wheeler Workshops Arnold Gassan • Melissa Shook.
1975
Light Work receives its first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for $1,500 to host a series of lectures by photographers, critics, and historians. The Light Work initiates its grant program, which offers fellowships to photographers, critics, and photohistorians who live in Central New York.
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Gallery 1975 Light Work Grants • Phil Block and Tom Bryan • Gail de Loach and Eve Cohen • Carl Geiger • Kalamazoo Etc., Charles Harbutt • Apeiron Workshops Staff, Paul Ginsberg, Jim Koch, Ron Morris, Jim Schlesinger, Peter Schlesinger, and Lauren Shaw • Peter Glendinning • Frank Hoy • Joseph Jachna • Ben Levine • Burk Uzzle Workshops Charles Harbutt • Joseph Jachna • Clarence John Laughlin • Christian Sunde Lectures A.D. Coleman conducts a videotaped interview with Clarence John Laughlin • Joseph Jachna Light Work Grants Karl Baden • Ben Levine • Warren Wheeler.
1976
Light Work initiates its Artist-in-Residence Program.
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Gallery 1976 Light Work Grants • Bill Arnold and Elaine Mayes • Souvenirs, Karl Baden and David Broda • Portraits of Violet and Al, William DeLappa • Four Photographers, Carol Drobeck, Robbert Flick, Alan Dutton, and Bart Parker • Larry Fink • Kamaitachi, Eikoe Hosoe, prepared by the Visual Studies Workshop • The Camera as a Third Eye, Clarence John Laughlin • Square Images, David Ruether • Todd Walker Workshops Adal • Larry Fink Lectures Adal • Bill Arnold and Elaine Mayes • Sean Callahan • Larry Fink • Les Krims • Duane Michals • W. Eugene Smith Artist-in-Residence Charles Gatewood Light Work Grants Cecil Dorman • Marion Faller • Jules Fried • Rita Hammond Special Projects Light Work curates and presents the exhibition, Edward A. Curtis: Photogravuers from The North American Indian, Vol. 1 and 3, at the Everson Museum at Art in Syracuse.
1977
Light Work publishes the first issue of Contact Sheet, which replaces and consolidates announcements about exhibitions, lectures, and classes, and features work by Artist-in-Residence program participants.
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Gallery 1977 Light Work Grants • Mark Cohen • Growing Pains and Pleasures, James Carroll, Larry Clark, Rene Gelpi, Emmet Gowin, and Joe Szabo • Roy DeCarava • Elliot Erwitt • Bonnie Gordon • A Thirty Year Retrospective, Vilem Kriz • The Rural Photographs of Roger Minick • Lynn Moser • Marcia Resnick • Murray Riss Lectures Bill Aron • John Banasiak • Michael Bishop • Roy DeCarava • Jill Freedman • Bonnie Gordon • Michael Lesy • Roger Mertin • Richard Snodgrass Artists-in-Residence John Banasiak • Cal Kowal • Roger Mertin • Richard Snodgrass • Light Work Grants Sylvia de Swaan • Peter Glendinning • Ken Hobart • Daniel Franklin Ward (Idyllic Foundation) Special Projects Light Work curates and presents the exhibitions, On the Offset Press, including work by Lawrie Brown, Charles Gershwin, Scott Hyde, Syl Labrot, Joan Lyons, Jonathan Morse, Carl Sesto, and Todd Walker; Three From the Thirties: Brandt, Brassai, Bravo; and Lawrie Brown/Michael Stone: Photographs, at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse • Light Work hosts a poetry reading by Michael Jennings at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse to accompany an exhibition of work by Dorothea Lange.
1978
Light Work starts phasing out workshops and inviting more artists to participate in the Artist-in-Residence program. Community Darkrooms installs its first color enlarger.
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Gallery 1978 Light Work Grants • Barbara Blondeau, prepared by the Visual Studies Workshop • Forty Below, exhibit of photos priced under $40 by 20 Central New York photographers • New Collages, Fielding Dawson • Forbidden Photographs, Charles Gatewood • Academic Art, Les Krims • Deep Sea, Suzanne Mitchell • Ted Orland • Olivia Parker • Melanie Walker Workshops Barbara Houghton • Juliana Swatko Lectures John Brumfield • Betsy Davis • Chris Enos • Mark Jury • Michael Martone • Suzanne Mitchell • Olivia Parker • James Petrillo • John Pfahl • Stuart Rome Artists-in-Residence Chris Enos • Paul Ginsberg (aka Paul Trapido) • Barbara Houghton • Michael Martone • Elaine Mayes • Stuart Rome Light Work Grants David Broda • Mima Cataldo • Lucinda Devlin • Richard Laughlin Special Projects Fielding Dawson exhibition catalogue, New Collages • Gold in Your Attic, a seminar organized by Light Work at the Onondaga County Public Library’s main Syracuse branch • Light Work exhibits work by Marion Post Wolcott at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse.
1979
Photographs informally donated to Light Work by participants in the Artist-in-Residence program have accumulated into a small collection. Light Work now formally asks each visiting artist to contribute a few pieces made during their stay to the collection.
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Gallery 1979 Light Work Grants • Lynne Cohen • Marion Faller • Midwest Diary, Robbert Flick • David Goldes • Roger Mertin • Lost Souls, Willyum Rowe • Kentucky Documentary Project, Ted Wathen, Bill Burke, and Bob Hower • CAPS Fellowship Recipients, Douglas Baz, Ellen Carey, Eduardo del Valle / Mirta Gomez, Lucinda Devlin, Benno Friedman, Ani Gonzalez, Bonnie Gordon, Austin Hansen/St.Clair T. Bourne, Colleen Kenyon, Peteris Krumins, Robert Mapplethorpe, Hiromitsu Morimoto, John Pfahl, Charlie Stainback, Joyce Taylor, and Toba Tucker (sponsored by the Creative Artist Public Service Program) Lectures Lynne Cohen • Marion Faller • Kenda North • Bill Owens • Murray Riss • Joyce Taylor • Alex Traube Artists-in-Residence Kenda North • Murray Riss • Alex Traube Light Work Grants Judith Ivry • Jon Reis • Marjorie Tepper • James Thorpe Special Projects Photographica, a resource guide compiled by the Onondaga County Public Library in cooperation with Light Work • Light Work curates and exhibits Alternative Imaging Systems at the Everson Museum, including work by Patti Ambrogi, Bill Arnold, Charlotte Brown, Evergon (Albert Lundt), Joan Lyons, Juliana Swatko, and Joel Swartz • Light Work curates a solo exhibition at the Everson by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.
1980
Phil Block takes a leave of absence to study bookbinding in England. Jeffrey Hoone replaces him as assistant director while Phil is on leave.
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Gallery Color Realism—Michael Bishop, Phil Block, Kathy Collins, and Lucinda Devlin • Murray Riss • Photographs of New York State—Walker Evans, organized by the Eakins Press Foundation and the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, and circulated by the Gallery Association of New York State • Biff Henrich, Ken Pelka, Scott Rucker, and Anne Turyn • John Divola • The American Coal Miner—Ted Wathen • Women at LW/CD—Kenda North, Chris Enos, Elaine Mayes, Ellen Carey, Barbara Houghton, Charlotte Brown, Lynne Cohen, Bonnie Gordon, Marion Post Wolcott, Marion Faller, Judith Ivry, Lucinda Devlin, Sylvia de Swaan, Mima Cataldo, Joan Lyons, Linda Connor, Melissa Shook, Tamara Thompson Bryant, Gail de Loach, Lynne McMahill, Juliana Swatko, and Jackie Yaeger-Pardon • 1980 Light Work Grant Recipients Lectures Biff Henrich, Ken Pelka, Scott Rucker, and Anne Turyn • Ted Wathen • Michael Spano • Zeke Berman • Michael Bishop, Kathy Collins, and Lucinda Devlin Artists-in-Residence Ellen Carey • Michael Spano • Zeke Berman • Abby Robinson • Toby Old Light Work Grants Dean Abramson • Jeffrey Hoone • Marion Roth • Karen Vournakis Special Projects Hollis Frampton receives a NYSCA Conduit Grant through LW to produce ADSVMVS ABSVMVS, a portfolio of images and text • LW publishes a fold-out postcard set of images by Michael Bishop titled Views of the New York State Barge Canal. LW hosts a poetry reading by Ed Dorn and a film screening by Jennifer Dunbar.
1981
Phil Block returns from England and Tom Bryan leaves to become a full-time sheep farmer in Erieville, NY. Jeffrey Hoone stays on as assistant director. Light Work acquires its first computer.
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Gallery 1981 Light Work Grants • The FSA in Central New York, John Collier and Jack Delano, selected from the Library of Congress by Tom Bryan • Portraits of Artists, 1959 –1979, Fred McDarrah • Michaela Murphy • Bart Parker, curated by Judith Ivry • Michael Spano • 23 Photographers: ’81 –’82 CAPS Grant Recipients, including work by Central New York photographers Lou Kruger and Karen Vournakis • Coast to Coast: Punk Rock and New Wave Photographers, Vincent Anton, Bern Boyle, Sue Brisk, Bill Carner, William Coupon, Ron Delany, f-stop Fitzgerald (Richard Minisalli), Charley Franklin, Stanley Greene, Ed Kashi, Marcus Leatherdale, Judy Linn, Elaine Mayes, Richard McCaffree, Ira Member, Stefano Paollilo, John Ranard, Raye Santos, Chester Simpson, Roea Wallace, and Christina Yuin • Stamp Out Ronnie, a mail art competition and exhibition marking Ronald Reagan’s election to president, includes rubber stamps and artwork solicited through the mail. Curator Joan Riccardi includes work by Karen Bakke, Barton Benes, Jon Held Jr., Kimble Mead, Carlo Pittore, Joan Riccardi, Ms. Ruby Rubber, Bruce Velick, Kihm Winship, and Bruce Wood Lectures Bruce Gilden • Peter Goin • Bob Hower • Fred McDarrah • Lawrence McFarland • Sybil Miller • Michaela Murphy • Bill Ravanesi • Jon Sharlin • Cindy Sherman • Laurie Simmons • Lowry Thompson • Ted Wathen • Christina Yuin and William Coupon Artists-in-Residence Bruce Gilden • Peter Goin • Bob Hower • Lawrence McFarland • Sybil Miller • Doug Muir • Bill Ravanesi • Jon Sharlin • Cindy Sherman • Laurie Simmons • Charlie Stainback • Ted Wathen • Tom Zimmermann Light Work Grants Robert Foster • f-stop Fitzgerald • Paul Pearce • Jane Steuerwald Special Projects Painter Jane Crow receives a NYSCA Conduit Grant through Light Work to produce a series of costumes.
1982
Phil Block leaves Light Work and becomes director of education at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City. Jeffrey Hoone becomes director and Light Work’s only full-time employee.
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Gallery 1982 Light Work Grants • Shelby Lee Adams • Tom Arndt • Jim Dow and David Stephenson • Bernard Faucon • Hollis Frampton • David Freund • Bonnie Gordon • Philip Perkis • Eugene Richards Lectures Shelby Lee Adams • Eric Baden • James Casebere • David Freund • Bonnie Gordon • Steven Hirsch • Benjamin Porter • Eugene Richards • Joel Sternfeld • Christian Sunde Artists-in-Residence Eric Baden • Bill Burke • James Casebere • Frank DiPerna • Dennis Hearne • Steven Hirsch • Benjamin Porter • Joel Sackett • Joel Sternfeld • Christian Sunde Light Work Grants Susan Brodie • Michael Davis • Ted Diamond • Janice Giarracco • David Moore Special Projects Light Work publishes a set of 20 postcards of images made in Central New York for the FSA by John Collier and Jack Delano • NYSCA supports a Materials Assistance Grant program at Light Work to distribute gift certificates to local photographers from MQ Camera Center in Syracuse • Courtney Frisse receives a NYSCA Conduit Grant through Light Work to project large-scale images onto buildings in downtown Syracuse • Light Work invites Ed Sanders to perform at the student-run Jabberwocky Club at Syracuse University. Sanders sings, recites poetry, and accompanies himself on his musical tie.
1983
Light Work produces the exhibition Penny Publishing: Photographic Postcards from Central New York, with David Freund curating, which opens at Syracuse’s Erie Canal Museum with Buzz Padgett designing the catalogue.
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Gallery 1983 Light Work Grants • The Stolen Image and Its Uses, Vikky Alexander, Silvia Kolbowski, Barbara Krueger, Sherrie Levine, and Richard Prince, curated by Abigail Solomon-Godeau • Anita Au and Pok Chi-Lau • Dave Broda • Owen Butler • Peter de Lory and Mark McFadden • Peter Goin • Lou Stoumen • American Roads, a traveling exhibition from the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY, including Jim Alinder, Walker Evans, Robbert Flick, Frank Gohlke, Mark Klett, Harold Jones, Dorothea Lange, Nathan Lyons, Elaine Mayes, Rodger Minick, Tod Papageorge, Barbara Jo Revelle, Henry Wessel Jr., Robert A. Widdicombe Lectures Ricardo Bloch • Peter Bunnell • Owen Butler • Peter de Lory • Lewis Koch • Barbara Morgan • Anne Turyn • Abigail Solomon-Godeau • Willyum Rowe • Lou Stoumen • Christian Sunde • Linn Underhill • Tom Zimmermann Artists-in-Residence Ricardo Bloch • Peter de Lory • David Freund • Jim Goldberg • Mark Goodman • Ed Grazda • Anthony Hernandez • Lewis Koch • Dan Powell • Willyum Rowe • Sy Rubin • Lou Stoumen • Anne Turyn • Linn Underhill Light Work Grants Jane Bair • John Knecht • Lorna Lentini • Laurie Sieverts Snyder Special Projects Contact Sheet 36 features a portfolio of photographs by Chris Enos titled NUDES, with an essay by A.D. Coleman • Light Work presents exhibitions of work by Barbara Morgan, Christian Sunde, and Tom Zimmermann at Syracuse University’s Lowe Art Gallery • John Orentlicher and Lucinda Devlin receive a NYSCA Conduit Grant through Light Work for a video and photographic exploration of the pleasure industry.
1984
Contact Sheet 43 announces the death of Hollis Frampton (1936 – 1984).
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Gallery 1984 Light Work Grant Recipients • Sarah Charlesworth • Teenage Lust, Larry Clark, curated by Christian Sunde • John Craig • John Dziadecki • Mark Klett • Jon Reis • A Group Called GRAIN, organized for LW by Joel Sackett includes work by Tatsuharu Hida, Taishi Kirokawa, Yasukuni Iida, Yoko Iida, Akira Kobayashi, Jun Matsumoto, Mikio Matsuo, Kozo Miyoshi, Junshi Nakamichi, Kohei Onishi, Yoichi Saito, Tetsuya Sato, Takashi Sekiguchi, Masayoshi Sukita, Matsutoshi Takagi, and Kiyoshi Tatsukawa • Linn Underhill Lectures Larry Clark • Claude Rie • Jon Reis Artists-in-Residence Patt Blue • John Gossage • Biff Henrich • Sid Kaplan • Peter Moore • Claude Rie • Ricardo Salcedo • Jim Stone • Melanie Walker Light Work Grants Ellen Blalock • Monte Gerlach • Dede Hatch • Don Tracy Special Projects Light Work organizes the exhibition Harold Allen Architectural Views at the Lowe Art Gallery, curated by Lucinda Devlin • The Eternal Poetry Festival, featuring Bern Porter and Mark Melnicove, held at Syracuse Stage, organized by Tom Walsh • Roger Mertin receives a NYSCA Conduit Grant through Light Work to photograph ceremonies, celebrations, and festivals across the state • Sy Rubin exhibits photographs from his Light Work residency at the New York State Fair Museum.
1985
Syracuse University alumnus Robert B. Menschel’s gift enables Light Work to open a gallery bearing his name in Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center. The opening exhibition features Roger Mertin. Mr. Menschel also creates an endowment fund at the University to support catalogues for each exhibition. The gallery located at Community Darkrooms officially becomes the Light Work Gallery. Community Darkrooms installs a 20-inch Hope color processor. Contact Sheet 47 announces the death of Clarence John Laughlin (1905 – 1985).
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Menschel Gallery Roger Mertin Light Work Gallery 1985 Light Work Grants • Zeke Berman • Industrial Photographs: A Survey 1900 – 1970, organized by CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, NY • Pleasure Ground, photographs by Lucinda Devlin and a video by John Orentlicher • John Gossage and Jim Stone • Peter Moore • Sheila Pinkel Artists-in-Residence Karl Baden • Dawoud Bey • John Dziadecki • Barbara Ess • Robert Giard • David Graham • Bruce Horowitz • Kathleen Kenyon • Joe Lawton • Scott McCarney • Gary Metz • Melissa Shook Light Work Grants Rita M. Deierlein • John Fuller • Rosemarie Imhoff • Keith Tishken Special Projects Light Work: Photography over the 70s and 80s, a retrospective exhibition curated by Jeffrey Hoone and Janice Giarracco, designed by Jane and Greg Dailey, opens at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition and the Gallery Association of New York State circulates the exhibition across the state for three years • Light Work hosts a performance by Ed Sanders at Syracuse Stage • Contact Sheet 48 publishes one of Sanders’ poems with reference to Tom Bryan’s farm and maple sugar operation • Christian Sunde receives a NYSCA Conduit Grant through Light Work to display a series of large-scale hand-colored photographs, titled Adirondacks to Guatemala, on the sides of Centro Buses in Syracuse.
1986
Gina Murtagh becomes full-time assistant director. Light Work begins a regular Performance Art Series.
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Menschel Gallery Helen Levitt • Aaron Siskind • Marion Post Wolcott • John Wood, curated by Nancy Gonchar Light Work Gallery 1986 Light Work Grants • Bill Arnold • Dawoud Bey • La Gran Passion, organized by En Foco, a Bronx artist space • John Kennard • Barbara Lattanzi • Sheila McLaughlin, Anne Rowland, and Joni Sternbach • Ruth Morgan and Richard Ray Whitman Artists-in-Residence Adál • Jules Allen • Danny Caracelo • Kerry Coppin • Linda Adele Goodine • Frank Hunter • Jayce Salloum • Judith Harold Steinhauser • James Welling Light Work Grants Thomas Brown • Kathy Morris • Douglas Prince • Lynn Schwarzer Special Projects Jon Reis receives a NYSCA Conduit Grant through Light Work to produce Cleared to Land, a series of photographs made at small airports. The finished mural-size images are displayed in airports across the state. Performance Art Charles Dennis performs Faces in the Crowd at the Milky Way Club in Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center • Pat Oleszko performs The Soiree of O at the Milky Way Club • Star Peace, a rock opera by Ed Sanders, is presented at Syracuse Stage, organized by Tom Walsh. Poet Allen Ginsberg accompanies the performance with a reading and the rock band, The Fugs, perform twice.
1987
Light Work publishes the 55th issue of Contact Sheet. Five issues cost a total of $7,500 (less than a single issue will cost ten years later).
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Menschel Gallery Mechanics of Integrity, Bob Hower • Anti-Heroes and Predatory Powers, Ricardo Salcedo and Andres Serrano • Ceremonies and Transition, Judith Harold Steinhauser and Linn Underhill • In the Adirondacks with Camera, Seneca Ray Stoddard Light Work Gallery 1987 Light Work Grants • Marilyn Anderson • Julie Ault and Joseph Mills • Kerry Coppin • Douglas Curran • Independents 1, David Dapogny, Nomi Kaplan, William Paris, and Bruce Wrighton • Jack Fulton • Bruce Horowitz • Photographs from the Light Work Collection Lectures Marilyn Anderson and Jonathan Garlock Artists-in-Residence Jo Babcock • Pavel Banka • Vincent Borrelli • Richard Colburn • Lou Marcus • Sheila McLaughlin • Marilyn Nance • Sophie Rivera • Blanca Sierra • Coreen Simpson • Joni Sternbach • David Wells Light Work Grants Luke Buffenmyer • Margaret Fabrizio • Jeff Koch • Priscilla Smith Performance Art Jerri Allyn performs Hot and Nasty Humor Works • Avant-garde violinist Leroy Jenkins performs solo • Pat Oleszko performs War’n Piece Where Fools Russian. All three performances take place at the Milky Way Club.
1988
After years of distributing its publications for free, Light Work initiates a subscription publication campaign, attracting 200 subscribers who pay $4,309. Light Work prints both Contact Sheet and Menschel Gallery catalogues in runs of 3,500, with most issues distributed to artists, galleries, museums, and universities. Light Work receives a $75,000 Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to begin an endowment fund to support projects by mid-career artists. Contact Sheet uses four-color reproduction and moves from newsletter design to a new book style format.
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Menschel Gallery Detail – Repetition – Variation, Marion Faller • Persona, Linda Adele Goodine and Anne Rowland • Photography Speaks, organized by the Chrysler Museum and curated by Brooks Johnson • Recent Work, William E. Parker • Stereo Views, Jim Pomeroy • Seniors from the Newhouse and Art Media Studies Programs at Syracuse University Light Work Gallery 1988 Light Work Grants • The Beholder’s Eye: Men as Women, Mariette Pathy Allen • Lisa Bloomfield and Connie Hatch • Barbara Bosworth and Frank Hunter • War Scenes, Mark Chambers and Mimi Plumb Chambers • Ted Diamond • Melanie Walker Workshops David Moore, Collage Printing Artists-in-Residence Lynne Cohen • Winfred Evers • Thomas Florschuetz • Nereyda Garcia-Ferraz • Rick Hock • Nina Kuo • Mark Steinmetz • Carrie Mae Weems • Jeffrey Wolin • Dan Younger Light Work Grants Courtney Frisse • Marie K. Parsons • Roderick L. Sutton • Bruce Wrighton Special Projects Light Work publishes a 3-D stereo Viewmaster Viewer by Jim Pomeroy titled Stereo Views • Contact Sheet 61 features work on the cover by Judith Black, Jeffrey Blake, Mark Goodman, Gary Nickard, Michael Northrup, Margaret Stratton, Curtis Walters, Corrine Whitaker, and Barbara Zusman Performance Art Jo Andres and Cynthia Meyers perform Ghost Fish Speak at Syracuse Stage • PS 122 Field Trip, Mark Anderson, Ann Carlson, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Danny Mydlack, and a film by Pat Oleszko at Syracuse Stage • Ethyl Eichelberger performs Leer at Syracuse’s Klub Polski • Tom Murrin performs The Alien Comic at the Underground in Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center • Paul Zaloom performs Theatre of Trash at the Milky Way Club.
1989
Light Work receives the New York State Governor’s Art Award for excellence, along with Miles Davis and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Light Work hires Gary Hesse as a graduate assistant. Light Work purchases an Amiga computer for installation in the Community Darkrooms for use by Darkrooms members and Light Work’s visiting artists.
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Menschel Gallery Sheer Conviction, installation by Alfredo Jaar • Joan Lyons • Verismo, Michael Martone • Evon Streetman Light Work Gallery 1989 Light Work Grants • Michelle Frankfurter • Nuclear Landscapes, Peter Goin • Recreated: Photographers Use Computers, Joan Harrison, Terry Gips, and Esther Parada • Lynn Schwarzer Artists-in- Residence Laura Cano • Lydia Ann Douglas • John Fago • Marion Faller • Michael Gibbs • John Hodges • Paul McDonough • Kat O’Brien • Clarissa Sligh • Don Unrau • Shawn Walker • Ruth Wallen • Pat Ward Williams Light Work Grants Thirza Devlin • Stephen Mahan • Mary Warner Marien • Adrienne Salinger Special Projects The cover of Contact Sheet 66 features work by Donald R. Anderson, Nathaniel Burkins, Eduardo Del Valle and Mirta Gomez, Miriam Fishman, Debra Heimerdinger, John Humble, Trace Rosel, Jake Seniuk, and William Wellman • Jo Babcock receives a Sponsored Project Grant from NYSCA through Light Work to turn a Volkswagon bus into a pinhole camera Performance Art Eric Darton and Scott Rossi perform Help for the Choking Victim at the Underground in Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center • Robbie McCauley performs Indian Blood at Syracuse Stage.
1990
The focus of the Light Work Gallery shifts to regional exhibitions and exhibitions drawn from the Light Work Collection.
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Menschel Gallery A Reflexion of Events: Four Czech Photographers, Pavel Banka, Milota Havrankova, Rudo Prekop, and Miro Svolik • Particular Voices: Portraits of Gay and Lesbian Writers, Robert Giard • Religion: African American Spiritual Expressions, Marilyn Nance • Metaphors of Intimacy, Christian Sunde Light Work Gallery 1990 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • The Roof of the World, Susan Brodie • From the Light Work Collection • Chris Sullivan, curated by Gary Hesse and Jeff Mitchell, graduate assistants at LW • Interplay: the visual / the verbal, Ronald A. Wilcox Artists-in-Residence Eric Breitenbach • Scott Casher • Sylvia de Swaan • Richard Lowenberg • Maria Martínez-Cañas • Tim Maul • Gail Nicholson • Jim Pomeroy • Anne Rowland • Accra Shepp • Frank Stewart • Piotr Szyhalski • Deborah Willis Light Work Grants Vincent Borrelli • Nancy Gonchar • Jason Mahshie • Christian Sunde Special Projects Adrienne Salinger receives a NYSCA Sponsored Project Grant through Light Work to produce a series of photographs titled Teenagers and Their Bedrooms Performance Art Tom Cayler performs Men Die Sooner at the Underground in Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center • The group Other Countries, with Christopher-Dana Rose, David Warren Frechette, Roy Gonsalves, Edward C. Nash, Colin Robinson, and Donald Woods, performs Acquired Visions, Seeing Ourselves Through AIDS, also at the Underground.
1991
Gina Murtagh, Light Work’s assistant director, leaves to pursue graduate studies in photography and Amy Hufnagel becomes assistant director. Light Work phases out its Performance Art Series. Contact Sheet 71 announces the death of Marion Post Wolcott (1910 – 1990). Light Work now offers limited edition prints and signed books through its subscription program.
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Menschel Gallery Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge • Time Bomb, Ingeborg Gerdes, Barbara Norfleet, and John Pfahl • Searching for the Good Light, Ed Grazda • The Presence of Memory, Clarissa Sligh Light Work Gallery 1991 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Biff Henrich • Hiroshima, organized by the Visual Studies Workshop and curated by Hiromi Tsuchida Artists-in-Residence Patti Ambrogi • Hilton Braithwaite • Tyrone Georgiou • Terry Gips • Tony Gleaton • Mona Jimenez • Mikael Levin • Keith Piper • Paul Rutkovsky • Sharon Stewart • Toba Tucker • Maxine Walker • Casey Williams Light Work Grants Laura Cano • Darrell Matsumoto • Jon Reis • William Staffeld Fine Print Program Scott McCarney, Jim Pomeroy, Carrie Mae Weems Book Collectors Program Photography Speaks, edited by Brooks Johnson Special Projects Contact Sheet 70 features Adrienne Salinger’s project Teenagers and Their Bedrooms.
1992
Light Work begins cataloging the 1,400 images in its collection. This entails creating an image database of the collection. Gary Hesse graduates from Art Media Studies at Syracuse University and becomes part-time lab manager. Contact Sheet 73 announces the death of Jim Pomeroy (1945 –1992).
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Menschel Gallery Easy, Hilton Braithwaite • The Omega Suites, Lucinda Devlin • The Catherwood Project, Leandro Katz • Noisy Insignificance, a ten-channel video installation by John Knecht and Les Leveque • Discovery and Detail, Willyum Rowe Light Work Gallery 1992 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • In the Scape, images from the Light Work Collection • Recent Acquisitions to the LW Collection • Julio Mitchell Artists-in-Residence Vikky Alexander • Charles Biasiny-Rivera • Detlef Henrichs • Tatana Kellner • Yuri Marder • Willie Middlebrook • Billy Quinn • Mel Rosenthal • Jolene Rickard • Alan de Souza • Chris Sullivan • Yong Soon Min • Ulf Erdmann Ziegler Light Work Grants Sherry Chayat • Sylvia de Swaan • Michael Greenlar • Allyn Stewart Fine Print Program Jeffrey Hoone, Roger Mertin, Anne Rowland, Clarissa Sligh Book Collectors Program Jack Fulton, 2 Saunters: Summer & Winter Special Projects Light Work produces a special publication of work by Julio Mitchell.
1993
Light Work publishes Stranger Than Fiction, a photography book by Jim Stone. This
is the first project supported by Light Work’s Endowment Fund for Mid-Career Artists. Light Work purchases its first Macintosh computer for use by visiting artists and Community Darkrooms members.
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Menschel Gallery Abstracted Identities, Patti Ambrogi and Willie Middlebrook • Public Axis, Doug Muir • Short Stories: The West, Peter de Lory • A Sense of Common Ground: Photographs from Kenya’s Northern Frontier, Fazal Sheikh Light Work Gallery 1993 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • From the Light Work Collection • White Rose Society Exhibition Artists-in-Residence Laura Aguilar • Pat Bacon • Deborah Brackenbury • Gaye Chan • Bill Gaskins • Amy Jenkins • Corky Lee • Victor Lugansky • Boris Mihailov • Andrea Modica • Diane Neumaier • Fazal Sheikh Light Work Grants Wendi Ackerman • Eleanor Hassett • Heidi Kumao • Stephen Skopik Fine Print Program Tony Gleaton, Linda Adele Goodine, Marilyn Nance, Chris Sullivan Book Collectors Program Jim Pomeroy, Stereo Views Special Projects Contact Sheet 77 features a new section called Gallery in Print, photos by Toby Old • Contact Sheet 80 announces the exhibit Photography and Identity: Selections from the Light Work Collection at the Lowe Art Gallery at Syracuse University curated by Teddy Aiken, director of the Lowe Art Gallery, and students in the Museum Studies Program at Syracuse University.
1994
Assistant director Amy Hufnagel leaves Light Work to pursue independent art projects and Gary Hesse moves from part-time lab manager to full-time associate director. Stephanie Nagel joins the staff as part-time administrative assistant.
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Menschel Gallery Virtual Archaeology, Tyrone Georgiou • SEe(MAN)TIC, Bern Porter • Cracked Shell, Jolene Rickard • Vietnam: War Stories and Meditations, Don Unrau Light Work Gallery 1994 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Members Exhibition • Recent Acquisitions to the Light Work Collection • A Sense of Values: American Marines in an Uncertain World, photos by Bob Mahoney, text by Dave Wood • Silver Light, images from the Light Work Collection, curated by Light Work interns Alison Shirk and Elise Thompson Artists-in-Residence Sylvia de Swaan • Carlos Gutierrez-Solana • Sara Hart • Ann Holcomb • Young K • Gavin Lee • Shelley Niro • Elise Mitchell Sanford • Lida Suchý • Mišo Suchý • Kathy Vargas • Barbara Yoshida Light Work Grants Brantley Carroll • Rhea Garen • David Moore • Diane Nerwen Fine Print Program Hilton Braithwaite, Lucinda Devlin, Doug Muir Book Collectors Program Jim Stone, Stranger Than Fiction Special Projects Contact Sheet 83 features photographs by Joe Szabo from his series 25 Years at Jones Beach, with an essay by Fielding Dawson • Contact Sheet 84 features Return, photographs by Sylvia de Swaan, with an essay by Adrian Giurgea, a special project supported by NYSCA, the New York Foundation for the Arts, ArtsLink Partnership, and Art Matters Inc.
1995
Stephanie Nagel leaves to take a full-time job in Washington, DC, and Mary Lee Hodgens becomes part-time administrative assistant. Light Work launches a homepage on the Internet, with images and text about exhibitions, residencies, and work from the collection. Contact Sheet 88 announces the death of Light Work board member Patrick Heagerty (1955 – 1995).
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Menschel Gallery Appeal to this Age: Photography of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954 –1968, a traveling exhibition curated by Steven Casher for the Howard Greenberg Gallery • Making Connections, Rita Hammond • The Exile Project, Yuri Marder • The Stuff of Dreams, Elise Mitchell Sanford Light Work Gallery 1995 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Arti-FACE, work by graduate students in the Art Media Studies Department at Syracuse University including Susan Carnahan, Ariel Foster, Laura Jones, Rebekah Modrak, Josefa Mulaire, Libby Rowe,Tracy Wascom, and Kim Wolf • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Syracuse as Subject, images from the Light Work Collection • Recent Acquisitions Artists-in-Residence Craig Barber • Judith Black • Laura Cano • Albert Chong • Gerald Cyrus • Lou Draper (2 weeks in 1995 and 1996) • Martina Lopez • Bill McDowell • Gary Nickard • Andrea Robbins & Max Becher • John Spence • Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie • Patty Wallace Light Work Grants Brett Booth • Sarah Cunningham • Linn Underhill • Emile Wamsteker Fine Print Program Willie Middlebrook, Fazal Sheikh Book Collectors Program Andrea Modica, Minor League.
1996
Light Work hires John Freyer as full-time lab manager. Light Work produces Visits, a portfolio of twenty 23×18 inch platinum prints by Linda Connor, the printing supported by Light Work’s Endowment Fund for Mid-Career Artists. We offer limited edition platinum prints through our subscription program for the first time.
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Menschel Gallery Visits, Linda Connor • Good and Bad Hair, Bill Gaskins • The Light Work Collection: Circumstances Over Design • Some Other Realms, Chris Sullivan Light Work Gallery 1996 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Seniors Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Myth, Memory, and Metaphor: 12 Women Photographers, images from the Light Work Collection, curated by Ariel Foster and Rebekah Modrak Artists-in-Residence Liz Birkholz • Deborah Bright • Lynne Cohen • Renee Cox • Lou Draper (2 weeks in 1995 and 1996) • Bob Haggart • Peter Max Kandhola • Marcio Lima • Dona Ann McAdams • Roger Mertin • Tetsu Okuhara • Miriam Romais • Danny Tisdale • Lewis Watts • Pamela Vander Zwan Light Work Grants Vincent Borrelli • Gina Murtagh • Adrienne Salinger Fine Print Program Albert Chong, Martina Lopez, Bill McDowell Platinum Editions Program Linda Connor Book Collectors Program Fazal Sheikh, A Sense of Common Ground.
1997
Light Work produces Permutations on the Picturesque, a portfolio of twenty Iris prints by John Pfahl, supported by Light Work’s Endowment Fund for Mid-Career Artists. Mary Lee Hodgens becomes full-time administrative assistant. Light Work now has four full-time staff members. Publication subscribers now number more than 2,200, including subscribers in all 50 states and 12 foreign countries. The Light Work Collection includes more than 1,700 images, all available on a searchable computer image database. 217 artists have participated in the Artist-in-Residence program. Light Work has now produced over 150 publications.
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Menschel Gallery AlterNatives, Alan de Souza and Yong Soon Min • Haiti: Dreams and Nightmares, Bruce Gilden • The Garden of Eden, Dona Ann McAdams, with text by Brad Kessler • Permutations on the Picturesque, John Pfahl Light Work Gallery 1997 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Recent Acquisitions to the Light Work Collection • Newhouse Senior Exhibition • Father’s Day, Charles Wainwright and Gary Walts Artists-in-Residence Steve Cagan • Robert Flynt • Linda Adele Goodine • Stanley Greenberg • Dave Lewis • Valerie Maynard • Pamela Shields • Allyn Stewart • Carla Williams • James Williams Light Work Grants Mark Alice Durant • Mary Beth Heffernan • Mary Warner Marien Fine Print Program Dawoud Bey, Renee Cox, Bob Hower Platinum Editions Program Zeke Berman Book Collectors Program Bruce Gilden, Haiti Special Projects Light Work mounts an exhibition from its collection titled Syracuse as Subject at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, sponsored by the Cultural Resources Council.
1998
Marty Blake re-designs Contact Sheet to a bigger format at the beginning of the year. Contact Sheet 97 celebrates Light Work’s 25th anniversary, featuring images by all 217 artists who have participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence program by December 1997.
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Menschel Gallery Eclectic Flavour, Joy Gregory, Roshini Kempadoo, Addela Khan, Franklyn Rodgers, and Yinka Shonibare, curated by Eddie Chambers and sponsored by Autograph: The Association of Black Photographers in London • Past and Present Tense, David Graham • Banner of Light: The Lily Dale Photographs, Bill McDowell • German Indians / Bavarian by Law, Andrea Robbins & Max Becher Light Work Gallery 1998 Light Work Grants • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Computer Assisted: Images from the Light Work Collection • Sketches from the Roof of the World, Stephen Mahan • Newhouse Senior Exhibition Artists-in-Residence Ajamu • Beth B • Zana Briski • Chan Chao • Nancy Floyd • Tony Gleaton • Elijah Gowin • Saiman Li • Tim Maul • Michael Putnam • Margaret Stratton Light Work Grants Dede Hatch • Michael Greenlar • Janice Levy Fine Print Program Dona Ann McAdams, John Pfahl, Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie Platinum Editions Program Carrie Mae Weems Book Collectors Program Bill Gaskins, Good and Bad Hair Lectures Phil Block • Nancy Larraine Hoffman • Andrea Robbins & Max Becher.
1999
Vernon Burnett becomes lab manager. Mary Lee Hodgens becomes exhibition coordinator. Light Work receives a Gold Award for Contact Sheet 99 from the Gallery of Superb Printing, which recognizes people and companies that produce the finest printing and graphic arts products worldwide. Jeffrey Hoone receives the 1998 Achievement Award from The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY. Lisa Goodlin joins Light Work as copy editor of Contact Sheet. Contact Sheet 102 announces the death of Rita Hammond (1924 –1999).
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Menschel Gallery No Es Fácil / It’s Not Easy: Looking at Cuba Today, Steve Cagan • Digital Allegory, Martina Lopez • Desire: Contemporary Photography from the Visual AIDS Archive Project, curated by Ernesto Pujol • South to West Oakland, Lewis Watts Light Work Gallery 1999 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Newhouse Senior Exhibition • In the Field of Black Birds: Kosovar Refugees in Albania and Italy, Emile Wamsteker Artists-in-Residence Peter Finnemore • Robert Hirsch • Yu Hirai • Patrick Jolley • Annu Palakunnathu Matthew • Ingrid Pollard • Ernesto Pujol • Beuford Smith • John Trotter • Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie • Albert J. Winn Light Work Grants David Moore • Karen La Vallee Norton • Thomas Piché, Jr. Fine Print Program David Graham, Andrea Robbins & Max Becher, Lewis Watts Platinum Editions Program James Casebere Book Collectors Program Stanley Greenberg, Invisible New York Lectures Steve Cagan • Ernesto Pujol Special Projects Photography project with Corcoran High School (funded by Light Work, New York State Council on the Arts, the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse City School District, and Syracuse Teen AIDS Task Force) • 1999 Student Art Open, Everson Museum of Art.
2000
Marianne Stavenhagen joins the Light Work staff as administrative assistant. John Freyer leaves his position at Light Work to return to graduate school. The Light Work/Community Darkrooms facility at 316 Waverly Avenue closes down on May 5, 2000, for complete renovation. The offices, darkrooms, and entire staff move to 621 Skytop Road during construction.
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Menschel Gallery Self-Portraits, 1974 – 2000, Karl Baden • Burma: Something Went Wrong, Chan Chao • Across the Void, Albert Chong • State Fair, Joseph Lawton Light Work Gallery 2000 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Newhouse Senior Exhibition Artists-in-Residence Bill Burns • Vincent Cianni • Lonnie Graham • Janet Henry • Joseph Lawton • Dinh Q. Lê • A. Leo Nash • Clarissa Sligh Light Work Grants Michael Patrick Demmy • Doug DuBois • Carol Golemboski Fine Print Program Karl Baden, Phil Block, Carla Williams Platinum Editions Program Andres Serrano Book Collectors Program Gary Schneider, Genetic Self-Portrait Lectures Chan Chao • Albert Chong • Patrick Jolley Special Projects Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present, exhibition including images from the Light Work Collection, organized by the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History • From the Collection of Light Work, Tyler Art Gallery.
2001
Light Work returns to its renovated facility at 316 Waverly Avenue and dedicates the Robert B. Menschel Media Center on May 10, 2001. The $3.2 million renovation doubles the space to 10,000 square feet, including a state-of-the-art photography and digital imaging lab. The Media Center features three gallery spaces: the main Light Work Gallery, Hallway Gallery, and Community Darkrooms Gallery. The renovation is made possible by the generosity of Robert B. Menschel and Syracuse University. Sol Lewitt designs and donates one of his wall drawings to the project. We install the piece, titled Wall Drawing #969 (Uneven Circle), in the main entrance to the facility. Also located in the new space are UUTV (a student-run television station), WJPZ (a student-run radio station), Food Works (a small grocery store), and Watson Theater (a 250-seat lecture hall). The Society for Photographic Education holds its fall regional conference at Syracuse University, hosting a reception and tours of the Robert B. Menschel Media Center. John Mannion becomes Digital Lab Manager.
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Light Work Gallery The Victor Weeps: Afghanistan, Fazal Sheikh • One Art, Piotr Szyhalski Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2001 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Senior Exhibition • Community Darkrooms Member Exhibition • Newhouse Senior Exhibition • Points of View, Bob Burdick • Images of Resistance: 35 Years of Social Activism and Democracy in Central New York, Mima Cataldo and Ruth Putter Menschel Gallery Ritual & Religion, images from the Light Work Collection At the Edge of Fiction, Andrea Modica • Detained in Purgatory, Margaret Stratton Artists-in-Residence Alan de Souza • Cynthia Greig • Iosif Kiraly • Laurie Long • Lori Nix • Neal Rantoul • Zoë Sheehan Saldaña • Ferenc Suto
Light Work Grants Sylvia de Swaan • Ron Jude • Kim Waale Fine Print Program Chan Chao, Elijah Gowin, Margaret Stratton Platinum Editions Program Pavel Banka Book Collectors Program Michael Putnam, Silent Screens Lectures Linda Connor • Andrea Modica • Margaret Stratton • Piotr Szyhalski Special Projects Visits, Linda Connor (at Lubin House) • Community Darkrooms offers an Alumni Photography Workshop as a new Homecoming program • Light Work awards the first annual Scholastic Art Award in Photography to the high school student with the best photography portfolio • Lubin House features an exhibition of work by four Artists-in-Residence — Peter Finnemore, Elijah Gowin, Yu Hirai, and Robert Hirsch.
2002
Jeffrey Hoone appointed to the Artists Advisory Board of the Artists’ Fellowships Program at New York Foundation for the Arts. Marianne Stavenhagen leaves for a new position in Houston, TX. Anisha Joseph joins the staff as promotions coordinator. Contact Sheet 117 announces the deaths of Fielding Dawson (1930 – 2002), Lou Draper (1935 – 2002), and Sy Rubin (1931 – 2002).
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Light Work Gallery Tengo casi 500 años: I have almost 500 years. Africa’s Legacy in Mexico, Central and South America, Tony Gleaton • Illustration of Life, Max Kandhola • Bollywood Cowboys and Indians from India, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew • Waiting to Happen, Lori Nix Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2002 Light Work Grants • Cover Girls, Patti Ambrogi • Art Media Studies Senior Photography Annual • Past and Present Photographs by Past and Current Members of Community Darkrooms • Motion_Pictures: A Video Installation by John Freyer, John Freyer Menschel Gallery Ties that Bind: Images of Celebration, Adversity, and Identity, images from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Ellen M. Blalock • Laura Cano • Rebecca Hackemann • Yoko Kanayama • Max Kandhola • Doug Muir • Osamu James Nakagawa • Judy Natal • Alessandra Sanguinetti • Pamela So • Martin Weber Light Work Grants Vivian Babuts • JP Crangle & Chad Reagan • Julie Magura Fine Print Program Peter Finnemore, Piotr Szyhalski, Linn Underhill Platinum Editions Program Andrea Modica Book Collectors Program Andrea Modica, Human Being Lectures Tony Gleaton • Max Kandhola • Annu Palakunnathu Matthew • Tom Sherman Special Projects Mary Lee Hodgens and Vernon Burnett receive a Feinstone Grant for Multicultural Initiatives • Mary Lee Hodgens and Marianne Stavenhagen receive a Vision Fund award for Varying Perspectives from the Light Work Collection • Alfred University’s artSite in Wellsville, NY, features the exhibition The Constructed Narrative: Selections from the Light Work Archives • Syracuse University Magazine highlights the Robert B. Menschel Media Center in a feature article..
2003
Sean Hovendick re-designs Light Work’s website, which now includes an online store for the first time. Light Work receives the highest grant in its category from both the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Lisa Goodlin transitions her work as copy editor for Contact Sheet to full-time Light Work staff members. Contact Sheet 122 announces the death of Robert Giard (1939 – 2003).
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Light Work Gallery Everyday Poetry, Bill Arnold • Embracing Eatonville, Dawoud Bey, Lonnie Graham, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis • After 9/11, Nathan Lyons • The Adventures of Guille and Belinda and the Enigmatic Meaning of Their Dreams, Alessandra Sanguinetti Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2003 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Student Photography Annual • Newhouse Photography Annual Menschel Gallery Ukrainian Photographs: U.S.A.– Ukraine, Lida Suchý • Remnants of a Secret War, Michael Greenlar • Are We There Yet? A Journey Through Childhood, images from the Light Work Collection • Diverse Voices: New Acquisitions to the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Matt Black • Howard Henry Chen • Julio Grinblatt • Rebecca Guberman-Bloom • Sunil Gupta • Deborah Jack • Jessamyn Lovell • Kathy Marmor • Nzingah Muhammad • Warren Neidich • William Earle Williams Light Work Grants John Dowling • Rhea Garen • Wilka Roig Fine Print Program Osamu James Nakagawa, Judy Natal, Alessandra Sanguinetti Platinum Editions Program Tony Gleaton Book Collectors Program Todd Hido, Outskirts Lectures Michael Greenlar • Alessandra Sanguinetti • Joel Seah • Martin Weber Special Projects Embracing Eatonville exhibition travels to the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts in Eatonville, FL • The new Light Work Learning Community allows students interested in photography to live together in the Watson Hall dorm and take a class together at Community Darkrooms • Stone Quarry Hill Art Park features an exhibition titled Playing Doubles: The Photography of Rita Hammond, comprised of work from the Light Work Collection.
2004
Anisha Joseph leaves for a new position in New York City. Gary Hesse leaves for a new position in California. Hannah Frieser joins Light Work as associate director and Jessica Heckman becomes promotions coordinator. Light Work receives a Cultural Resources Council Horizon Award. Sol Lewitt designs and donates a monumental 12×140 foot public art installation to Syracuse University in honor of Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s inauguration. Jeffrey Hoone coordinates the permanent installation of the piece, titled Six Curved Walls (Syracuse), on the Syracuse University Campus. Light Work’s permanent collection is now available through a searchable online database. Lisa Goodlin reorganizes Light Work’s board of directors and becomes chair.
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Light Work Gallery EarthWords, Judy Natal • Berlin in the Time of the Wall, John Gossage • A Conversation with the World, Lonnie Graham • A Map of Latin American Dreams, Martin Weber Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2004 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Photography Annual • Street Jazz, Michael Davis • Newhouse Photography Annual • Point of Contact: The Journal of Verbal and Visual Arts Menschel Gallery Pleasure Principle: Selections from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Wayne Barrar • Myra Greene • Alex Harsley • Stephen Hughes • Susan Lipper • Jonathan Moller • Pipo Nguyen-duy • Bharti Parmar • Tone Stockenström • Matthew Swarts • Scott Townsend Light Work Grants Mark Hemendinger • Harry Littell & Lois Barden • Barry Perlus Fine Print Program Dawoud Bey, Lonnie Graham, Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Willis Platinum Editions Program Jim Dine Book Collectors Program John Freyer, All My Life For Sale • Jerry Uelsmann, Referencing Art Lectures Lonnie Graham Special Projects The Diverse Voices exhibition travels to Syracuse University’s Lubin House in New York City.
2005
Former Artist-in-Residence Zana Briski receives an Academy Award for her documentary, Born into Brothels. Carrie Mae Weems, Lisa Goodlin, and Mary Lee Hodgens, with the help of the Light Work staff, host a 50 - 25 -10 surprise party for Jeffrey Hoone at the Lubin House in New York City, marking Hoone’s 50th birthday, 25th year at Light Work, and his and Weems’ 10th wedding anniversary. Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor creates the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC) and names Jeffrey Hoone executive director. Several job descriptions at Light Work change to accommodate Hoone’s new responsibilities. He becomes the executive director of Light Work and Hannah Frieser is promoted to director. Contact Sheet 132 announces the deaths of Marnie Gillett (1953 – 2004) and Bern Porter (1911 – 2004).
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Light Work Gallery A Long Year, Karl Baden • Artist Work: CEPA Gallery at Thirty • Waterlog: The Beach Series, Toby Old • Meanwhile, Zoë Sheehan Saldaña • View From Here, Kanako Sasaki Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2005 Light Work Grants • Art Media Studies Photography Annual • Director’s Choice Awards • Secret Games: Collaborative Works with Children 1969 – 1999, Wendy Ewald • I Wish My Sister Would Talk One Day: Photographs by Fifth Graders from the Ed Smith Elementary School • Sketches from the Roof of the World, Stephen Mahan • Newhouse Photography Annual Menschel Gallery Borders: Selections from the Light Work Collection • A Case About Diversity: The Affirmative Action Lawsuits at the University of Michigan • Surrender, 2001, Bill Viola Artists-in-Residence Ben Gest • Jennifer Greenburg • Keith Johnson • Martin Kollár • Peggy Nolan • Suzanne Opton • Rik Pinkcombe • Angelika Rinnhofer • Kanako Sasaki • Michael Schreier • Hank Willis Thomas • Migdalia Valdes Light Work Grants Luke Buffenmyer • Doug DuBois • Steven Skopik Fine Print Program John Gossage, Lori Nix, Martin Weber Platinum Editions Program Nathan Lyons Book Collectors Program Vincent Cianni, We Skate Hardcore • Toby Old, Times Squared Lectures Stephen Mahan • Wendy Ewald Special Projects Duke Center for Documentary Studies holds a Literacy Through Photography workshop for Syracuse City School District teachers and community members • Light Work launches the Light Work Master Series Workshops at Community Darkrooms with presentations by Angelika Rinnhofer and Neal Rantoul • Light Work hangs an exhibition of work from the Light Work Collection at the New York State Fair • The Light Work Collection loans work by Deborah Willis to Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut for an exhibition.
2006
Light Work receives an Excellence Award from the Cultural Resources Council in Syracuse and an award from the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations for service to artists. Light Work receives a major grant from the Central New York Community Foundation to install billboards for Suzanne Opton’s exhibition, Soldier. Laura A. Guth becomes assistant director. Light Work doubles the stipend given to Artists-in-Residence to $4,000 and the Light Work Grants are doubled to $2,000 each. In the thirty years since its inception, Light Work’s AIR program has brought more than 300 artists to Syracuse. Contact Sheet 137 announces the death of Esther Parada (1938 – 2005).
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Light Work Gallery East of Eden, Pipo Nguyen-duy • Soldier, Suzanne Opton • Perception and Deception, Rik Pinkcombe • Members Only, Beatrix Reinhardt Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2006 Light Work Grants • 2006 Transmedia Photography Annual • Small, Smaller, Smallest: Images by the Light Work and Community Darkrooms Staff • The Hermetic Alphabet, Judy Natal • Newhouse Photography Annual • Off Shoots: Post-Standard Staff Photographers • Households, Mark Robbins • A Day in the Life of Salem Hyde Elementary School Menschel Gallery Digital Transitions: Selections from the Light Work Collection • Learning Through the Lens: Collaborations with Children from the Edward Smith Elementary School Artists-in-Residence Barry Anderson • Don Gregorio Antón • Binh Danh • KayLynn Deveney • Blake Fitch • Abigail Hadeed • Beatrix Reinhardt • Lisa M. Robinson • Kerry Skarbakka • Yee Ling Tang • Philip Zimmermann Light Work Grants Laura Heyman • Thilde Jensen • Rishi Singhal Fine Print Program Ben Gest, Toby Old, Kanako Sasaki Platinum Editions Program Jeffrey Hoone Book Collectors Program Alessandra Sanguinetti, On the Sixth Day Lectures Lacy Austin • Elinor Carucci • Vicki Goldberg • John Mannion and Christopher Secor • Rik Pinkcombe • Beatrix Reinhardt • Mark Robbins Special Projects Keith Johnson presents a Light Work Master Series Workshop • Light Work Collection loans work by Bharti Parmar to the Center of Photography at Woodstock for exhibition • Light Work supports the LGBT Resource Center to bring the exhibition Love Makes a Family to Syracuse University • Light Work becomes part of Th3, a collaboration among city art galleries and museums to remain open evenings on the third Thursday of each month • Light Work exhibits work from its permanent collection at the new Warehouse Gallery with other members of CMAC • The exhibition Off Shoots: Post-Standard Staff Photographers travels to Syracuse City Hall • Suzanne Opton’s exhibition Soldier travels to CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, NY.
2007
Light Work receives one of the nation’s largest grants in its category from the National Endowment for the Arts to support its Artist-in-Residence program. Binh Danh’s gallery reception and artist lecture is the featured kick-off event for Syracuse Symposium, a semester-long intellectual and artistic community-wide festival celebrating interdisciplinary thinking, imagining, and creating, presented by Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
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Light Work Gallery One Week’s Dead, Binh Danh • Ben Gest, Ben Gest • Sammelsurium, Angelika Rinnhofer • Unsung Heroes: African American Soldiers in the Civil War, William Earle Williams Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2007 Light Work Grants •
2007 Transmedia Photography Annual • Artist Showcase: Images by Brian Arnold • The Lost Photos of Vietnam, Al Fasoldt • Train of Thought: Serial Images from the Light Work Collection • Newhouse Photography Annual Menschel Gallery A Just Image: Selections from the Light Work Collection • Un/Common Threads: Selections from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Stephen Chalmers • Lucas Foglia • Todd Gray • Elwira Jaglowska • Sonya A. Lawyer • Suzanne Mejean • Marla Sweeney Light Work Grants Brantley Carroll • ella gant • David Moore Fine Print Program Pipo Nguyen-duy, Lisa M. Robinson, Kerry Skarbakka Platinum Editions Program Mark Klett Book Collectors Program Mark Steinmetz, South Central Lectures Binh Danh • Al Fasoldt • Angelika Rinnhofer • William Earle Williams Special Projects A Journey Towards Hope: Underground Railroad Sites in Oberlin, OH, Coriana Close (featured in Panasci Lounge, Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center) • Community Darkrooms launches a photography course for home-schooled children • The Digital Transitions exhibition travels to Syracuse University’s Lubin House, New York City • The Dreams Between the Sky and Earth exhibition is on view at the Link Gallery at the Warehouse as part of the Literacy, Community, and Photography program • The Embracing Eatonville exhibition travels to the University of Michigan Art Museum • Todd Gray performs Sonic Love Wave at Light Work and the New Renaissance Theater in Syracuse • Light Work collaborates with the LGBT Resource Center and local photographer Ellen M. Blalock to photograph local LGBT families • Forest McMullen and Lisa M. Robinson present Light Work Master Series Workshops • Underground Railroad Made Visible, William Earle Williams (featured at Community Folk Art Center and Cazenovia College).
2008
Contact Sheet 147 celebrates Light Work’s 35th anniversary. Joe Quinn re-designs Contact Sheet. Light Work receives the highest grant in New York State for general operating support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for the fifth year in a row. Light Work receives the Foundation Award for Outstanding Department from Syracuse University’s LGBT Resource Center. Sean Hovendick again re-designs Light Work’s website, which now includes an extensive archive of past exhibitions and web access to Light Work’s permanent collection. Laura A. Guth leaves her position to pursue other projects. Mary Goodwin joins Light Work as assistant director. Light Work launches a collaborative residency with Syracuse University’s Warehouse Gallery and invites Kianga Ford to participate in the three-month program.
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Light Work Gallery Ollin Mecatl: The Measure of Movements, Don Gregorio Antón • Expectations of Adolescence, Blake Fitch • Tracing Memory: Photographs by Angie Buckley, Pedro Isztin, Cyrus Karimipour, and Paula Luttringer, curated by Miriam Romais • Walk #1, Ernesto Pujol Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2008 Light Work Grants • 2008 Transmedia Photography Annual • Educating Artists: Photo Programs in Review • Images of a Girl, Images of a Woman, Rita Hammond • Artist Showcase: Images by Jessica Martinez • Artist Showcase: Images by Jane Walker Menschel Gallery As It Happens: Recent Artists-in-Residence at Light Work Artists-in-Residence Scott Conarroe • Kelli Connell • Lola Flash • Kianga Ford (Warehouse Residency Project) • Cristina Fraire • Admas Habteslasie • Deana Lawson • Paula Luttringer • John Clark Mayden • Christine Osinski • Oscar Palacio • Amy Stein • Krista Steinke • Xaviera Simmons • Garie Waltzer Light Work Grants Kathy Morris • Paul Pearce • Nancy Keefe Rhodes Fine Print Program Matt Black, Blake Fitch, Angelika Rinnhofer Platinum Editions Program Hank Willis Thomas Book Collectors Program Zana Briski, Brothel • Lisa M. Robinson, Snowbound Lectures Don Gregorio Antón • Art Schools: A Group Crit, panel discussion with Bill Gaskins, Holly Greenberg, Sarah McCoubrey, and moderated by Doug Dubois • Pastiche, Performance, and Portraiture (and the imponderable hazards of publishing photographs), panel discussion with Julie Grossman, Gina Murtagh, Ann Ryan, and Kim Waale • Argentina: Beyond the Prison Walls, lecture with Paula Luttringer and Margarita Drago (co-sponsored by Syracuse Symposium and LLAS-Latino / Latin American Studies) Special Projects Light Work receives a Chancellor’s Feinstone Grant for Multicultural Initiatives for a workshop on cultural identity that Don Gregorio Antón teaches. The artist spends a week giving gallery talks, lectures, workshops, and portfolio reviews, and visits a class at Fowler High School • The Light Work Collection loans work to the Everson Museum of Art for the exhibition, On the Move: Images of Travel, from Everson Museum of Art and Syracuse University Collections • Light Work’s collaboration with the LGBT Resource Center and photographer Ellen M. Blalock culminates in the exhibition and publication of CNY Pride Families (featured in Panasci Lounge, Syracuse University’s Schine Student Center) • Light Work received a John Ben Snow Grant to teach a photography workshop at Hutchings Psychiatric Center School, and a Syracuse City School District Education Foundation Grant to teach digital photography to immigrant children at Franklin Magnet School • Light Work supports Nancy Keefe Rhodes in restoration and printing of Marjory Wilkins’ photographs for an exhibition and Chancellor Nancy Cantor supports publication of a catalogue to accompany the exhibition • Light Work supports Lida Suchy’s project, The Community Choir, in preparation for her 2009 exhibition at ArtRage Gallery • Light Work receives a grant from the Women’s Fund of Central New York to teach a photography workshop at the Van Buren Street Boys and Girls Club, Imaging Women: Exploring Issues of Identity, Faith, and Culture through Photography.
2009
After a year of collaborating and consulting with Syracuse University’s Connective Corridor Project, Light Work assumes programming responsibility for the Corridor’s innovative Urban Video Project (UVP). Modeled on a project by Syracuse University students Blake Carrington, Christopher Gianunzio, and Colin Todd, the Connective Corridor developed the project into three permanent outdoor video projection sites across downtown Syracuse. Adam Brown becomes UVP’s technical producer. Community Darkrooms’ renovation removes the color processor and improves the facility overall. These changes increase the digital printing services area, add more large-format printers, add a private reserve room for member use, and offer members a lounge and library. Some staff responsibilities shift as part of this process, Mary Goodwin becomes associate director, and Vernon Burnett becomes customer service manager.
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Light Work Gallery Intermissions, Barry Anderson • Prosthesis, Ellen Garvens • Limbo, Admas Habteslasie • Corporeal, Deana Lawson Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2009 Light Work Grants • 2009 Transmedia Photography Annual • As It Happens: Recent Additions to the Light Work Collection • Artists At Work: Transmedia Photo Faculty Menschel Gallery Suspension, Barry Anderson Artists-in-Residence Karen Garrett de Luna • Yolanda del Amo • Meggan Gould • Leslie Hewitt • Priya Kambli • Dean Kessmann • Doug Manchee • Rachelle Mozman • Demetrius Oliver • Eileen Perrier • Shawn Records • Chad States Urban Video Project Intermissions, Barry Anderson Light Work Grants Karen Brummund • Laura Adams Guth • Stephen Shaner Fine Print Program Krista Steinke • Marla Sweeney • Garie Waltzer Platinum Editions Program Arno Rafael Minkkinen Book Collectors Program Hank Willis Thomas, Pitch Blackness Lectures Doug DuBois book signing and lecture • Admas Habteslasie • Finding Your Audience: An Introduction to Marketing Your Photographs, Mary Virginia Swanson and Susan Kae Grant • Posing Beauty, Deborah Willis in conversation with Carrie Mae Weems Special Projects Light Work presents Intermissions, an innovative art exhibition with programming by Kansas City videographer and photographer Barry Anderson. Anderson’s work (both video and still photographs) appears across Syracuse at a dozen sites: on billboards, as exterior projections, and window installations. Light Work commissions Anderson and Syracuse composer Andrew Waggoner to create Genome of the Soul, a video-music composition. Programming for Intermissions includes student film screenings in Syracuse and Kansas City, a gallery talk at the Everson Museum of Art, and receptions at multiple locations • Students and Syracuse University staff members of Verbal Blend create spoken word poetry in response to Admas Habteslasie’s photographs, performing at his reception and lecture • Light Work attends Photo Miami • Light Work completes accessioning 900 works by Rita Hammond for the Light Work Collection • Light Work supports Laura Heyman with a mid-career grant to allow her to participate in the Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince, Haiti • Light Work receives a grant from the Women’s Fund of Central New York for the second year to teach a photography workshop at the Van Buren Street Boys and Girls Club, Imaging Women: Exploring Issues of Identity, Faith, and Culture through Photography • The 2008 collaboration with the Warehouse Gallery culminates in Kianga Ford’s exhibition, Landscapes and Interiors, at the Warehouse.
2010
Light Work welcomes the Everson Museum of Art as a collaborative partner on the Urban Video Project and moves one of UVP’s projectors to the museum. This makes it possible to screen films and videos on the outside north facade of the building, which I. M. Pei designed in 1965. This section of the building is an almost perfect 16 : 9 ratio, making it ideal for letterbox video and film formats (Pei was always ahead of his time). The first projection at UVP’s Everson site is Bill Viola’s The Quintet of the Astonished. A Syracuse University graduate, Viola had his first museum exhibition at the Everson in 1973 when it became the first museum in the world to exhibit and collect video art. Jon Reis donates ninety-three photographs to the Light Work Collection, bringing the collection to more than 3,500 pieces.
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Light Work Gallery Unmarked, Stephen Chalmers • Archipelago, Yolanda del Amo • Pa Bouje Ankò: Don’t Move Again, Laura Heyman • The Imp of Love, Rachel Herman Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2010 Light Work Grants • 2010 Transmedia Photography Annual • Bearing Witness: The Light Work Collection, Dena Al-Adeeb, Sama Alshaibi, Nancy Floyd, Paula Luttringer, Suzanne Opton • Downstream: Encounters with the Colorado River, Karen Halverson • East of Eden: Vietnam, Pipo Nguyen-duy • Elements of Attraction, Kerry Skarbakka Menschel Gallery By the Way: Two Decades of America Observed 1973 – 1993, Jon Reis Artists-in-Residence Sama Alshaibi and Dena Al-Adeeb • Keliy Anderson-Staley • Richard Barnes • Gerard Gaskin • Ayana V. Jackson • Christian Patterson • Simon Rowe • Lenard Smith • Zoe Strauss • Brian Ulrich • Shen Wei • Susan Worsham Light Work Grants Yasser Aggour • Ron Jude • Lida Suchy Urban Video Project Stornmi #2 (Starling-Flock #2), Ermanno de Biagi • Location One & Two, Eva Davidova • Untitled (Sketch for a Monument to J. G. Ballard) #3, Cliff Evans • four strategies, an idea, a text and two messages, Jaume Ferrete • All Is Vanity, Eros & Aphrodite, Adad Hannah • Trance Dance, Everything Begins and Ends in Exactly the Right Time and Place, Miranda Lichtenstein • Final Tour, Trust, Jill Magid • It Takes Two to Tango, MacDonaldi — King of Soap Bubbles, Trine Lise Nedreaas • Code Names, Trevor Paglen • The Bear, Althea Thauberger • Several Interruptions, Jon Thomson & Alison Craighead • The Quintet of the Astonished, Bill Viola Fine Print Program Doug DuBois • Todd Gray • Stanley Greenberg • Suzanne Opton Master Print Edition Elijah Gowin Book Collectors Program Doug DuBois, . . . all the days and nights • Elijah and Emmet Gowin, Maggie Lectures Richard Barnes • Robert Bogdan • Stephen Chalmers • Downstream: Encounters with the Colorado River, Karen Halverson • Laura Heyman • Autograph ABP: The Missing Chapter, Renee Mussai • Pipo Nguyen-duy • Jon Reis • Bill Viola Special Projects Light Work’s exhibition, As It Happens: Recent Additions to the Light Work Collection, travels to the Palitz Gallery at SU’s Lubin House in New York City. A special event features David Ross in discussion with Jeffrey Hoone • Let’s Talk About Love discussion group, with Melissa Carman of SU’s Counseling Center, is part of programming for Rachel Herman’s exhibition • Light Work participates in Photo LA and Art Chicago: NEXT • NYFA holds the closing weekend for the MARK10 program at Light Work • Screening of the film Precious at the Community Folk Art Center • Keliy Anderson-Staley makes over a hundred tintypes of community members during her residency • Light Work, UVP, and the Everson Museum of Art collaborate to bring Bill Viola to Syracuse, where he receives Syracuse University’s highest honor to an alumnus, the Arendts Award..
2011
Jenny Holzer creates For Syracuse, a site-specific installation that streams on UVP’s LED curtain on Syracuse Stage’s main glass façade. The installation presents 272 aphorisms selected by the artists from her series, Truisms and Survival. Light Work mounts a multi-site exhibition of Demetrius Oliver’s work, using the main gallery, Urban Video Project, and the Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery. Light Work is one of three sites in Syracuse to show the late David Wojnarowicz’s controversial video, Fire in My Belly, in protest of its censorship and removal from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, after complaints by members of Congress about its content. Light Work invites Jonathan Katz, who curated the Washington exhibition, to deliver a public lecture at Light Work.
Adam Brown leaves the UVP to take a job in Boston and Anneka Herre replaces him as technical producer. Mary Goodwin leaves Light Work to pursue independent publishing projects. Shane Lavalette joins the staff as associate director. Light Work increases its participation in art fairs around the country. Light Work hosts the combined Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regional conference for SPE with the theme Photographers + Publishing. The Light Work subscription program goes online with the launch of the Digital Archive, offering both print and digital subscriptions to Contact Sheet.
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Light Work Gallery [hyphen] Americans, Keliy Anderson-Staley • VisualBooks, Scott McCarney • Mare, Demetrius Oliver • That Year of Living, Jeffrey Henson Scales Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2011 Light Work Grants • 2011 Transmedia Photography Annual • Past / Perfect, Marna Bell • bobCollignon: Outdoorsman, Bob Collignon • Canary, Thilde Jensen • Annual Student Invitational • Fire in my Belly, David Wojnarowicz Menschel Gallery En Foco / In Focus: Selected Works from the Light Work Collection • Penumbra, Demetrius Oliver Artists-in-Residence Jen Davis • Amy Elkins • Cui Fei • Shane Lavalette • Andrew Miksys • Sherry Millner • Ohm Phanphiroj • Dana Popa • Calla Thompson • Michael Tummings Light Work Grants Neil Chowdhury • Danielle Mericle • Ahndraya Parlato Urban Video Project The Dress Up Portrait Project, John Freyer • Asylum, Smoke, Jeff Gibson • Raft of the Medusa, Dad and David Visiting, Adad Hannah (part of UVP’s Annual Summer Review) • For Syracuse: Selections from Truisms and Survival, Jenny Holzer • Always After (the Glass House), Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle • Perigee, Demetrius Oliver • On the Way to the Theatre, We Egged a Trans-am, Nathaniel Sullivan • Dying Oak / Elephant, Ballerina (Wild Raspberry Bush), Pae White Fine Print Program Scott Conarroe • Yolanda del Amo • Deana Lawson Master Print Edition Carrie Mae Weems Book Collectors Program Carrie Mae Weems, Social Studies Lectures ASMP Lecture: The Fine Art of Digital Printing, John Paul Caponigro and R. Mac Holbert • Women in Photography founders, Amy Elkins and Cara Philips • Jonathan Katz, co-curator of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture • Adobe Photoshop, with Julianne Kost • Advanced Guide to Nikon Digital SLR Photography Special Projects Light Work hosts Photographers + Publishing, the combined Northeast and Mid-Atlantic conference for SPE • Light Work takes Keliy Anderson-Staley’s tintype exhibition, [hyphen] Americans, to Lubin House in New York City • Light Work and Urban Video Project host the first collaborative residency with Shimon Attie • Light Work attends Art Chicago, Art Hamptons, Photo LA, San Francisco Fine Art Fair, Scope Miami, and Scope NY.
2012
Light Work renames and dedicates its main gallery as the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery. Her son, Jeffrey Hoone, establishes an endowment to support exhibitions in the Gallery. Long-time friend and supporter Robert B. Menschel also makes a substantial donation to the Ellis Gallery Endowment Fund. Vernon Burnett retires after fourteen years as lab manager. His going-away party doubles as his wedding reception where he and Jane Henry celebrates their marriage. Andrew Baugnet joins the staff as lab manager and Julie Herman is hired as customer services assistant.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery looking & looking, Jen Davis and Amy Elkins • Pastoral, Alexander Gronsky • I Miss You Already, Shen Wei • Bittersweet / Bloodwork, Susan Worsham Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2012 Light Work Grants • Annual Student Invitational • Alexander Gronsky • Wounding the Black Male: Selections from the Light Work Collection • The Other New York: TONY 2012 • Visual Military Journalism Menschel Gallery 2012 Transmedia Photography Annual • Capturing Identity: Selections from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Shimon Attie • Justyna Badach • Claire Beckett • Michael Bühler-Rose • John Chervinsky • Heidi Kumao • Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman • Aspen Mays • Raymond Meeks • Karen Miranda-Rivadeneira • Irina Rozovsky • Valerio Spada Light Work Grants Dennis Krukowski • Tice Lerner • Sayler/Morris Urban Video Project Sightings, Shimon Attie • 401 Harrison Street, Karen Brummund (part of TONY: 2012) • Wilderness Collider, ecoarttech (UVP Mobile) • DELUGE, ANIMA, John Knecht • UVP Annual Summer Review • Flo/Flow, William Wegman Fine Print Program Kelli Connell • Tony Gleaton • Susan Worsham Master Print Edition William Wegman Book Collectors Program Leon Borensztein, American Portraits • Suzanne Opton, Soldier/Many Wars • Christian Patterson, Redheaded Peckerwood Lectures Shen Wei Special Projects Light Work attends Photo LA and Scope NY Art Fairs • UVP and Light Work collaborate to produce the first annual Urban Cinematheque Arts & Cultural Fair at the Everson Museum of Art/UVP site.
2013
Contact Sheet 172 celebrates Light Work’s fortieth anniversary. The anniversary year begins with departures of long-time staff: director Hannah Frieser and communications coordinator Jessica Reed. Photo lab manager Andy Baugnet also left after a brief time. Frieser leaves to pursue independent curatorial projects in Europe and the United States and has since returned to the region as newly appointed director of the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY. Reed becomes manager of digital and social media for Enrollment Management at SU. Using these changes to strengthen our core goal of supporting artists, Light Work promotes Julie Herman to customer services manager, Mary Lee Hodgens to associate director, and Shane Lavalette to director. Following a national search, Walker Blackwell joins Light Work as the newly created digital services manager and David Oresick becomes photo lab manager. Additionally we fill two new part-time positions, hire J. P. Gardner as exhibitions coordinator, and Sarah Sellman becomes communications coordinator. Light Work is able to increase the stipend for each Artist-in-Residence to $5,000 on July 1, 2013. By the end of this fortieth anniversary year, Light Work has produced more than 230 publications and more than 400 artists have participated in our residency program.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Too Hard to Keep, Jason Lazarus • 40 Artists / 40 Years: Selections from the Light Work Collection • Kontinuum, Adam Magyar • Terrain, Jackie Nickerson Hallway and Community Darkrooms Galleries 2013 Light Work Grants • 2013 Student Invitational • Imperfect Memories, Marna Bell • Habitus, Joe Lingeman Menschel Gallery 2013 Transmedia Photography Annual Artists-in-Residence Alexandra Demenkova • Matt Eich • Jason Eskenazi • John D. Freyer • George Gittoes • Eric Gottesman • Karolina Karlic • Anouk Kruithof • Dani Leventhal • Cecil McDonald, Jr. • Brijesh Patel • Jo Ann Walters • Ofer Wolberger Light Work Grants Laura Heyman • Jared Landberg • Janice Levy Urban Video Project Psychic Geographies (Basma Alsharif, Mariam Ghani, Jacqueline Goss, Michael Robinson, and Sayler/Morris for The Canary Project) • In Court (Basketball), Yvonne Buchanan • Platonic, Dani Leventhal • Stainless, Adam Magyar • Still Raining, Still Dreaming, Phil Solomon • UVP Annual Summer Review Fine Print Program Keliy Anderson-Staley • Shane Lavalette • Mark Steinmetz Master Print Edition Duane Michals Book Collectors Program John Gossage, The Code Lectures Adam Magyar • Susan Meiselas • Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby Special Projects Light Work receives a grant from Central New York Arts to support a series of billboards across Syracuse, in conjunction with the opening of our anniversary exhibition, 40 Artists/40 Years in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery • 40 Artists / 40 Years, opens at the Palitz Gallery at Syracuse University’s Lubin House in March • Light Work and UVP receive a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation to add a sound system to the UVP Everson site • Light Work attends PPAC Book Fair and VSW Pub Fair • Light Work assists Syracuse University Press in publishing the second edition of Rita Hammond’s book, Images of a Girl, Images of a Woman, with support from Lynn Moser and Howard Bernstein • Light Work works closely with Michael Dyer of Remake Design in Brooklyn to launch a new graphic identity and a newly designed, expanded anniversary issue of Contact Sheet • Sean Hovendick celebrates his tenth year as Light Work’s web developer and assisted in redesigning our website from the ground up to better highlight our programs with larger images and artist slideshows.
2014
Light Work alumni continue to receive national and international exhibitions, awards, fellowships, and accolades. The Community Darkrooms Gallery transitions to a salon-style display space for artist critiques and pop-up events in Light Work Lab. Under Urban Video Project Director Anneka Herre, UVP launched its first year-long curatorial program. Celestial Navigation: a year into the afro-future explores the work of established and emerging artists through an afrofuturist lens, presenting cross-programmed exhibitions and events with Light Work and the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC). The Urban Cinematheque blossoms, screening The Grand Budapest Hotel to more than thirty Syracuse-based arts organizations and audiences of more than 1,000.
Our staff transitions continue this year. Exhibitions coordinator J.P. Gardner leaves to become director of the Kirkland Art Center in nearby Clinton. Joe Lingeman, lab assistant/printmaker, leaves Syracuse to pursue his work as an artist and freelance photographer. Lab manager David Oresick leaves to become the executive director of Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh. Sarah Sellman, communications coordinator, leaves to take her documentary, American Bear, on a national tour. Walker Blackwell is promoted to lab manager, Jessica Posner becomes communications coordinator, Amrita Stuetzle and Trevor Clement join staff as lab assistants/printmakers, and Ana Thor becomes exhibitions coordinator. Neven Lochhead is the graduate assistant to Urban Video Project.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery New Geographies, Michael Bühler- Rose • Newspaper Rock, Aspen Mays • Where Objects Fall Away, Raymond Meeks • Revive, Alison Rossiter Hallway Gallery and Light Work Lab Gallery 2014 Light Work Grants • 2014 Transmedia Photography Annual • adjunct appendix, showing the work of twenty-two Adjunct Faculty from the College of Visual and Performing Arts • Dawn Light, Wilson Cummer • Artist to Artist: Light Work’s Fine Print Program • Golden Dawn, Dan Wetmore Robert B. Menschel Gallery Legendary, Gerard H. Gaskin • Perspective: Selections from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Robert Benjamin • Rose Marie Cromwell • Gregory Halpern • Ben Huff • Jessica Labatte • Kalpesh Lathigra • Wayne Lawrence • Mary Mattingly • Rory Mulligan • Kristine Potter • Keisha Scarville • Daniel Shea • Keren Shavit • Cauleen Smith Light Work Grants Trevor Clement • Sebastian Collett • Dan Wetmore Urban Video Project Shuffle and Shake, Sanford Biggers • I’ll Worship You, You’ll Worship Me, Michael Bühler-Rose • table, Ann Hamilton • Western Union: Small Boats (The Leopard), Isaac Julien • Cat Brushing Teeth and other works, Yui Kugimiya • American Bear, Sarah Sellman and Greg Gano • UVP Annual Summer Review Fine Print Program John Chervinsky • Lucas Foglia • Irina Rozovsky Master Print Edition James Welling Book Collectors Program Peter Mitchell, Strangely Familiar Special Projects Light Work hosts Paddle8 Benefit Auction, curated by Andy Adams of Flak Photo • Light Work hosts a lecture and book signing for the release of LaToya Ruby Frazier’s book, The Notion of Family • Light Work attends the Silver Eye Photography Book Market and VSW Pub Fair.
2015
Light Work receives the highest grant in the US in the visual arts category from the National Endowment for the Arts to support our Artist-in-Residence program. We also receive support for the first time from the Andy Warhol Foundation, a two-year grant that also supports our Artist-in-Residence program. Our AIR program is a national model and these two important grants confirm that recognition and achievement. In collaboration with Autograph ABP in London and the SUArt Galleries at Syracuse University, Light Work organizes a traveling exhibition of photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayode’s work, a highly influential but under-recognized photographer. After exhibitions at Light Work and the Palitz Gallery at Syracuse University’s Lubin House in New York City, the SUArt Galleries organize an international tour of the exhibition.
We continue to develop a modern digital facility to meet the needs of artists with another significant renovation of our Lab facility. While creating more space for computers, printers, and scanners, we also hold on to our last remaining black-and-white darkroom.
At the the end of this year, lab manager Walker Blackwell leaves to take a management and research position at Cone Editions Press in Vermont. Walker returns to his home state to develop innovative printing processes and practices with his long-time friend and mentor, Jon Cone. Trevor Clement, a long-time lab assistant, digital printer, and jack-of-all-trades, is promoted to lab manager, carrying on our practice of having artists run the Lab. Recent Hamilton College graduate and Light Work intern Sean D. Henry-Smith becomes our new communications coordinator. Syracuse University graduate and long-time Lab member Nancy Keefe Rhodes now provides editorial assistance in preparation of Contact Sheet, the Light Work Annual, and other texts. Victor Rivera becomes exhibitions and collection manager.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery After Edith, Gideon Barnett • Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) • Accumulations, Xaviera Simmons • Sight Specific, Letha Wilson Hallway Gallery 2015 Light Work Grants • 2015 Transmedia Photography Annual • Perspective: Selections from the Light Work Collection Robert B. Menschel Gallery Legendary, Gerard H. Gaskin • Gary Metz: Quaking Aspen Artists-in-Residence George Awde • Dan Boardman • Samantha Box • James Henkel • Mahtab Hussain • Tommy Kha • Pixy Yijun Liao • Zanele Muholi • Miki Soejima • Letha Wilson • Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa • Saya Woolfalk Light Work Grants Allison Beondé • Thilde Jensen • Costa Sakellariou Urban Video Project Leviathan, Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel • Black Bullets, Jeannette Ehlers • Anathema, The Otolith Group • Number Sixteen, Xaviera Simmons • Crow Requiem, Cauleen Smith • UVP Annual Summer Review 2015: Celestial Navigation Fine Print Program Leslie Hewitt • Raymond Meeks • Christian Patterson Master Print Edition Ann Hamilton Book Collectors Program Nathan Lyons, Return Your Mind to Its Upright Position Special Projects Light Work attends New York Art Book Fair, Silver Eye Photography Book Market, and VSW Pub Fair • Light Work completes significant renovation and redesign of lab facility, expanding space for digital production.
2016
This year, we increase the stipend for each of three recipients of the Light Work Grants in Photography program to $3,000. Begun in 1975 to support Central New York artists, this is one of the longest running photography fellowship programs anywhere. This is also a good year for previous Light Work Artists-in-Residence. Sylvia de Swaan, Takahiro Kaneyama, Susannah Sayler and Ed Morris, Pacifico Silano, Lida Suchy, John Trotter, Linn Underhill, and Shen Wei received photography fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and Suchy received a Guggenheim Fellowship too. Three exhibitions highlighted work from our permanent collection: Unnatural Creatures: Selections from the Light Work Collection, curated by Syracuse University graduate student and former Light Work intern Erin Carter, From Paris to Syracuse: Street Photography from the Collections of the Everson and Light Work (Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse), and Place: Selections from the Light Work Collection, curated by Victor Rivera and Kwadwo Kuzi, at the Menschel Gallery in the Schine Student Center at Syracuse University. The Urban Video Project again achieves record attendance for its popular Urban Cinematheque event, which compliments ongoing exhibitions of video artists from around the world. Light Work has staff changes as well. Trevor Clement leaves his lab manager position to pursue a full-time art career. We welcome Gabe Conte as printmaker, Ian Sherlock Molloy as lab assistant, and Amrita Stuetzle as our new lab manager. We celebrate receiving more than 900 applications to our Artist-in-Residence program. In the circle of life, we also mourn the passing of former Light Work Artists Charles Gatewood, Nathan Lyons, Doug Muir, and Dan Younger.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery A Place That Looks Like Home, Todd Gray • Mass and Obstruction, Mary Mattingly • The Passenger’s Present, Miki Soejima • One Wall a Web, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa Hallway Gallery 2016 Light Work Grants • 2016 Transmedia Photography Annual • Site/Sight, Ben Altman • The Trouble With Flesh: New Work by MFA Candidates Robert B. Menschel Gallery Place: Selections from the Light Work Collection • Unnatural Creatures: Selections from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Morgan Ashcom • Paul D’Amato • Eyakem Gulilat • Takahiro Kaneyama • John Mann • Marcia Michael • Regine Peterson • Richard Rothman • Christina Seely • Pacifico Siliano • Mila Teshaieva • Suné Woods Light Work Grants Robert Knight • Lida Suchy • Marion Wilson Urban Video Project Between Species (Sam Easterson, Leslie Thornton, Robert Todd, and Maria Whiteman) • Tide & Current Taxi, Marie Lorenz • Human and Object, Mary Mattingly • UVP Annual Summer Review 2016: We Were Never Human • Fireworks (Archives), Apichatpong Weerasethakul • ChimaCloud, Saya Woolfalk Fine Print Program Paul D’Amato • Gregory Halpern • Bill McDowell Master Print Edition Zanele Muholi Book Collectors Program Doug DuBois, My Last Day at Seventeen Special Projects Light Work attends VSW Pub Fair
2017
We make significant progress updating the Light Work Collection’s website of more than 4,000 objects. Our goal is to improve the resolution of images and make our significant holdings even more accessible on the new platform. We announce a new partnership with publisher MACK that will honor an artist with the Light Work Photobook Award. The inaugural recipient is photographer Mahtab Hussain for his monograph, You Get Me? The Light Work Photobook Award will be given annually to an artistic project deserving international attention. This year we want to acknowledge the recognition that our artists are receiving. We applaud former Light Work and Urban Video Project artists Dawoud Bey, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Trevor Paglen—all recipients of the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship. Former Artist-in-Residence Zanele Muholi receives the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s premiere arts and culture award. The Everson Museum, Light Work, and Urban Video Project collaborate on concurrent exhibitions of work by multimedia artist Suné Woods, whose To Sleep With Terra opening reception includes a collaborative performance by musician James Gordon-Williams and spoken-word artist Fred Moten. Staff changes include the hiring of Syracuse University Transmedia alum Rachel Fein-Smolinski as digital services manager, Peter Lee as the graduate assistant to Urban Video Project, recent Alfred University graduate and Light Work Lab intern Becky Marris as printmaker, and Syracuse University Visual and Performing Arts alum Cjala Surratt as promotions coordinator.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Scale Without Measure, George Awde • Anonymous, John Edmonds • The Gray Line, Kristine Potter • To Sleep With Terra, Suné Woods Hallway Gallery 2017 Light Work Grants • 2017 Newhouse Photography Annual • 2017 Transmedia Photography Annual • If I Could See Your Face, I Would Not Need Food (Ka Fitfitu Feetu), Eric Gottesman Artists-in-Residence Matthew Connors • John Edmonds • Jennifer Garza-Cuen • Andres Gonzales • Nicola Lo Calzo • Sara Macel • Ingrid Pollard • Flurina Rothenberger • Jessica Segall • Hrvoje Slovenc • Maja Tammi • Rodrigo Valenzuela Light Work Grants Mary Helena Clark • Joe Librandi-Cowen • Stephanie Mercedes Urban Video Project Grand Finale, Kevin Jerome Everson • Haunted Ethnography: new experimental documentary (featuring Carl Elsaesser, Sky Hopinka, and João Vieira Torres) • Xenoi, Deborah Stratmen • UVP Annual Summer Review 2017: Interzones • Water Way, Special Exhibition celebrating the 2017 World Canal Conference • A Feeling Like Chaos, Suné Woods Fine Print Program Wayne Lawrence • Mary Mattingly • Miki Soejima Master Print Edition Letha Wilson Book Collectors Program Carrie Mae Weems, Kitchen Table Series Lectures Nando Alvarez-Perez, Gerard Gaskin, PDN’s 30 Seminar: Strategies for Launching a Career in Today’s Market Special Projects Light Work attends VSW Pub Fair, Suné Woods Workshop: Processes in Translation In Memoriam Mel Rosenthal, 1992 AIR
2018
Light Work, Urban Video Project (UVP), and the Photography and Literacy Project (PAL Project) receive $300,000 in grants from the Joy of Giving Something, Inc. (JGS). Distributed over three years, the funds will support education initiatives, artist residencies, and exhibitions dedicated to the photographic arts. Light Work receives $40,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and $30,000 from the Pollock-Krasner foundation to support the Artist-in-Residence Program. A $30,000 grant from Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation helps Light Work complete and launch an ambitious new site for the Permanent Collection that offers online visitors access to an archive of 4,000 images, objects, and ephemera. To further highlight the archive, we launch the re:Collection blog series with an invitation to artists and respected thinkers in the field to select a single image or object from the archive and offer a text that reflects on its historical, technical, or personal significance. Light Work celebrates the benchmark 200th edition of Contact Sheet with publication of the exhibition catalogue, Rodrigo Valenzuela: American Type. Light Work alumni continue to receive national and international exhibitions, awards, fellowships, and recognition. We welcome to our long roster of MacArthur Foundation Fellows former exhibiting artist Julie Ault. We applaud former Light Work AIRs Anthony Hernandez, Kristine Potter, and Hank Willis Thomas—all recipients of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. A focused community engagement and education outreach initiative has been the catalyst for increased collaboration with the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC) and numerous Central New York arts and culture organizations.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Land of Epic Battles, Justyna Badach • Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul, For Freedoms • Rubberlands, Karolina Karlic • Alma, Keisha Scarville Hallway Gallery 2018 Light Work Grants • 2018 Newhouse Photography Annual • 2018 Transmedia Photography Annual Palitz Gallery at SU Lubin House New Voices: Recent Acquisitions from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Khalik Allah • Atong Atem • Jess Dugan • Preston Gannaway • Fumi Ishino • Andrew Jackson • Justine Kurland • Kate Ovaska • Paul Mpagi Sepuya • Guillaume Simoneau • Aaron Turner • Vasantha Yogananthan Light Work Grants Nydia Blas • Michelle Gabel • Jerry Lim Urban Video Project Urban Renewal, Emanuel Almborg & Crystal Z. Campbell • Extended Forecast, Christopher Harris • new york, Ben Russell • AKIN: Recent Work by Keren Shavit and Eva Marie Rodbro • UVP Annual Summer Review 2018: Community Fine Print Program John Edmonds • Matt Eich • Lida Suchy Master Print Edition LaToya Ruby Frazier Book Collectors Program Mahtab Hussain, You Get Me? Lectures Sara Macel • Arthur Ryan • Guillaume Simoneau • Vasantha Yogananthan Special Projects Art21, Light Work, and Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Transmedia Colloquium Series co-hosts on-campus screening that highlights the practice of 2015 AIR Zanele Muholi. • Light Work attends AIPAD 2018 (The Association of International Photography Art Dealers) and VSW Pub Fair In Memoriam Laura Aguilar, 1992 AIR, Stephen Mahan, Light Work board member and director of Photography and Literacy Project (PAL) and Elise Mitchell Sanford, 1994 AIR and 1995 Menschel Gallery exhibiting artist.
2019
In addition to continuing ongoing support, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) awards Light Work an additional $106,450 to assist with the upgrade and replacement of Urban Video Project’s projector and enclosure. Urban Video Project video installation artists Adam and Zack Khalil garner national recognition, including a Jerome Hill Foundation grant and inclusion in the Whitney Biennial as part of the New Red Order (along with Jackson Polys). We applaud former Light Work AIR Jennifer Garza-Cuen and former Light Work Grant recipients Ben Altman and Ron Jude, all recipients of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 2019. The demise of Light Work Lab’s Epson 11880 printer, dubbed “Biggie Smalls,” prompts acquisition of a Canon Pro-6000, thanks to a generous donation from Canon. Staff departures this year include lab staff Rachel Fein-Smolisnki, John Wesley Mannion, and Amrita Stuetzle, each leaving to pursue new opportunities in photography. We welcome Dan Boardman as the new lab manager and Ryan Krueger as the new digital services coordinator, and note Cjala Surratt’s promotion to full-time communications coordinator.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery American Type, Rodrigo Valenzuela • River Walking, Robert Benjamin • Bundles of Wood, Nicola Lo Calzo • Baaeétitchish (One Who Is Talented), Wendy Red Star • Hallway Gallery 2019 Transmedia Photography Annual • 2019 Newhouse Photography Annual • 2019 Light Work Grants • A-I-R: New Acquisitions 2019 Artists-in-Residence Carolyn Drake • Kris Graves • Pao Her • Mark McKnight • Meryl Meisler • Rafal Milach • Zora Murff • Cian Oba-Smith • Sarker Protick • Arpita Shah • Jiehao Su • Ka-Man Tse • Cristina Velasquez Light Work Grants Trevor Clement • Lali Khalid • Reka Reisinger Urban Video Project Exhibitions In the Creeks, Frank Gillette • Ghost Jets, Lorna Mills • Culture Capture: Terminal Addition, The New Red Order (Adam and Zack Khalil, Jackson Polys) • UVP Summer Review 2019: The Past Keeps Happening • REMEMBERING THE FUTURE, Yoko Ono • Urban Video Project Events Ways of Something Pt. 3 and 4, Lorna Mills • Undead Archive, the New Red Order • Knives and Skin, Jennfer Reeder • The Eyeslicer Presents: Marlon said, “Maria, don’t worry, it’s just a movie.” Fine Print Program Jason Fulford • Yoshinori Mizutani • Xaviera Simmons Master Print Edition Ernesto Pujol Book Collectors Program Rose Marie Cromwell, El Libro Supremo de la Suerte Lectures Arpita Shah Special Projects Everson Museum of Art curator DJ Hellerman and former AIR Judy Natal curate the exhibition, Time Returns: A Continuous Now, drawn from the Everson and Light Work Collections • Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul: Selections from Light Work Collection at University of Vermont’s Fleming Museum • 8th Annual Urban Cinematheque Arts and Cultural Fair with a screening of Roma • Light Work attends AIPAD 2019 (The Association of International Photography Art Dealers), The Armory Show, and VSW Pub Fair In Memoriam Linn Underhill, 1983 AIR, Light Work Retrospective Exhibition 1985, Menschel Gallery exhibiting artist 1987, Grants recipient 1995 and represented in Fine Print Program catalogue 2002 • Thomas Walsh, Light Work board member, friend, advocate, and retired executive vice president of advancement and external affairs at Syracuse University.
2020
In response to the international coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Light Work suspended its lab facility for in-person use and limited gallery attendance to the Syracuse University community. We quickly shifted to make our Artist-in-Residence program a remote offering and were able to support thirteen artists throughout the year. We were also able to pivot as we shifted many programs to our website and social media platforms. Light Work Lab’s roster of online classes and workshops attracted audiences from around the world. While the Lab remained closed for in-person use, we were able to provide remote printing and scanning services for artists and organizations. This included making 12,000 prints for an advocacy group of artists called States of Change for a fundraising print sale that supported groups fighting against voter suppression. Light Work Lab partnered with the Department of Transmedia in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University to launch Photo Practitioners, an online lectures series. Urban Video Project marked its tenth anniversary with a state-of-the-art projector upgrade. Urban Video Project (UVP) technical assistants Chongha Peter Lee and Selma Selman leave to pursue professional opportunities in Maryland. Kendra Ward departs her position to pursue a masters degree at the University of Illinois. UVP hires Xuan Liu as the new technical assistant. Light Work runs a month-long promotion and print sale with proceeds directed to support the local Black Lives Matter Movement and Central New York Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Trap and Lean-to, Dionne Lee • The Eyelid Has Its Storms…, Pacifico Silano • General Assembly, Matthew Connors • Heroine, Alinka Echeverria Hallway Gallery Transmedia Photography Annual • In Solidarity: Syracuse Protests: Cherilyn Beckles, Mylz Blake, Dennis Fernando, Eric Derachio Jackson Jr., Maranie Staab • Artists-in-Residence David O. Alekhuogie • Farah Al Qasimi • Sophie Barbasch • Poulomi Basu • Melissa Catanese • Arko Datto • Alanna Fields • Tarrah Krajnak • Jan McCullough • Harold Mendez • Star Montana • Christie Neptune • Leonard Suryajaya Light Work Grants Ben Cleeton • Christine Elfman • Hans Gindlesberger Honorable Mention Courtney Asztalos • Rachel Guardiola Urban Video Project Exhibitions A Use for Rope or String, Dionne Lee • Walled Unwalled, Lawrence Abu Hamdan • New Maps of Hyperspace_Test_01 (commission), Doireann O’Malley • Fluid Frontiers, Ephraim Asili UVP Events Doireann O’Malley, Prototypes online screening and Q&A • In Solidarity projection, Community Night program • My Southside and City: 2020 Contest Selections, Community Night program • Horizons: New Film Out of Central New York, Community Night program • Ephraim Asili, The Diaspora Suite online screening and Q&A Fine Print Program Sarker Protick • Pacifico Silano • Rodrigo Valenzuela Master Print Edition Justine Kurland Book Collectors Program Andres Gonzalez, American Origami Online Lectures Hannah Price • S. Billie Mandle • Lesley Martin with Penelope Umbrico • Irina Rozovsky Special Projects Tereket Company in Syracuse acquires more than 26 works from Light Work Fine Print Program to display in their corporate office • Wellin Museum 31 Fine Print Collection Acquisition • Colgate University 8 Fine Print Collection Acquisition • Month-long auction on Paddle 8 online platform • Launches shop in Paris Photo: New York virtual fair • Light Work tables at Virtual Assembly Book Fair • Vermont exhibition “Be Strong” Collection? • Light Work Lab prints more than 12,000 Fine Prints for States of Change Auction Funding National Endowment for the Arts: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act • Central New York Arts Resiliency Grant • Central New York Impact Grant In Memoriam Andrew Buck, friend, colleague, and founding Light Work board member. In 1973, Buck’s solo exhibition was the inaugural exhibition for Light Work and Community Darkrooms.• Ingeborg Gerdes was featured in a 1991 group exhibition in Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, her work is represented in Contact Sheet 147 • John Pfahl is an alum of Fine Arts (’64) and Newhouse School at Syracuse University (’68). Pfahl’s work appeared in several exhibitions at Light Work, including a special protect with Permutations on the Picturesque, a portfolio of twenty Iris prints supported by Light Work’s Endowment Fund for Mid-Career Artists. This project was also featured in a solo exhibition in the Robert B. Menschel Photography and published as a exhibition catalogue • Melissa Shook exhibited in the Light Work main gallery in 1980 and participated in a Light Work residency in 1985. Her works are represented in our permanent Collection and in Contact Sheet 14, 49, and 97.
2021
As Light Work’s fifty-year anniversary approaches in 2023, the organization experiences monumental leadership changes, including the retirement of Jeffrey Hoone as executive director. Hoone retired in August 2021 after leading Light Work for 41 years. During that time he built Light Work into one of the most diverse, well respected, and financially sound organizations in the country. He continues his philanthropic work as the president of the Joy of Giving Something Foundation that is a major supporter of Light Work and similar artist-run photography spaces across the country. We thank him for his vision and dedication to supporting artists and wish him all the best. Read more about Jeff here.
After nearly ten years on the staff and a little over seven as director, Shane Lavalette departs to pursue new opportunities and projects that include Assembly, a gallery, agency, creative studio, and art advisory, providing holistic support to a diverse group of artists working with photography and the moving image. Daniel Boardman, formerly manager of Light Work’s Lab, moves into organizational leadership as full-time director and continues Light Work’s legacy as an organization that is run by artists and for artists.
2021 is also the inaugural year of a funding partnership with the Darryl Chappell Foundation. This $10,000 grant supports the residency of two lens-based artists from the African Diaspora. UVP continues exhibitions at their outdoor projection site on the facade of the Everson Museum, hosting virtual talks with artists whose works are on view. In addition to an artist conversation, UVP runs a special collaborative creative movement workshop with their 2021 commissioned artist, Steffani Jemison, with collaborative partner and project muse, Alexis Page. Expanding their ongoing curatorial relationship, the Everson shows works by UVP artists concurrently inside the museum.
The permanent Collection continues to expand with the donation of twelve prints from artists who participated in Light Work’s residency program. Acquisitions also include a donation of seven works from the estate of Laura Aguilar, including self-portraits consisting of two triptychs and four singular black-and-white images.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Clifford Prince King, We Used to Lay Together • Meryl Meisler, Best of Times, Worst of Times • Aaron Turner, Black Alchemy, Backwards/Forwards Hallway Gallery 2021 Newhouse Photography Annual • 2021 Transmedia Photography Annual • Queer Moments: Selections from the Light Work Collection Hallway Gallery 2021 Newhouse Photography Annual • 2021 Transmedia Photography Annual • Queer Moments: Selections from the Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Liz Johnson Artur •Danielle Bowman • Sabiha Çimen • Steven Molina Contreras • Larry Cook • Jeremy Dennis • Odette England • Dionne Lee • Daniel Ramos • Aida Silvestri • Marion Wilson• Guanyu Xu Light Work Grants Jessica Magallanes Martinez • Paul Pearce • Carla Liesching • Urban Video Project Exhibitions Hito Steyerl, Strike • Steffani Jemison, Figure 8 • Luis Arnías, Simon Liu, Zhou Tao, What Happened UVP Events Travels in Post-Cinema: The Essay Films of Hito Steyerl • School of Architecture, the School of Design, and the School of Art, The Living Room Conversation • True Price: Art & Ecology • PAL Project Student Exhibition: they came after dreams • Syracuse University Graduating Photo Student Exhibition • Syracuse University MFA Film/Video Screening • My Southside and City: 2021 Contest Selections • Horizons: New Film Out of Central New York • Refocus: Haudenosaunee Films to Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day •: Syracuse University Undergraduate Video Showcase, Running in Place Fine Print Program Pixy Liao • Wendy Red Star • Vasantha Yogananthan Master Print Edition Paul Mpagi Sepuya Book Collectors Program Mark McKnight, Heaven is a Prison Special Projects Impact: Healthy Minds Auction on Artsy online platform • Launches shop in Paris Photo: New York virtual fair • Light Work “tables” at Virtual Assembly Book Fair • Vermont exhibition Be Strong Collection • Select Lab Service Jobs • Ann Hamilton • Clifford Prince King, us, you and me (Mass MoCA) • Joshua Rashaad McFadden, I Believe I’ll Run On (Eastman Museum) • Carrie Mae Weems, Moments (Lincoln Center) • In Memoriam Corky Lee, Barbara Ess
2022
After two tumultuous years of operating an arts organization during a global pandemic, relief comes with immunization, boosters, the lifting of social distancing guidelines, and a nod from the Center for Disease Control and Syracuse University leadership to reopen to the public. Initially, our mandates for precautionary mask-wearing remain in place, however, and with copious amounts of sanitizer on hand, Light Work and Urban Video Project suspend working remotely and again invite exhibition guests, tour visitors, and members back for in-person programming and access to the photography lab. With national and international travel restrictions lifted, Light Work also ends remote residencies and returns to hosting artists on-site. We enthusiastically welcome a cohort of twelve emerging artists from across the country.
In April, associate director Mary Lee Hodgens retires after 27 years. Mary Lee worked directly with artists for nearly 3 decades. Read a note from Mary Lee here
In May, Robert B. Menschel passed away at age 92. His generosity and support over a lifetime enabled Light Work to flourish as a photography organization that supported emerging artists as it became a leader in the field and a model for artists’ support across the country. Bob was there every step of the way with advice, encouragement, and generosity. He was passionate about photography. His enthusiasm for the work of individual artists was clear as he beamed about their work when he saw it in an exhibition or a publication. In many cases, his support made those projects possible, while his enthusiasm always gave us the encouragement to do our best. There would be no Light Work without Bob Menschel and we will dearly miss and long remember him. More about Robert B. Menschel here.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Pixy Liao, Futari (Two Persons) • Melissa Catanese, The Lottery • Samantha Box, Caribbean Dreams • Guanyu Xu, Suspended Status Hallway Gallery 2022 Newhouse Photography Annual • 2022 Art Photography Annual • 2022 MFA Photography Survey Artists-in-Residence Mónica Alcázar-Duarte • Nando Alvarez-Perez • Simon Benjamin • Gary Burnley • William Camargo • Jasmine Clarke • Paula Damasceno • Mercedes Dorame • Nona Faustine • Musuk Nolte • Elle Pérez • Claire A. Warden Light Work Grants Carlton Daniel, Jr. • Lacey McKinney • Sarah Phyllis Smith • Urban Video Project Exhibitions Suneil Sanzgiri & Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, If I Were to Be Alive • UVP Summer Review 2022, It’s not a bug. It’s a future • Kite, Makhóčheowápi Akézaptan (Fifteen Maps) • Lana Z. Caplan, Ross Meckfessel, Alison Nguyen, Matt Whitman, No Emoji for Ennui UVP Events No Emoji for Ennui, featuring additional work by Tulapop Saenjaroen • Experimental lecture by Kite, What’s on the earth is in the stars; and what’s in the stars is on the earth • If I were to Be Alive screening and Q&A Fine Print Program Atong Atem • Sharon Harper • Meryl Meisler Master Print Edition Abelardo Morell Book Collectors Program Odette England, Dairy Character
2023
Light Work celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2023. Through a partnership with the iconic Everson Museum of Art, Light Work’s 50th Anniversary retrospective exhibition was on view in two of the Museum’s main gallery spaces from January 28 through May 14, 2023. Light Work hosted an artist lecture with award-winning historian, author, curator, photographer, and former Light Work residency participant (1990), Deborah Willis, Ph.D., in the Everson Museum’s Hosmer Auditorium, with remarks on Light Work’s 50th Anniversary. Nodesia Hernandez, the Director of Community Outreach in the 53rd District’s Senate Office, also presented a Proclamation to Light Work, issued by the Office of Senator Rachel May. The proclamation recognizes Light Work’s unwavering support of emerging and under-represented artists working in the medium of photography and digital imaging since its inception fifty years ago.
In May, Cali M. Banks joined Light Work as the new Communications Coordinator. Read more about Cali here.
In September, Light Work dedicated our Hallway Gallery to Jeffrey J. Hoone. The Jeffrey J. Hoone Gallery was made possible by contributions from Carrie Mae Weems, Richard L. Menschel, Joy of Giving Something Inc., and many artists, friends, and family.
For more than a decade, Light Work’s Urban Video Project (UVP) has sponsored an annual invitation-based commission. This year, Light Work opened our UVP commission to applications for the first time and also created a new commission program specifically for regional artists living within a 50 mile radius of Syracuse. This extends Light Work’s core mission to support emerging and under-represented artists with a focus on service to our community. Selected in September 2023, our inaugural regional artist is Ithaca-based artist Paulina Velázquez Solís.
In October, Koz joined Light Work as the new Lab Coordinator. Read more about Koz here.
Light Work hosted a print sale fundraiser to celebrate our 50th anniversary as an organization. Over 200 artists donated work, and all net proceeds supported Light Work’s programming.
The Darryl Chappell Foundation provided a $5,000 stipend and access to a Darryl Chappell Foundation mentor for one artist-in-residence. This is Light Work’s second year in partnership with the foundation.
The permanent Collection continues to expand with the donation of twelve prints from artists who participated in Light Work’s residency program. Acquisitions also include a donation of ten works from Dawoud Bey and Stephen Daiter Gallery in honor of our hallway gallery being dedicated to Jeffrey J. Hoone. These ten images were made at Light Work in 1985 when Bey was an Artist-in-Residence.
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Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Jenny Calivas, Surface Thing • Arko Datto, Shunyo Raja (Kings of a Bereft Land) • Eduardo L Rivera, The Sun Echoed Like A Song Jeffrey J. Hoone Gallery 2023 VPA Photography Annual • 2023 Light Work Grants in Photography Exhibition Everson Museum 50th Anniversary: Selections from Light Work Collection Artists-in-Residence Bruce Bennett • Marcus Xavier Chormicle • Devin Fenimore • Kyoko Hamaguchi • Katherine Hubbard • Sayuri Ichida • Clifford Prince King • Abdulhamid Kircher • Jim Mangan • Joiri Minaya • Ahndraya Parlato • Agnieszka Sosnowska • Ajamu X Light Work Grants Amy Kozlowski • Tahila Mintz • Linda Moses Urban Video Project Exhibitions Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Lluvia con Nieve (Rain with Snow) • Theo Cuthand, Extractions • Evan Starling-Davis, FRACTURE • Institute of Queer Ecology, Hysteria UVP Events Haudenosaunee Canoe Journey + Flat Rocks, Screening + Q&A feat. filmmaker Roxann Whitebean • Lessons in Living Otherwise, Screening + Q&A with Sofía Gallisá Muriente, Natalia Lassalle-Morillo, and Theo Cuthand • FRACTURE, Artist Talk & Guided Experience on the Plaza and Artist Talk AS part of the Syracuse University Human Rights Film Festival feat. Evan Starling-Davis • Strange Terrain, Institute of Queer Ecology in Conversation with Jack Halberstam at the Everson Museum Auditorium UVP Community Night Partners Syracuse University Department of Film and Media Arts • Visual Arts Electronic Garden • Black Artist Collective • Northside Learning Center • Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) • Women of Italian and Syracuse Heritage in Central New York (WISH CNY). Special Projects Booth at the Armory Show, NYC Fine Print Program Clifford Prince King • Sophie Barbasch • Samantha Box Master Print Edition Aspen Mays • In Memoriam Larry Fink, Lawrence McFarland
2024
In Memoriam
Abby Robinson, Bill Viola, Dinh Q. Lê, Yong Soon Min
Human Pincushion, New York State Fair, 1976
Charles Gatewood
Light Work’s first Artist-in-Residence (1976)