Marjory Wilkins, Early Black & White photographs

copyright Marjory Wilkins

Opening Reception – Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 6pm

Curated by Nancy Keefe Rhodes this is an exhibit of 35 restored and finished prints of both the now extinct 15th Ward and others of historical relevance to both the African American community and the Syracuse community at large. Marjory Wilkins has been an important figure in our community for over six decades, inspiring many through her camera’s view of the world. Her work is described by the exhibit curator in this way, “As documentary photographs they record history, whether recent or remote, that is‘minority’ history – that is, history often, outside of its own community, either ignored or contested by stereotypes.” Her photography has become an invaluable resource to remember a place now destroyed, and a community with a charm and importance almost unknown to those outside of it.

Special Exhibit Events

7pm – Tuesday, May 11 & Th3 Thursday, May 20

“Photo Restoration, History and Art”

A presentation by exhibit curator Nancy Keefe Rhodes

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Spoken Word Poetry

from Uphook Press editors Ice, Brant Lyon, and Jane Ormerod

Uphook Press specializes in work by poets and spoken word artists who love both the ink and the mike. The editors will join our own Syracuse poet Mary Slechta for a rockin’ performance of the spoken word as part of our Opening Reception for Marjory Wilkin’s ArtRage exhibit, A Tender Record! So join us for the opening and the performance. It promises to be a great night!

Mary is one of the poets published in the latest book from Uphook Press, you say.say. It is the second of an annual anthology taken from open submission. 

“you say.say offers a world of infinite possibilities – for the eye, for the ear, and, most significantly, the mind.” – Small Press Review

This event is free and open to the public.

Solidarity Salsa II Fiesta Hermandad!

$10 sliding scale admission
7:15 lesson w/ Jayne Ebner and Kanat Bolazar (no partner necessary)
8:30-10:30 dance social to follow lesson.
Cash wine bar and delicious snacks
With a TBA special guest performance!

No one will be turned away for lack of sufficient funds.

RSVP?  If you know you’re coming, please RSVP to Ursula 473-0216 ursula.rozum@gmail.com This will help with the planning!

Since 2005, CNY-Cajibio Sister City project has supported the Small Farmers Movement of Cajibio (MCC) in the southwest Colombian province of Cauca.  The MCC is working for political and economic justice in a violence torn region of Colombia.  Among the many projects that the MCC coordinates is a collective organic farm, where community members learn and share farming techniques in order to promote local food sovereignty and economic self-sufficiency.

W have hosted 3 Colombian activists here in Central New York and have sent 3 delegations to Cajibio, Colombia.

To learn more about the CNY-Cajibio project, please visit http://www.peacecouncil.net/clac/cajibio.htm

Nancy Keefe Rhodes is the curator of A Tender Record, the current ArtRage exhibit of restored photographs by Marjory Wilkins. She will offer a presentation/gallery talk, “On the Restoration of Vernacular Photography as History and Art”, on this exhibit and the issue of photo restoration in general. Nancy has written a book on the Wilkins’ photographic project, due to be published in 2010.

In her words, “This project has challenged assumptions about both the beauty of vernacular photography and its practitioners’ aesthetic accomplishment – above and beyond its historical importance in specific communities. It also suggests that the ways in which’old picture’ have often been treated may sometimes diminish our capacity to fully appreciate them as photographs.”

Join us for an informative evening at ArtRage. FREE to the public

Nancy Keefe Rhodes is an arts journalist who covers film, photo, and visual arts. She covers the arts for the Syracuse City Eagle weekly, which has also carried her film column “Make it Snappy” since 2006. Nancy has also interviewed a wide range of photographers and was a recipient in 2008 of an annual Light Work grant for her on-going project examining photo restoration of the early black-and-white of Marjory Wilkins. A graduate of the first class of the Goldring Arts Journalism Masters Program at the Newhouse School, Nancy lives in Syracuse.

ArtRage & Rarely Done Productions present Falsettos

Join us on six dates in May for the ever popular musical about love, life and AIDS.

Falsettos is a story of love in the face of modern conflicts. The story takes place between 1979 and 1981 and follows Marvin, who has left his wife Trina and son Jason for a male lover, Whizzer, but still wants them all to be one big happy family. Life gets more complicated when Trina falls for Marvin’s psychiatrist, Mendel while Jason is about to be Bar Mitzvah-ed and the lesbians next door, Cordelia and Dr. Charlotte, are doing the catering! As if that’s not complicated enough, Whizzer and Marvin break up and then are reunited, only to find that Whizzer is dying of some new unexplained disease.

Winner of the 1992 Tony Award for Best Score and Best Book for a Musical, Falsettos a powerful piece for both its ability to capture an important moment in history and in its depiction of very real and human characters faced with significant adversity. Despite dealing with the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic, Falsettos is primarily about experiencing life and love; a joyous story of the struggle between values, love and forgiveness. William Finn touches on the joy and happiness of every family by depicting one very different family.

Directed by Dan Tursi – Music Direction by Jeff Unaitis

Tickets: $25 or $20 for groups of 10 or more

Box Office: 546-3224 or www.rarelydone.org