A PLACE TO CALL HOME: Photographs by Michelle Gabel & Mike Greenlar. In collaboration with CENTRAL CURRENT

February 8, 2025 to March 22, 2025

Denise Masterson 57 years-old of 337 1/2 Shonnard St., watching television. She has had four strokes, has a dislocated shoulder, permanent broken wrist and elbow. She lives in a an apartment with little furniture, sleeps on just a mattress with holes. The dwelling is infested with mice and cockroaches. The couple living with her sleep on the floor with just a blanket. Her rent is $500 a month. Photo by Mike Greenlar.

IN THE NEWS
Cental Current
The Daily Orange
Syracuse.com
WRVO

A Place to Call Home is a collaboration between Central Current, a nonprofit newsroom covering Syracuse and Central New York, and photographers Michelle Gabel and Mike Greenlar.
The exhibition captures a cross section of Syracuse’s housing crisis; those struggling with housing insecurity or grappling with unsafe housing conditions. It also shares stories of hope as it highlights “A Tiny Home for Good” a small organization with a mission to end homelessness in Syracuse.

Jeanette Kilmartin smells flowers outside her home on West Matson Avenue. She became addicted to opiods after surgery and gradually lost her job, home, and relationships. After being in recovery for about a year, Jeanette moved into this home, renovated by A Tiny Home for Good, in 2019. “When I walked in these doors, I was just flabbergasted to be given such a, a beautiful gift.” Photo by Michelle Gabel.

Housing has emerged as the region’s most pressing issue. Our hope is that this exhibition sparks dialogue that is not so much about physical houses, but about the people inhabiting them. Gabel, Greenlar and Central Current have covered the crisis on the ground through all of 2024 and have tried to bring to the forefront the faces of those who the crisis is affecting most.
They asked: who are the faces of the housing crisis, what challenges do they confront, and what strides are being made to ensure that all people in our community have safe and affordable homes?

Michelle Gabel (USA) is an independent photojournalist based in Syracuse, New York. Her long-form documentary photography projects tell complex, contemporary stories that delve into individual lives while addressing relevant social issues. She believes sharing stories that evoke empathy can enrich lives, helping viewers explore and become aware of the unfamiliar, contemplate questions about our society, environment and the world, and take action.

Michelle is a member of Women Photograph. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, New York Magazine and other major outlets. For 25 years, she was a staff photographer at daily newspapers, including The Post-Standard in Syracuse. Michelle is the recipient of various awards and grants, and her photography has been exhibited internationally. As a freelancer with the Central Current, a non-profit news organization in Syracuse, Michelle continues to highlight the extraordinary everyday people of Central New York.

From film to digital, Michael Greenlar has been behind the lens since 1979. With an eye for the perfect shot, Michael has worked as a staff photographer for the Syracuse Post-Standard Newspaper (Advance Media) since 2003. Additionally he is an on-location, editorial photographer, with publications appearing in Life, Time and The New York Times Magazine. He is currently a freelancer photographer with the Central Current, a non-profit news organization in Syracuse.
Michael has received an Award of Excellence from Communication Arts, and has been recognized by New York Associated Press, Illinois Associated Press, and the Syracuse Press Club. He has also received two Light Work Grants.
Outside of his daily photography in Central New York, Michael’s photo essay subjects have included: the charcoal industry in Haiti, apartheid in South Africa, a four generation traditional Algonquin family in the Canadian bush, Native American lacrosse, and most recently post-war Laos.
In 2011 Mike released a self-published book “Remnants of a Secret War”, followed by “Kokom Lena of First Nation Algonquin” in 2018.

Central Current, founded in 2020, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to bringing independent online news to Central New York. They provide fact-based news and analysis about the challenges, solutions and opportunities we all share living in Central New York. Their news and multimedia storytelling is exclusively published and distributed online through their website, newsletters and social media.

This exhibition is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

EXHIBIT SPONSORS
George Bain, Diana F. Cramer, Lisa Denard & Peter Koval, Bob Gates & Deborah Welsh, Ellen Golden & C. Brain Walton, Barry & Barbara Gordon, Diane Grafly & Paul Pearce, John P. Haritatos, Tarki & Joe Heath, Aggie Lane, Peter Lemonides, Michael Miller & Kate O’Connell, Thomas Mueller, Donna & Phil Muhs-McCarten, Deirdre Neilen, Leon & Rosemary Oaks-Lee, Jane Pickett, Katherine & Craig Polhamus, Alan Rosenthal, Gary & Mary Salibrici, Ann Tiffany & Ed Kinane, Jeff Unaitis, Carmen Viviano-Crafts, Howard Walsdorf & Marna Bell, Karen Walters, and Susie Weiss

SEASON SPONSORS
Anonymous Group – In memory of Rae Kramer, Glenn Allen, Joe Carpenter & Richard Odom, Annemarie Deegan, Therese A. Deegan, Margrit Diehl, Christine Flynn, Mike Greenlar & Linda Bogart-Greenlar, Sam Gruber, David & Noel Keith, Joe Marusa & Beth Drew, Nancy & Bruce McCoy, Lauren & Walter Melnikow, Shirley & Larry Novak, Lleni Pach, Ellen Schwartz, Sharye Skinner, Ron VanNorstrand, Shaila Wood & Ramesh Gaonkar, and Amy Zamkoff

SPECIAL BENEFACTORS
Anonymous, The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation, Bousquet Holstein PPLC, NYS Council on the Arts, Donald Blair & Nancy Dock, Edgewood Gallery, Claudia Gebhardt, Joyce Day Homan, Sandra Hurd & Joel Potash, Mary Kuhn & Dave Thomas, Sidney Manes, Robert Sarason & Jane Burkhead, and Craig Schlanger & Rosemary Welch

SUSTAINING SPONSORS
Walter Putter & Marilyn Smith