EVERSON MUSEUM OF ART ANNOUNCES $50,000 MATCHING GIFT CAMPAIGN FOR NEW CERAMICS GALLERY

SYRACUSE, NY (June 23, 2016) – Last week at the Everson Museum’s Annual Summer Picnic, Director and CEO Elizabeth Dunbar announced a matching gift campaign to support the relocation of ceramics storage and the creation of a dedicated gallery space for the changing display of ceramic art works. Longtime Everson Trustee Paul Phillips and his wife Sharon Sullivan have generously pledged up to $50,000 in a matching, dollar-for-dollar campaign. Individuals from the Everson Board of Trustees have already collectively pledged more than $22,900 to the campaign.

“The Everson’s collection of ceramics is world-renowned and should be experienced in a setting that highlights its uniqueness and reflects its importance within the Museum’s holdings,” said Phillips. “We have long believed these hidden gems needed to be brought back to public attention, and we want our gift to encourage others to also support this project.”

The newly renovated 3500 square feet space on the Museum’s lower level will serve as a flexible gallery for ceramics exhibitions organized by Everson curatorial staff as well as guest scholars and other experts in the field. The space will be used for temporary exhibitions, perhaps two or more a year, that feature works from the Everson’s extensive collection as well as from outside sources, providing visitors with many opportunities to experience the breadth and depth of the ceramic medium and learn from ongoing curatorial scholarship and education. The gallery renovation is part of an institutional commitment to celebrating and promoting the Everson’s world-renowned and pioneering ceramics collection. The first phase, a multi-year project to digitize the Everson’s American ceramics collection, was funded through a major grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and will be complete in summer 2016. The new gallery space, with an estimated completion date of November 1, 2016, extends this project into the physical space of the gallery, where the Luce database will be accessible (as well as online). Ultimately, the Everson intends to create a ceramics research center and library.

“Since acquiring its first ceramics works by Adelaide Alsop Robineau in 1916, the Everson has played a pivotal role in elevating the perception of ceramics from craft to a fine art medium,” said Elizabeth Dunbar, Director and CEO of the Everson Museum of Art. “Our Ceramic National exhibitions, established in the 1930s, remain important historical records of the field over time and helped position the Everson as one of the foremost repositories of the medium. The ceramics collection now numbers more than 5000 works. The new flexible gallery space will enable us to drastically enrich the public experience of our diverse holdings through changing thematic exhibitions and more in-depth interpretation.”

To have your gift matched, simply make a donation between now and August 31, 2016. Donors can visit everson.org/donate, or call (315) 474 6064 to make contributions. Gifts can also be mailed to Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison Street, Syracuse, NY 13202.

ABOUT PAUL PHILLIPS AND SHARON SULLIVAN

Paul moved to Syracuse from the NYC area 35 years ago to be Chief of Rheumatology at SUNY Upstate Medical Center, where he fostered the growth of rheumatology research, patient care, and teaching. He retired from SUNY four years ago, but is still working at the VA arthritis clinic seeing patients and teaching residents. Paul has served on the Everson’s Board of Trustees for over a decade.

Sharon was raised in the Detroit area and worked in NYC as a medical technologist and lab supervisor. She moved to Syracuse in 1984 and has since been an active supporter of organizations helping the disabled. She is a longtime Board member of Syracuse Stage.

Paul and Sharon are active supporters of local arts organizations.