Everson Museum of Art opens Danial Family Education Center

This article originally appeared on CNYBJ.com on January 29, 2019 by Journal Staff.

See the original article HERE.

SYRACUSE — The Everson Museum of Art recently announced the opening of its newly renovated and newly named Danial Family Education Center.

The 3,000-square-foot Danial Family Education Center features flexible class spaces, a new kiln, parent lounge, and gallery walls to feature student work. “With innovative educational programs and events that provide individuals with meaningful interactions with art, the newly renovated Education Center’s programs help to make art accessible to people of all ages and abilities,” the museum said in a news release.

Renovation of the education center was made possible by contributions totaling more than $583,000 through the “The Everson. First and Forever” fundraising campaign. Eleven young families, including lead donors Patrick and Jessica Danial, supported the education-center renovation. Patrick Danial is co-founder and CTO of Terakeet, an enterprise SEO firm based in downtown Syracuse, and Jessica Danial is chair of the board of trustees of the Everson Museum of Art. They donated $500,000 toward this effort.

“We believe that the Everson is a world-class art institution that provides our community with incredible opportunities to learn through its educational programming,” Jessica Danial said in the release. “It is inspiring to see young families support the Everson initiatives that emphasize the importance of arts education for individuals of all ages.”

The Everson Museum of Art held a dedication ceremony on Jan. 6 at 12 p.m. to celebrate the education center’s new spaces and new name.

The Danial Family Education Center is located in the Everson’s 60,000-square-foot facility, which opened in 1968. The Everson is I.M. Pei’s first museum design and houses more than 10,000 artworks and hosts over 80,000 visitors each year.