
Virtual Exhibitions
Virtual Tours
A Legacy of Firsts: The Everson Collects
In 1911, the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts (known today as the Everson) made history as the first museum in the country to declare that it would focus on collecting works made by American artists. This decision, implemented by Museum Director Fernando Carter, was the first of many made by directors that ultimately defined the Everson’s collection as it exists today. This exhibition examines over one hundred years of the Museum’s collecting priorities, from the Museum’s earliest acquisitions in 1911 to work acquired in 2019.
2020 Everson Teen Arts Council Exhibition
This exhibition features work made by Central New York high school students and curated by the Everson Teen Council through an open call for entries. Teen Council members collaborated to select a theme, curate works, and write wall text, teaching Council members how museum exhibitions come to life. This exhibition is to be viewed virtually while we are temporarily closed due to Covid-19. Despite the unforeseen challenges and setbacks, our Teen Council remained committed to completing their curatorial project and appreciate the support of the Central New York community. We hope the virtual exhibition allows for greater access to their work and that you will enjoy viewing from the safety of your homes during this time.
Jim Ridlon: The Garden
An audio/visual explanation by Jim Ridlon himself on what inspired one of his greatest works.
Learn about the Everson! Virtual Architecture Tour
Learn about world-renowned architect I.M. Pei and how he approached the design for the Everson, his first museum project. Get the inside details on how the Everson was constructed, where materials were sourced, and what it has in common with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Lacey McKinney Studio Tour
A virtual studio visit with CNY based artist Lacey McKinney, the McColl Center for Art Innovation Fall 2019 Artist-in-Residence. McKinney’s work calls out the underrepresentation of female artists, explores cultural inequalities, and deconstructs the way that women are represented in modern imagery.
Past Exhibition Tours
Renegades and Reformers: American Art Pottery
Since acquiring its first works by Adelaide Alsop Robineau in 1916, the Everson Museum of Art has built one of the finest collections of art pottery in the world. Renegades and Reformers revolves around two common personality types among potters: the “renegades” who embarked on highly personal artistic quests that pushed clay and glaze to their limits, and the “reformers,” whose modern designs and social attitudes pushed back against Victorian mores.
From Funk to Punk: Left Coast Ceramics
November 11, 2017 – April 15, 2018
From Funk to Punk: Left Coast Ceramics brings together an eclectic group of artists whose varied aesthetic and conceptual styles capture the evolution of ceramics in California, Oregon, and Washington. The exhibition is organized by Peter Held, a longtime curator in the field and acknowledged expert in West Coast ceramics. According to Held, this survey aspires “to track the real and perceived discrepancies between work on opposite coasts of the United States; provide opportunities to experience works by artists who lack broad exposure in the East; and lastly, share his passion for the pioneering and revolutionary artists in the field who challenge prevailing preconceptions stifling the potential of the medium.” Learn more about From Funk to Punk.
Seen and Heard: An Active Commemoration of Women’s Suffrage
June 10 – August 27, 2017
A celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the passage of women’s suffrage in New York State, Seen and Heard explored the use of the arts as a catalyst for social change. Artists have played key roles in social and political movements throughout history, altering the ways in which people view and think about the world. Whether performance, music, or visual, art of any medium has the power to challenge assumptions and inspire passions as nothing else can, and artists harness that power to analyze humanity, initiate tough conversations, protest injustice, and affect emotional and systematic change. Learn more about Seen and Heard
The Creatures Among Us
January 14 – August 13, 2017
Animals have been the subject of art for millennia, beginning with ancient cave paintings made over 35,000 years ago. From scientific renderings of nature’s wondrous creatures to depictions of livestock and beasts of burden, to commemorating our beloved four-legged family members, artists have recorded the many roles animals play in our world. The Creatures Among Us celebrates our enduring fascination with animals by presenting a selection of diverse works—some not seen in years—drawn from the Everson’s collection. Learn more about The Creatures Among Us.