Art Bridges Grant to Support Gordon Parks Exhibition at Syracuse University Art Museum Next Fall

Syracuse University Art Museum has received a grant from the Art Bridges Foundation to support the exhibition and related programming for “Homeward to the Prairie I Come: Gordon Parks Photographs,“ on loan from the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University. The exhibition of over 75 original photographs will be on view at the museum from Aug. 22 to Dec. 17, 2024.

The grant of more than $93,000 will support exhibition production costs and programming. It will also fund the hiring of two project-related positions: a project K-12 engagement specialist, who will work closely with the museum educator to engage Central New York students with the exhibition through tours and lesson plans, and a program assistant to aid in the planning and execution of programs both on campus at the museum and in the Syracuse community. Planned events include a screening of one of Gordon Parks’ films at a public park in Syracuse, with local vendors and artists present to contribute to a festive, community-focused atmosphere.

Gordon Parks (1912-2006) was a prominent 20th century photographer whose work, spanning the 1940s through the early 2000s, documents American life and culture with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights and urban life. “Homeward to the Prairie I Come” is considered by many curators to be his self portrait. The collection’s title comes from the first line of a poem written by Parks, a Kansas native, who was also a composer, author and filmmaker.

“This exhibition leverages the power of art to catalyze dialogue about the wide range of issues that Parks engaged with in his photography, from systemic racism to the labor and ethics of the global fashion industry to ideas of celebrity and home,” says Melissa Yuen, the museum’s interim chief curator.

Interim museum director Emily Dittman says the project will allow the museum to experiment with new interpretation strategies and expand other existing interpretation plans. For example, museum staff members are planning to produce large-type labels and a family guide and incorporate audio, she says. Other plans include dedicated spaces for reading and reflection and features like a sound cone so that visitors will “not only be surrounded by his photographs, but also hear his music and read his writings for a multisensory experience of his wide-ranging output,” Dittman says.

Additionally, an open-access digital community catalogue will allow members of the University and local arts communities to record their responses to the work. Through this project, and in partnership with Coalition of Museum and Art Centers venues, the museum will seek to establish new connections with area photographers and the Syracuse Black Artist Collective, Dittman says.