Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.132 | Trip to the Everson Museum!

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

Exploring the Everson Museum: A Unique Blend of Art, History, and Community In this special episode of Good News York, host Mike Brindisi visits the Everson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse. Joined by Elizabeth Dunbar, the museum's executive director, they explore the museum's rich history and unique attributes. The conversation highlights the museum's early commitment to American art, its extensive video art collection, and long-term dedication to ceramic arts. Elizabeth shares her background and journey in the art world, the museum's innovative exhibits like the basketball-themed 'Hoop Dreams,' and its inclusive community programs. The discussion also covers the museum's efforts to make art accessible and inviting to all, its functional ceramics in Louise Cafe, and the exciting future exhibitions incorporating new media like virtual reality. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:38 Unique History of the Everson Museum 02:21 Meet the Executive Director: Elizabeth Dunbar 03:39 Dynamic Museum Experiences 06:03 Louise Cafe: Art and Cuisine 07:58 Engaging the Community and Supporting Artists 12:03 Visitor Experience and Future Plans 15:58 Balancing Exhibitions: From Emerging to Established Artists 16:59 The Everson's Pioneering Video Art Collection 18:07 Selection Process for Exhibitions 19:08 Community and Diversity in Exhibitions 19:53 Permanent vs. Rotating Exhibitions 20:59 Unique Exhibitions and Skateboarding Culture 23:01 Museum Attire and Accessibility 23:39 The Deaccession of a Jackson Pollock Painting 25:37 Museum Collaborations and Acquisitions 28:20 Memorable Exhibitions and Performance Art 30:30 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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to hear about river cruising and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials. Good evening, afternoon, morning, whatever it is. Welcome to Good News York. No, this isn't Matt, clearly. A way better version of Matt, if it was. I am Mike Brindisi here on this special episode of Good News York,

where we are at the Everson, Iverson Museum of Art in downtown Syracuse, and I am joined by the executive director of the Iverson Museum of Art, Elizabeth Dunbar. Hello. Hello. Well, thank you for doing this, first of all. Absolutely. We're so excited to be here because this is, you hear the word museum, and you kind of get a vision in your mind of what it looks like, whether that's the Louvre or whatever museum, pick a museum. But this museum, and it's very well documented, that it is, it's very original and it's very unique in a lot of ways. Correct.

And I want to talk about that first because in 1911, Everson declared it would collect only American art. It was the first museum to do that. Correct. And the second decision that was made was to hold one of the, this is great, one of the largest video art collections in the world.

And as well as you wanted to set the course for the museum's long-term commitment to the ceramic arts in 1916. How did all of that come about? I know it was kind of spaced out, but what made, what kind of forced those decisions? Well, the Everson, and in those years, we were known as the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts. So our history dates back all the way to 1897. But back in 1911, when we declared that we would collect American art,

European art was the standard at those times. You would go to Paris or Berlin or across the ocean to be able to go see, you know, really the best, most relevant art. And museums here in the United States were collecting European art because they thought that was the best. In 1911, the Everson said, hey, why aren't we collecting the work by people living in this country? It's just as good as some of those European artists.

So there you have it. That's how that started. I love that. I love that. And before we get more into the museum, I want to talk a little bit about, you know, you. Because, you know, you think about it, you're the executive director. You know, when you're coming up and you're thinking, you know, some people might say, I think I want to be the director and CEO of the Everson Museum. I wouldn't even know the first thing on what direction you would go

to get here. When did you become interested in, in this line of work or as a career, and tell us a little bit about your background? Sure. Well, I've always been one of those kids who loved art. I love to draw, like to make things, and that's something that we try to cultivate here at the museum with all of our art programs. I knew I was never going to become the world's greatest artist, but I loved art history. And so my background is as an art historian, and I have degrees of museum studies, and I started working at my college, my university art museum, back in the old days and it led me here. Can you work in or for a museum and not have any artistic skills? Of course. Okay, good. There's hope for me. There's hope for me. I can draw stick figures.

That's about it. But it's not just about drawing, right? When we think of museums, a lot of times we picture paintings on the wall, and there's a lot of that. But museum as a living room is kind of a prompt that I'm thinking of. And you often talk about the museum is not as a static space, but more like dynamic, where everyday people like us kind of feel invited. Can you describe a moment? Like, did someone ever like walk in and expect to see that art on the wall like I was talking about? And then they realized, wow, this was even better than that and like caught off guard? Yeah, I hope that happens a lot of times, actually.

I think there are a few memorable occasions in the last I've been here now 11 years. So I think one of people talk about this one a lot is, of course, you walk around the museum and you will see art on the walls, but we try to defy your expectations every now and then. And we had an exhibition about three years ago called Hoop Dreams, and it was about basketball. And they were contemporary artists using basketball as a theme, as a subject matter. It's a great basketball town. Exactly. So we tried to tap into that underlying, you know, sports fanaticism here in Syracuse. And we transformed working with an artist who came with a creative vision.

We transformed one of our galleries into basically a basketball court with 30 basketball hoops and nets attached to the wall at different heights. And you could come in and shoot some hoops. So it was a very, very exciting, fun exhibition. Talked about what basketball means in our culture, but also gave people a place to play, have fun, learn at the same time. That's awesome.

Now, is that exhibition still set up? No, no, that was a few years ago. That's good, because I would have wanted to try, and not only can I not draw, I'm a horrendous basketball player. That works out. We don't wait. We had some really low, low,

hoops. Okay. You might have done okay. She already knows that I'm five, six, and it's flaringly obvious. I would need it lowered. So you have so much to offer here in the way of art and exhibits, exhibitions like that. You also have the Luis Cafe, and it's become a huge part of the experience. How did the idea come about to involve cuisine in an art museum? And is that something that other museums do or is this kind of like your own innovative thing? Well, we took a traditional model and amped it up, I would say. Just like we do exhibitions that are kind of unexpected. Louise is an unexpected museum cafe. The Everson is known for its ceramics collection. However, you're not allowed to touch our ceramics collection. Like most things in the museum you can't touch. However, for Louise,

we worked with a collector who collects ceramic art that is functional. So pots and cups and plates and bowls and all of those things, teacups and coffee pots and all of those kinds of things. And we use those in the cafe. They're all one of a kind, handmade, artist-made works of art that you use when you have cuisine. But you don't mean like you're going to walk up to an exhibit and say, I'm just going to borrow this bowl here. Not quite. These are specifically for use for the cafe, but, you know, we have some very well-known artists whose work is represented in the Louise collection.

And you never know. You might order a cappuccino and be drinking from a $500 cup. Ooh, that's fancy. It is fancy, but it's fun. And we want you to experience what it's like to live with art. And that's one of the ways that all of us can live with art. Yeah. And speaking of living with art, art is conversation and not lecture.

You've spoken about demystifying art. You know, what are some of the ways that the Everson museums, you know, kind of helped visitors feel more comfortable engaging with the exhibitions or talking about us? Yeah, yeah. Well, like our basketball show, I think, is a great example. where you can, you know, hold the art. I think also we have docents here, which give tours of our collections and our exhibitions.

And we have a million different programs going on throughout the year, from art workshops to we're having high tea over in Louise coming up. Okay. So you can learn about all different cultures and through our free, family days and community days, come in and talk with artists, go through the exhibitions with our educators, you know, really be able to learn all kinds of different things about the museum. That's wonderful.

Because someone like me, you can feel out of place. Like, I don't belong in a museum, especially around ceramics. I'll break everything. So that's important that you have that welcoming kind of attitude. Yeah, absolutely. We want this to be a place where everybody feels welcome. that you are represented. We have a very diverse community,

so you can see yourselves and the artworks in our collection and on the walls. But also, we wanna give you the tools to help you understand, but art isn't always about understanding. It's about just experiencing and seeing what you think about it. I love that.

And you were talking about events and something for everybody. You guys are very, incredibly family-friendly, And you have the upcoming 315 mom art contest, which is a great example. But you also do a lot for supporting local and emerging voices. So you have the CNY Artist Initiative, the teaching artist cohort. Can you talk about all of that? Sure, sure.

Well, we're very much engaged in, you know, helping people find their creative spirit and working with artists of all ages and from all backgrounds. We firmly believe that we show, we should show a vast variety of art here at the museum. And in some cases, we show very well-known artists who have extensive resumes and have shown around the world, but we also love to see the up-and-coming artists. And we have a program called the CNY Artist's Initiative,

which focuses on artists here, within a 90 mile radius. Thank you. Gotcha, I got you. Got me, thank you. And we've shown about 20 artists in that series, solo exhibitions. So, and some of those artists have gone on

to do really great things here in the community and are showing outside the community as well. So it's a great way to launch some careers. Yeah, and we also have our teen arts council, which we have 20, teens in high school from around the central New York region who are participating in our program. And they not only help, you know, make things happen here at the museum, but they're developing their portfolios.

They're learning about museum careers, other careers in the arts, and, you know, really building bridges with the community and with various schools. I think that's absolutely amazing because you would have to be able to. would think a place as physically large as this, but also with such rich history. And, you know, it can be very intimidating for a local artist to think, man, I could never, you know, get there. And the fact that you kind of bring them in and offer that is, I just, I love that so much, your connection to the community. Yeah, well, we see all artists as artists on the rise.

I love it. I love that. So a visitor's first time here. Yes. Which would be for me right now. Take me through it. What? What can a visitor expect on their first time, and what do you hope they kind of take away from that experience? Well, I think coming in, you're going to be amazed by this incredible building, which was opened in 1968, and was designed by I.M.P. Who, coincidentally, was also the architect who did the pierwood

at the Louvre. You mentioned the Louvre. So, you know, the big glass pyramid out front. Yes. He designed that as well. after he designed this and our staircase, which I don't know if you can get a photo of that. We are going to definitely get a photo. Our central spiral staircase really was the prototype for the Louvre in Paris.

That's amazing. Yeah. So you're sitting in an architectural wonder right now. So I hope people will walk in the building and be inspired just by your surroundings because this is a historic building. There's nothing like it out there in the world. And then I hope you'll take advantage of usually we've got five to six different exhibitions on view at any given time and it changes every few months. So, you know, I hope experiencing the museum coming for the art, going to Louise, staying for the food, and then coming back.

We want you to feel at home here, experience things that you've never experienced and know that it's ever changing. So you can't just come once. You've got to keep coming back. And this really is a very unique space. I don't know what else it could be other than a museum. It's just it's a work of art, and I do mean that. I'm curious, you know, looking ahead, you know, you've led a lot of transformative changes, and Everson has been pioneer in changing things up over the years.

Life is changing. Society is changing, especially with the digital age, right? And so things have changed for retail stores and things of that nature. People are staying inside more. What have you noticed socially, culturally, within the art world? Have you seen a shift? Do you see people coming out less? And do you have a plan to pivot with that?

Or has it all been the same? Yeah. It's, I think, for some people coming to a museum is a special occasion. and we have tried to here at the museum, you know, acknowledging what you're saying that people are staying inside, more people are working from home, and they're missing that social connection. And here at the museum, we've tried to put together programs

beyond just our exhibitions, which engage people, bring you in so you have a way to connect with other people. I think art is one of those things where everyone can come together have a different experience, maybe look at the work differently, but have it as a shared experience. In addition to that, we do lots of programs, art making programs, paint and pours, you know, different kinds of classes, activities. We're hosting, as I said, the high tea coming up. We hope to do some dancing and other exciting cultural. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting.

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comprehensiveness of the program prepared me so well for medical school. Explore over 350 plus programs at ASUonline.asu.org. Activities and arts, performance arts. We have an auditorium downstairs that seats 300 people. So we keep that going all the time, films, lectures, all kinds of ways to connect with other people. How are you embracing, because you guys do such a great job of balancing the culture of central New York and Syracuse, but also, you know, you're positioning yourself within the global. conversation as well. So how do you balance that? Well, as I said, you know, our

exhibitions kind of run the gamut. So right now, for example, you'll go upstairs and you can see an exhibition by an artist who's in our 80s who's very well established. At the same time, we have very young emerging artists showing. So we have 30-year-old artists showing down the hallway who bring a very different perspective to the work. So So we want to make sure that, you know, everyone is represented in a different way. And I'm a firm believer that, you know, we have a mix of exhibitions and programs because you might come in to see one particular exhibition and not think that you're going to like something

around the corner or downstairs. And then you might be surprised by what you encounter and kind of opens your mind. That's beautiful. A few more questions. I want to be mindful of your time, but there's just so much to talk about. The Everson, a very unique place. We talked about at the beginning of this interview, you know, the world's largest, you know, ceramic collection,

but also the world's largest video art collection. Tell me a little bit about that. What does that mean exactly? Sure. So in the 1970s, the Everson was truly a pioneer in the field of in the 1970s when video really started. as a medium itself. It wasn't being used for art

until that period of time. But we started collecting video art, which, you know, new media art, as we now call it these days, because it's kind of transcended just purely video. We even have VR in our collection now. And one exhibition on Vee right now

uses virtual reality, and we have another one coming up in January that will be utilizing virtual reality. So we really were on the forefront those days and continue to invest in technology and and bring it here to the museum. That's amazing. Now, tell me a little bit about this, I guess, for lack of the better term, the selection process. So I don't know if that's a silly question to ask. I'm not part of this culture, unfortunately.

So I've always wondered, do artists come directly to the museum and say, this is how I would like to submit this? I would like to submit that. How does all that work? It depends. We have lots of different types of exhibitions here. Our main program usually is by invitation and we spend myself and we have a curatorial team. We have a curatorial of ceramics, we have a curatorial assistant, and we have a director of curatorial affairs, who are all experts in different areas of art, so they know what they're looking for. But in other cases, like our CNY Artists Initiative,

artists submit work. You know, we do a call for entries once a year, and we look at their work and decide who gets selected. So those are more juries-type exhibitions. And then, in a very jury type exhibitions, And then in addition to that, we do a number of community exhibitions here at the museum. So we work with Scholastics with school kids, the Silver Key winners all show their work here. We work with the organization Arise, which serves people with disabilities.

And we have their annual unique exhibition here. We work with CNY Arts to do on my own time every year. So there are all different ways of getting your work shown here at the museum. You know, you guys preach about your diversity, your inclusion, and you, but you really back it up. You mean, you really do welcome people from all walks of life cultures and I love that. Explain to me what goes into the decision on, you know, we're going to keep an exhibition permanently or, you know, we're going to rotate it. How does, how does that work logistically? Well, we have limited amount of square footage.

So it's important to us that we keep it fresh and exciting. Sure. So there's always something due to seeing when you come. But in addition to that, we have a permanent, what we call a permanent collection, which is a collection of artworks that we continue to acquire every year. And we keep a selection of those on view for an extended period of time. It might get refreshed every now and then. But we have some perennial favorites that we,

I like to put up so when you want to come see George Washington by Gilbert Stewart, that's usually on view. It's not up right now, but it will be again soon. But yeah, we have some things that will always be on view. And then, of course, we have some pieces outside, some permanent outdoor sculpture, including, and this might be known to your audience or may not be known. the Everson Plaza right behind us is a mecca for skateboarding.

Hey. And has been for decades. And in fact, we did a skateboarding exhibition this past summer to honor that history. And we also commissioned a sculpture by the artist Gons, Mark Gonzalez, very well known in the skateboarding world. And we have an outdoor sculpture that's skatable in the plaza. So this, you know, I was saying on the way over, sometimes you, again, when you're not part of the museum culture, you feel out of place. You go, I'm going to walk in there. I'm going to break a ceramic rabbit. You know, they're going to be very uptight. And you guys are the opposite of that. You're not uptight.

I mean, you have an exhibition for basketball. You can skate on an exhibition. This is exactly what I meant when I said. The Everson Museum is so unique. I got to ask, before we go, first of all, any plugs? Plug, you know, the website where you can get tickets. Any air, answer, exhibitions coming up that you want to sign. So go to our website, everson.org. The museum is up through the holidays. A great place to bring friends and family when you have visitors from out of town for the holidays.

Coming up, we've got lots of things. So check out our website. But honestly, we will be opening a new exhibition on January 29th, Federico Solmi, the animation videos and painting and VR. He works with gaming technology, so it's really interesting and combines it with painting, so there's kind of something for everyone in that one. But lots of things coming up with, it changes, you know, week by week, there's something new to do. So please check out our website.

Absolutely. I have to ask, so when we were coming here, and I was getting dressed this morning, I went, what is proper museum attire? For some reason, and you can be honest, I thought, hey, this shirt says, hey, Mike, you're going to a museum. You're going to check some stuff up. You can be honest, is this proper museum attire? Is there a museum attire? There is no such thing as museum attire.

So you can come in. Anything goes. Sweatpants. I mean, we had skateboarders. here all sober long. Literally skating right outside on your... And inside. We had a skateboard ramp. We had a half pipe in the gallery. So anything goes. It's amazing. So, Elizabeth, I was going through the website, you know, a couple days ago before we were coming, checking everything out. And one thing that caught my eye, and I'm literally asking you,

I do not know the answer to this, there was in 2020 the de-excession of a Jackson Pollock painting. Yes. Which sounds dirty. It sounds... Like, mystify. I didn't know if I was supposed to be reading this. What exactly does that mean? And tell me about, you know, the process. What we didn't?

Sure. So in 2020, we made the decision to de-accession, which means to remove from our collection and sell a painting by Jackson Pollock. And Jackson Pollock, for those out there who know something about art, probably know the name Jack. Oh, yeah. The guy that just threw paint everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yes. He gave me hope that I could do something. So yes, we have two works by Jackson Pollock in the collection and we decided to sell one painting enabled in order for us to be able to purchase other work. The work was very expensive. It was quite small. It was about this big. And it sold for $12 million.

It's just a bunch of money. Most people didn't even know we had the Jackson Pollock. It went on to you every so often. it wasn't a particularly special Jackson Pollock. Other Jackson Pollock's are, you know, in the wide world of Jackson Pollock paintings, this one was modest. And you can go down to Utica and see one of the greatest Jackson Pollock paintings ever made at the Munson. Yes. So we felt that it would be good for us to sell the painting and use the proceeds to purchase other art.

for our collection and we have used it to do so. So it was more of a reinvestment. It wasn't, I didn't know if something was wrong with it. No, no, no. Got to get it out of here. No, no, no. That makes me wonder, and I meant to ask this earlier, which is, do you kind of work, do you have rival museums,

or do museums work hand in hand and like kind of sell and trade together? And also, the third part of that question, I guess, is how do you, like, I'm sure everybody wants, you know, the Munson got the, the Jackson Pollock, how does everybody get their hands on that? You know what I mean? If everybody's going for it. Well, they acquired that Jackson Pollock right after it was made.

So you would have to go back in time into the 1950s to acquire it. So we try to do the same thing now in selling our Jackson Pollock allows us to have some funds available. So we can buy work by emerging artists. I mean, Jackson Pollock wasn't necessarily a household name back then when the Munson acquired that painting. So we're trying to do the same thing now by purchasing work by younger mid-career artists and bringing it into our collection, hoping that they some, at some point in time, become kind of the same echelon as Jackson Palmer. So there's no museum wars like in Anchorage, the news wars. You're like, you know what, they can have the Jackson Pollock.

We're happy for you. It would be a pretty funny battle between museum directors. Museum battles, I'd film that in a heartbeat. Last question real quick. The authentication process. So you're talking about Jackson Pollock paintings. Clearly there has to be some authenticity involved in this. Is there a person?

Is there a board? And what is the process when you go through that? Because I'm sure that's one of the main things. Yeah, I mean, we had very clear provenance, which is the history of the painting to me. that it came from his gallerest when it was purchased several times back from when we acquired it. So we do that ours was definitely authentic.

And it was in the catalog Raisin A, which is kind of the, if you would, it's kind of the artist's Bible in terms of everything they've ever made in their career. So it was in that. So we knew that was definitely authentic. But in terms of authentication, it really depends on the artist and what you're talking about. If we had a Rembrandt or somebody wanted to sell us a Rembrandt,

well, we only collect American art. But if we had an aunt, someone wanted to sell us an Andy Warhol, and for us to know if that really was a true Andy Warhol, we would contact the Andy Warhol Foundation. So it really depends on the artist. There's a lot of people involved in the project. Yeah, yeah. So did you, have you ever had a favorite exhibition that you hated to see go,

Or maybe that's still here. Is that even possible? I mean, there's so much. There's one that just, you just kept walking by and you're like, God, I love this thing. I had one kind of favorite exhibition from many years ago, I think it was 2015 or 16, called Three Graces. And one of the artists in that exhibition transformed this space, this, what we call the sculpture court, by hanging pink. construction tape, I guess, is what you would call it, the ribbon, the pink ribbon.

And it all hung from the ceiling just above your heads. And so when you walked through the space, the pink... It was immersive. And all the pink ribbon would kind of flutter in the space, but it really drew attention to this volume of space that we're sitting in. It was a little bit whimsical with the pink, but it also picked up the pink in our granite walls here.

That's amazing. So it was a very simple gesture, but something that really transformed your perception of the space. Have you ever had, I see on social media, I see sometimes there's live art exhibitions. Have you ever had that where someone's like posing or have you done anything like that?

I haven't done anything quite like that, but we do performance art here in the museum. Auditori. So, yeah, and sometimes out here in the spaces. We've had, you know, performances in this space where we've had people climbing up the side of the building or repelling down the side of the building. We've had people up here on the spiral staircase performing, you know, they're harnessed up to the top, but wandering down the staircase and singing. So I could just show up and... You never know. You never know what you could say, hey, I want to drive a unicycle around the lobby because it's art.

I mean, well, you know, it's sanctioned. Okay, okay. You can't just show up with your unicycle. All right, fun. Well, thank you so much for your time. Elizabeth Dunbar, director, CEO of the Everson Museum of Art, downtown Syracuse. Please check it out. As you can see, she's wonderful.

This place is wonderful. And it's not your boring old buttoned up. I'm going to walk around and look at oil paintings. There is so much to see here. So with that, another episode of Good News York sponsored by ads on the go. Follow us, like, subscribe at Good News York. Follow me on socials at Mike BTV. And we'll see you tomorrow.

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It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises L'Ik Bally, to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been sailing there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection with the local communities. Local connections make exploring France easy. Tune in to the Travels with Darley podcast on IHeart and wherever you listen to podcasts to hear about river cruising and Unuworld's 50th anniversary summer specials.