Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards

Joe and Emily Lowe Galleries

January 20-May 9, 2026

This landmark exhibition marks the 20th anniversary of the Wynn Newhouse Award, a pioneering initiative that has recognized and elevated artists of excellence who happen to live with disabilities. Established in 2006 by Wynn Newhouse, the award has championed bold, boundary-defying voices in contemporary art—highlighting practices that are as varied in form as they are unified in vision: a vision of art as a space where representation, identity, and access are not peripheral concerns, but central to the discourse.

At the heart of the exhibition is a curatorial inquiry: How do artists with disabilities navigate the art world—and the world at large—on their terms? And how does that navigation inform their work, influence its reception, and expand the field of cultural production? The goal is not to position disability as a central or singular theme, but to acknowledge it as one of many intersecting conditions—of body, mind, culture, history—that inform artistic practice. In doing so, this exhibition prompts us to reconsider who gets seen, whose experiences shape the canon, and how institutions can create more equitable conditions for artistic participation and recognition.

Exhibiting artists include Beverly Baker, Derrick Alexis Coard, Courttney Cooper, Joseph Grigley, Em Kettner, Reverend Joyce McDonald, William Scott, Kambel Smith, Katz Tepper, Melvin Way, and Peter Williams.

The exhibition is curated by Daniel Fuller G’04 (Museum Studies, College of Visual and Performing Arts).

Generous support for this exhibition and related programs is provided by the Joe and Emily Lowe Fund, Louise B. and Bernard G. Palitz Fund; the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, and the Center on Disability and Inclusion in the School of Education. 

 

Photo of a Black man with his head wrapped in an American flag.

Afterimages: Legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment

James F. White Gallery

January 20-March 8, 2026

Afterimages examines the visual, social, and political legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery except as a punishment for a convicted crime. Curated by first-year graduate students of art history under the direction of Professor Sascha Scott, the exhibition highlights works in the SU Art Museum collection created by artists working in the United States from the nineteenth century to the present. 

 

Human/Environment: 4,000 Years of Art

August 26, 2025 - Ongoing
Luise and Morton Kaish Gallery and permanent collection galleries

Drawing on the museum’s extensive collection that encompasses almost 45,000 historic and contemporary artworks made around the globe, this exhibition explores how humans have interacted with and shaped the environment in which they live. Thematic sections focus on plants, home, population centers, and human figures.

Bhen Alan: Why Does My Adobo Taste Different?

August 26, 2025-May 9, 2026
Art Wall Project

The fifth iteration of the Art Wall Project features textiles made by the Filipino-American artist Bhen Alan. Through the creation of a monumental banig, or a traditional Filipino handwoven mat made from plant fibers, Alan grapples with the traumas of immigration and explores how diasporic communities work to recover a lost idea of home.

Abstract painting of featuring a Butterly above a field of grass.

Depicting the Everyday: A Legacy of Fine Arts Education at the Art Students League

Louise and Bernard Palitz Art Gallery
Lubin House, New York City
September 22, 2025 - February 9, 2026

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Arts Student League founded in the same year Syracuse University conferred the first Bachelors Degree in Painting, this exhibition explores the range of subject matters treated by artists who taught there throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. These artists honed their skills by turning to their everyday surroundings, depicting scenes they saw in the studio, making portraits of their friends and family, capturing the energy of the urban centers, and luxuriating in the tranquility of nature. In doing so, this installation highlights the enduring importance of both studying one’s environs and the role creativity and the fine arts play in education.

Bronze sulpture of a nude woman wiht her arm raised in the air with a archery bow, and a small dog at her feet

Public Art @ SU

Ongoing

Explore the public art that is installed on the Syracuse University grounds and buildings through our online collection or via this GoogleMap that will allow you to take a self-guided tour.