Monday, September 17, 2007

Jessica Lance

Dear Mr. Hoone, Ms. Cantor, Mr. Spina and Ms. Brzozowski,

I am writing to express my support for the Director of the Warehouse Gallery, Astria Suparak. Her work within the art community in the city of Syracuse and of Syracuse University has been beneficial and significant. Astria is a passionate, responsible individual with complete dedication to her work. Please reconsider her absence from the Warehouse Gallery.

Expansion of the arts has been an important part of Syracuse University's reach to the community, and the exhibitions at the Warehouse Gallery. Thanks to Astria's hard work, it is the perfect connection between downtown and the university. The shows directed by Astria have been relevant to current events surrounding Syracuse. For example, the show "Embracing Winter" fell in the middle of February, when the community of Syracuse can connect best with the art work. Also, the current show "COME ON: Desire Under the Female Gaze", which featured a video about the rock band Poison, overlapped with the New York State Fair where Poison put on a live concert. It is precisely this care and awareness of relevance both in the city and in contemporary art.

Please re-evaluate the actions taken against Astria Suparak, because she is an essential part of this community.

Thank you for your time,

Jessica Lance
MFA Department of Transmedia
Syracuse Experimental Film and Media Workshop

Posted by Whats this? at 2:18 PM

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BACKGROUND

Syracuse has lost one its greatest assets. Astria Suparak, Inaugural Director of The Warehouse Gallery of Syracuse University, was removed from her position as of Sept. 30th, 2007, despite widespread support from community members, students, faculty, and the international art community. This decision was made unilaterally by Jeffrey Hoone, Executive Director of the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers (CMAC).

At the time of Suparak's dismissal, Hoone also canceled her forthcoming exhibitions, including "Keep It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with The Yes Men," due to open in November 2007.