FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2008 Museum Director/Community Artist Jerry Beck to Speak, Create in Syracuse photo by Bob Pare

Who: artist/curator Jerry Beck of the Revolving Museum in Lowell, MA
Where: ComArt (Comstock Art Facility, on Comstock Ave. next to Manley Field House)
When: Thursday, April 24, 7:00 pm
What: Beck will talk about his life as a community artist and the founder of the Revolving Museum in Lowell, MA.
Cost: Free

If you think a museum is a stuffy building with paintings by dead people, Jerry Beck has news for you.

Artist Beck will discuss his work as the founder of the Revolving Museum, now in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an evolving laboratory of creative expression for people of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities. He’ll speak at ComArt, on the S.U. campus near Manley Field House, Thursday, April 24 at 7 pm.

The Revolving Museum began in 1984 with “The Little Train That Could... Show,” a public art installation in 12 abandoned railroad cars. The museum is dedicated to transforming abandoned and under-utilized public spaces into innovative public arts projects that create a sense of community celebration and personal empowerment.

Groundbreaking youth programs at The Revolving Museum annually reach thousands of young people, who discover how art can inspire personal and community pride, influence their academic achievement, and develop skills for leading productive, healthy and creative lives. The enthusiastic support of the Lowell community has fostered the rapid growth of the museum’s programming.

He’ll also be working with S.U. School of Visual and Performing Arts professor Olivia Robinson’s students in their fiber studios on Friday. They’ve collaborated with the Revolving Museum on its current exhibition, “Toys and Games: More Than Amusement,” for which they created a society of dolls that playfully explore the complex and often conflicting nature of identity.

Beck’s talk is free and open to the public. It is presented by Imagining America, Partners for Arts Education, and the VPA Departments of Fiber Arts and Sculpture as part of The Hyphenated Artist Series, with support from the Syracuse campus-community Entrepreneurship Initiative, funded by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, MO, focusing on entrepreneurship in the arts, technology, and our neighborhoods.. You can get more information by phoning Partners for Arts Education at 234-9911, or on their website, www.arts4ed.org.

The series offers a slate of public presentations, seminars, and workshops by a variety of community-focused artists to explore the transfer and enhancement of arts and cultural skills to maximize ways of making a livelihood in the arts in central New York. The series also helps convene partner populations including colleges, community service organizations, arts and cultural citizens, education, economic advocacy consortia, and resource providers to pool knowledge.

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Partners for Arts Education inspires learning and leadership for arts in education in Central New York and throughout New York State. We provide funding and support to deepen and enrich educational experiences in and through the arts for students, teachers and artists.

Partners for Arts Education
Delavan Center Suite 221  501 W. Fayette St.  Syracuse, NY  13202
315.234.9911  info@arts4ed.org  www.arts4ed.org

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