SYRACUSE, NY.- The Syracuse University Art Museum has acquired nearly 100 works of art in 2025, significantly expanding contemporary perspectives in its permanent collection while strengthening its holdings in works on paper, which includes more than 22,000 objects spanning printmaking, photography, and drawing, as well as ceramics. The acquisitions reflect the museum’s ongoing commitments to centering diverse contemporary voices and deepening areas of collection strength.

New works expand the museum’s holdings in ceramics, particularly South American Indigenous ceramics with Julia Isídrez’s ceramic sculpture of Guarani mythical creature, “Teju Jagua”. The acquisitions also introduce new materials and media, including a painting made by pouring acrylic mixed with polymers, “Contrapuntal” by Jill Nathanson, while adding critical contemporary works that address subjects central to the teaching and research mission of the university such as ecology and identity.

These recent acquisitions were made possible through a combination of generous gifts from artists, collectors, galleries, and alumni. This includes Jill Nathanson and the Berry Campbell Gallery, advisory board member Leslie Tonkonow G’77 and her husband, art critic and curator Klaus Ottmann, advisory board member James Little G’76, the Christian Keesee Collection and Eric ‘05 and Holly Gleason. Strategic purchases were identified by curator Melissa Yuen.

“These works allow us to forge critical interdisciplinary connections across our many audiences that range from the Syracuse University campus to the Central New York region. From materials science and engineering to questions of identity and social justice, these acquisitions create opportunities for conversations that extend far beyond the gallery walls,” says Melissa Yuen. “I am grateful for everyone who made these gifts possible, and I’m energized by the capacity that these works bring to the museum to catalyze interdisciplinary dialogue”.

Highlights from 2025’s acquisitions:

Tomoko Sawada, “Early Days 32”

A representation of Japanese photographer Sawada’s early work, this unsettling self-portrait features Sawada’s face painted with clock numerals, exploring themes of self-identity and the transition to adulthood. The tightly cropped image deliberately denies viewers full access, making the act of withholding part of her self-presentation.

Brett Weston, “Scrub”

"Scrub," by acclaimed twentieth-century photographer Brett Weston, son of modernist photographer Edward Weston, exemplifies the artist's distinctive focus on Western landscapes and natural forms. The 50 prints from the Christian Keesee Collection were selected by the Brett Weston Archives to deepen the museum's commitment to environmental and ecological themes. These quintessential examples of modernist photography allow us to expand our exploration beyond photographic histories into broader interdisciplinary conversations.

James Little, “Ms. Kitt”

Syracuse University alumnus James Little donated four artist proofs for prints he created in support of the Art Students League of New York where he currently teaches. “"Ms. Kitt" references bògòlanfini or mudcloth, the handmade cotton fabric from Mali traditionally dyed with fermented mud, which Little notes uses "forms on dark ground" to create high contrast patterns that appear black but reveal "a rainbow of colors" upon closer inspection. The title honors the legacy of singer Eartha Kitt, whom Little met years ago at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

Julia Isídrez, “Teju Jagua”

This coil-built, pit-fired work depicts the seven-headed Guarani mythological creature and reflects a matrilineal ceramics tradition the artist learned from her mother. Isídrez is Paraguayan and of Indigenous Guarani heritage.

Pao Houa Her, “untitled (opium flower with pink fabric)”

Her’s photograph connects to the Hmong diaspora experience and her family history while exploring the complex history of the poppy plant. The work engages with the university’s broader interest in ecology and human relationships with the environment.

Robert Freeman, “Struggle – 3”

Freeman’s powerful painting responds to the murder of George Floyd as part of his larger “Struggle” series. In an artist statement, Freeman writes that “Artists and writers use pens and paints to express their personal shock, horror and indignation to announce: ‘This terror must end.’”

Hung Liu, “Women of Color (White Paper)”

Chinese American artist Hung Liu immigrated to the United States in 1984 to attend University of California – San Diego after living through the Cultural Revolution. This is one of Liu’s earliest prints published from Pyramid Atlantic and layers archival images of turn-of-the-century Chinese sex workers. Women of Color (White Paper)" blends autobiographic elements, including dimensional fortune cookies made from paper pulp, and rumination on the Chinese immigrant experience in the United States

Jill Nathanson, “Contrapuntal”

Nathanson’s abstract painting further strengthens the potential for interdisciplinary conversation at the museum regarding materiality and painting techniques. This luminous painting that explores the interaction of colors is created by pouring and manipulating acrylic that has been mixed with polymers. Nathanson also employs the use of theatrical lighting gels to plan the composition.