Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse

The Everson Museum of Art, located in downtown Syracuse, is a landmark institution dedicated exclusively to American art. Founded in 1897 by art historian George Fisk Comfort, the museum originally operated as the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts. By 1911, it had adopted a clear mission to focus solely on American works. Over the decades, the museum expanded its holdings and moved through several locations before establishing a permanent home thanks to a $1 million gift from philanthropist Helen Everson.

That home opened in 1968, is itself a piece of art: a striking concrete structure designed by the renowned architect I. M. Pei. With its bold geometric forms and cantilevered square galleries, the building was conceived as a sculptural object in dialogue with the city around it. Today, the museum extends this vision through collaborations with Light Work and the Urban Video Project, transforming its façade into a canvas for video art by artists such as Bill Viola and Jenny Holzer.

Inside, the Everson houses approximately 11,000 objects, ranging from paintings and sculptures to ceramics and video art. Its ceramics collection is particularly distinguished, including over 100 works by Adelaide Alsop Robineau, among them the intricately carved Scarab Vase. The museum’s legacy in ceramics was shaped by its influential Ceramic National exhibitions, which ran for four decades and helped build one of the most important ceramic collections in the U.S.

In addition to its ceramics, the museum’s holdings include works by Edward Hicks, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, and Nam June Paik. Its video art collection is one of the oldest and largest in the world, and its furniture collection showcases pieces from the Arts and Crafts Movement, notably by Gustav Stickley. Visitors to the Everson encounter not just a collection of American art, but a living, evolving cultural space that blends historic significance with modern creativity.