art

A simple material pulled from the earth -- clay. That’s what it’s all about at Clayscapes. Some galleries focus on paintings, others on sculptures. But at Clayscapes Pottery, the theme of the work centers around using your hands to mold, shape, and create a piece of art. Don’t be frightened by its warehouse-like look, or its off-the-beaten-path location. Clayscapes is a gallery for anyone who appreciates great works, created from raw, native materials.

What began as hobby for Dr. Alejandro Garcia has become an entire gallery full of vibrant photography and Mexican folk art.

Garcia, professor of social work at Syracuse University, has collected Mexican masks, clothing and pottery for the past 40 years. As a child growing up in Texas, he was told that Mexicans lacked culture. Garcia knew that this couldn’t be true. In his youth he made his first trip to Mexico, where he bought his first piece of art while serving in the military.

For 40 years, Fred Fisher put his brush to anything with a flat surface -- canvas, sheetrock, glass and pieces of plywood. He worked constantly, painting for more than 20 hours a day, often through most of the night.

Fisher, a retired WWII veteran, lived in Camillus, N.Y., where most of his paintings were kept unseen by the public until his death in 2008. Though he dedicated countless hours to his craft Fisher rarely sold his art, accumulating about a thousand works that are now in the care of a local gallery.

You’d be hard-pressed to find an art house film buff who thinks Syracuse is a haven for alternative cinema.

There are the three area Regal Cinemas (all located in malls) that offer the general public the top studio releases of the month in less-than-regal atmospheres. Those seeking an alternative to the generic multiplex have to venture 30 minutes by car from Syracuse University's campus to the Manlius Art Cinema, which screens films of a more independent variety in a decrepit environment resembling a grimy tunnel.