Summer art, poetry exhibition to focus on shared responsibility for Lake Ontario

SUNY Oswego students -- about 60 of them -- from art, creative writing and music have created works for an Oswego State Downtown exhibition this summer that speaks to everyone's responsibility to steward the vast but threatened asset that is Lake Ontario.

Part of the college's two-year Grand Challenges Project: Fresh Water for All, the "We Are Lake Ontario" exhibition will present visual and poetic work representative of the local importance of a years' worth of cross-disciplinary campus and community energy around solutions for water issues here and across the globe.

The exhibition will open May 23 and run through Sept. 6 at the downtown branch of Tyler Art Gallery and the College Store, corner of West First and Bridge streets.

"Students from art, creative writing and music have created work that speaks to our responsibility as stewards of Lake Ontario -- our unique geography and the role we play in preserving and improving this fresh water supply," said Amy Bartell, SUNY Oswego's coordinator of community exhibitions and an instructor in graphic design and illustration. "Ours is a local challenge with a global impact."

Bartell said the exhibition will connect themes of sustainability, beauty, migration and personal responsibility through illustrations, poetry and graphic design, including a promotional poster by Pragya Pahari, finishing her junior year as a graphic design major in the BFA program.

This exhibition is actually a renewal of last summer's "We Are Lake Ontario" multiple-media display at Oswego State downtown, which served as a preview and kickoff to engage community stakeholders and the SUNY Oswego community in the Grand Challenge.

Hours for Oswego State Downtown are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. For more information, contact Bartell at amy.bartell@oswego.edu.

Visit www.oswego.edu/grand-challenges for more information on SUNY Oswego's Grand Challenges Project: Fresh Water for All, which runs through spring 2020.