Sure, we’ve got Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Orangemen basketball and a mutual dislike for Villanova. But fear not, more positive Syracuse magic came out of days just passed, in the form of art. Nothing brings people together, fosters community, and brings out the beauty and potential of a space better than shared art.

The third show, which featured items Huff has collected over the year to show the continuing stereotyping of Native Americans and the culture, closed Dec. 18 at ArtRage Gallery. That’s unfortunate for viewers of the open exhibits because it would have both put those shows into better context and provided an understanding of who Huff is.

There was a slew of other solo exhibitions around town. The Everson Museum of Art.

There is a point while perusing Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock’n’Roll Photographs, selected by Graham Nash, at Rochester’s George Eastman House, that you realize there are too many photos of, well, Graham Nash. And Neil Young. And Bob Dylan. And nary a photo of some pretty important rock’n’rollers, chief among them Eric Clapton, Green Day and Patti Smith.

The Edgewood exhibit liberally samples Abend’s sculptures, presenting works ranging from a piece which depicts a male-female duo and references Adam and Eve to “Spinoff,” whose elements—steel, wood and copper—play off each other.

Area art galleries display the familiar and comfortable, with a few exceptions

The 2010 fall art season is very much a wide-open affair. It includes retrospectives, group shows organized around a theme, and exhibitions focusing on birds, furniture and Americana, to name just a few subjects.

The Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison St.; 474-6064) has two exhibits already under way: Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller and Designed to Scale. The first show blends a display of chairs, sofas and other items made by Herman Miller, a furniture company, with photos, storyboards and narrative concerning the company’s chief designers. The exhibition’s focus extends well beyond the items themselves; it interprets the design process and touches on the impact of furniture on a work environment.

Four for fighting: Photographed by Laura Heyman after the Haitian earthquake were: Blondine Herard, Polycarpe Racine, Mariot Herard and Daschmine Herard. This photo is from Pa Bouje Anko, on display at Light Work Gallery.

The new Edgewood Gallery show hosts diverse works from a local trio of artists

Leaves of pizazz: Anna Soltyk’s “Memories” was partially rendered with leaves found outside her home.

The current exhibit at the Edgewood Gallery, 216 Tecumseh Road, features work by three artists who have shown their pieces at various local galleries. And yet the show, titled Horizons, isn’t organized with a retrospective perspective. It not only draws on past work but also emphasizes current trends in artworks created by Anna Soltyk, Wendy Harris and Phil Austin. 

Utica’s Munson-Williams Proctor keeps it fresh with its annual exhibit of local artists’ work

Sometimes macabre, often whimsical, but always stimulating, The 62nd Exhibition of Central New York Artists at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art in Utica is anything but predictable. Mary Murray, curator of modern and contemporary art, says the latest exhibition is quite eclectic. And that is an understatement.

Empire states: Among the locally created artwork on display at Utica’s Munson- Williams-Proctor Arts Institute are “Entwined,” (above) an oil linen by Madeline Silber, and “Territories,” a digital video by Yvonne Buchanan.

Purple haze: Tim Scott’s “Wine” brightens up a dreary late winter with its shades of purple.

Mug shots from the past recall the battle for America�s civil rights