![\"Victor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5I23PFOSCRGBBLLY5O3NEYH6TE.jpg\")
Light Work Victor Rivera, exhibitions and collection manager at Light Work, holds ‘Chief Lewis Farmer, Eel Clan, Onondaga, 1991’ by Toba Pato Tucker. (Willson Cummer\/Willson Cummer) <\/p>\nLight Work Victor Rivera, exhibitions and collection manager at Light Work, holds ‘Chief Lewis Farmer, Eel Clan, Onondaga, 1991’ by Toba Pato Tucker. (Willson Cummer\/Willson Cummer) <\/p>\n
One way to see interesting artwork is to wait until it\u2019s on exhibit at a nearby museum. <\/p>\n
Another way, offered by many Central New York museums and art centers, is to view paintings, sculptures, photos and other work in storage. A visit is usually free, and you can request whatever items you like, using the museum\u2019s online catalog to find them.<\/p>\n
Light Work<\/a>, the Syracuse photography organization, welcomes visitors to view its collection of work by over 780 artists. Most of the photographs were donated by artists who were residents at Light Work, had an exhibition there or received a grant. <\/p>\n Victor Rivera is the exhibitions and collection manager. He said it\u2019s always a treat to see a photograph in person, rather than on a screen. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a better experience. You can see the motion of the person\u2019s hand, and you see that it\u2019s a unique object.\u201d (Photographers in a traditional darkroom often use their hands to control exposure, making some areas darker and other parts lighter). <\/p>\n Before a visit, it\u2019s best to find work through Light Work\u2019s online catalog and then contact Rivera. He can be reached at victor@lightwork.org<\/a>. Rivera said he can usually prepare work for a visitor within a week. <\/p>\n Rivera shared five black-and-white photographs on a recent morning. They were some of the results of an online search for silver gelatin prints from the 1980s and 1990s. Online, the images had been intriguing, but not high-resolution. In person they were striking and impressively detailed. <\/p>\n Observations immediately came to mind. In Laura Cano\u2019s picture of two migrant farm workers, the bright small plants in the field became endless lines of stars. (The role of the North Star in the flight from slavery comes to mind \u2014 but these stars are all the same, and seem to lead nowhere). <\/p>\n One woman extends her arm in a way that recalls The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo\u2019s fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, at the Vatican. Her companion looks away, seemingly checking her watch, and ignores the grand gesture. They are together but seem to live in different worlds. <\/p>\n Interpretations of artworks are deeply personal and not subject to \u201ccorrection.\u201d The power of artwork seen in person, rather than on a screen, makes those interpretations more enjoyable to create.<\/p>\n You tend to spend more time with artwork in person, which increases your understanding and visual pleasure. On a computer, you are tempted to glance at a picture for a moment and move on to 100 more. <\/p>\n When you\u2019ve driven to Light Work or another art center, parked, and are having another person carefully show you images, you naturally slow down.<\/p>\n The George Eastman Museum<\/a>, in Rochester, has collected over 400,000 photographs and negatives. A tiny fraction of those will ever be on the museum walls. The archives are lightly used \u2014 between 50 and 60 people visit annually, usually academics, museum professionals and artists. But anyone can see work there, said Stephanie Hofner, the collection manager for the department of photography. <\/p>\n The rewards are great, said Hofner. \u201cIt\u2019s being present with the object which this maker touched. You see things that you would not notice in a digital file.\u201d Hofner said she really enjoys being able to move pictures around on a table, to see how they are connected to one another.<\/p>\n Some of the artworks in the Eastman collection will be very familiar. There are about 250 Ansel Adams prints. But other artists have many more works in the collection: Edward Steichen, active in the early 20th century, is represented by over 10,000 finished prints, proof prints and negatives.<\/p>\n About 70% of the artwork held by the Eastman was donated. Roughly 30% was purchased.<\/p>\n To protect the photographs, visitors will wear the blue rubber gloves that hospital workers use. Hofner said people are welcome to lift up prints and examine the reverse, where the artist has often signed the print and made notations about printing exposure times and process. Hofner said she usually organizes 30 prints or fewer for each visitor. The best way to reach her about the archive is at photostudycenter@eastman.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Memorial Art Gallery<\/a>, also in Rochester, has a similar open policy. <\/p>\n Courtney DiMartino, senior registrar, said the MAG typically gets visitors who are researchers or students, but said anyone is welcome to see work in storage. The museum has an online collection search for its holdings of over 13,000 works of art \u2014 paintings, sculpture, drawings, photographs and other art. Once a visitor knows what they\u2019d like to see, they should call the museum at (585) 276-8900.<\/p>\n The Munson Museum of Art<\/a>, in Utica, provides public access to most works in storage, said Stephen Harrison, director and chief curator. This includes sculpture, paintings and other artwork. Harrison said that about 95% of the museum\u2019s collection of over 14,000 objects is online. Someone who wants to see work at the Munson should first search online and then email Michael Somple, the registrar, at msomple@munson.art<\/a>.<\/p>\n In some cases works will not be shared, said Harrison, such as when an artwork was donated anonymously. The giver\u2019s name would be revealed during a storage visit, and so the work is off-limits.<\/p>\n The Everson Museum of Art and the Syracuse University Art Museum do not allow the public to view artwork in storage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Light Work Victor Rivera, exhibitions and collection manager at Light Work, holds ‘Chief Lewis Farmer, Eel Clan, Onondaga,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":875928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1037,648,356006,356007,356005,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,3092,879,4695,78952,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,198416],"class_list":["post-875927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-art","tag-arts","tag-eastman","tag-light-work","tag-munson","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-photography","tag-rochester","tag-syracuse","tag-topstory","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-utica"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116771324487861415","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Laura](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2ZISPCWCXJFF3JWCTBUPR7NKKU.jpg\")
Artist Laura Cano, Ferlito Farm, Oswego, NY, from the series \u2018Migrant Farm Workers,\u2019 1991, gelatin silver print, courtesy of Light Work (Laura Cano\/Laura Cano) <\/p>\n![\"Patt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PNSYV2JNUFCCBA3KEKHDKGVMZM.jpg\")
Artist Patt Blue, Playing in Cape, from the series ‘The Clevelands: An American Family,\u2019
\n1973 – 1983, gelatin silver print, courtesy of Light Work Playing in Cape, from the series ‘The Clevelands: An American Family,\u2019
\n1973 – 1983, gelatin silver print, courtesy of Light Work (Patt Blue\/Patt Blue) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6HMPKZLWVRFS3MYJIIBQ4KOVPE.JPG\")
The George Eastman Museum House exterior. The George Eastman Museum, 900 East Ave, Rochester, NY. (Michael Greenlar\/Michael Greenlar | syracuse.com) <\/p>\n