Syracuse University Art Museum Broadens Collection With 2025 Acquisitions

The Syracuse University Art Museum acquired 227 works of art in 2025, significantly expanding contemporary perspectives in its permanent collection while strengthening its holdings in works on paper, which includes more than 22,000 objects spanning printmaking, photography and drawing, as well as ceramics.

 

The acquisitions reflect the museum’s ongoing commitments to centering diverse contemporary voices and deepening areas of collection strength.

New works expand the museum’s holdings in ceramics, particularly South American Indigenous ceramics with Julia Isídrez’s ceramic sculpture of Guarani mythical creature, “Teju Jagua.” The acquisitions also introduce new materials and media, including a painting made by pouring acrylic mixed with polymers, “Contrapuntal” by Jill Nathanson, while adding critical contemporary works that address subjects central to the teaching and research mission of the University such as ecology and identity.

 

These recent acquisitions were made possible through a combination of generous gifts from artists, collectors, galleries and alumni. This includes: Jill Nathanson and the Berry Campbell Gallery; advisory board member Leslie Tonkonow G’77 and her husband, art critic and curator Klaus Ottmann; advisory board member James Little G’76; the Christian Keesee Collection; and Eric ‘05 and Holly Gleason. Strategic purchases were identified by curator Melissa Yuen.