President's Report Masthead
December 31, 2015

Binghamton University Art Museum highlights ‘abandonscapes’

The Binghamton University Art Museum will open its fall season with an examination of some of the abandoned structures in upstate New York and Pennsylvania.

“Reclaiming Ruins: The New York State Inebriate Asylum and Other Abandonscapes,” featuring the works of Elmira-based photographer A.D. Wheeler, opens with a reception at the museum’s Main Gallery from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. The exhibition is on view through Dec. 19.

“There is a romantic attachment that people often have to these sites,” Binghamton University Art Museum Director Diane Butler said. “And these types of photographs have become increasingly popular. There have been a number of photographers who have gone to Detroit, for example, to photograph sad, decayed places.”

Butler’s original concept for the fall exhibition was a photography exhibit – such as a competition – that would attract a Broome and Tioga County audience.

“We’ve been working hard to reach out to the University community in the last few years,” she said. “I thought it was time to do something that would be appealing to the (local residents) as well.”

The exhibition found its theme in spring 2015, when the University announced that it would take stewardship of the vacant Binghamton State Hospital – formerly the New York State Inebriate Asylum and known locally as “The Castle.”

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