When you walk through The Harley School’s front entrance, you step into what we all call “The Gallery.” Today, the space is typically filled with student artwork and school projects, but I learned from Ruth Ewell’s Harley history book that the space was once used as an exhibition space.
From “A History of The Harley School, 1917-1992”:
Under Mike Lasser’s direction, the new space really spread its wings. In August of 1978 the center received its first major grant from the New York Council for the Humanities. The money was used to underwrite a wonderful exhibit on baseball called “The American Game.” In addition to the art exhibited, a film series and a speaker program showed ways to explore and celebrate baseball. Other exciting shows followed. In December of 1981 there was an exhibit featuring the paintings of Ralph Fasanella and the photographs of Earl Lester Dotter. Both men had been associated with the labor union movement and were concerned with social justice in their work. The school was fortunate to have both of them in residence for a short period. Inuit art was the subject of an exhibition in 1981 and again in 1986, both times with a stone carver in residence. All of these shows greatly enriched the Harley community and, since they were open to the public, the whole Rochester area.
Several years ago at Reunion, I met Roz Goldman, spouse of John Goldman ’52. She stopped by earlier this school year and shared a bit of the history of the Western New York Print Fair, an event held at Harley in the Gallery—known as the Elaine Wilson Arts Center—for several years in the 1980’s. From the photographs and articles Roz provided, I learned that Roz has a deep history in the art world. She “served as assistant to the curator of prints at the Memorial Art Gallery and as an appraiser of fine prints for museums, corporations, and private collectors” and participated as a speaker about the relationship between German Expressionism of the early 1900’s and the New-Expressionism of the 1980’s. It’s clear that she and Michael Lasser P ’77, ’80 (English faculty, 1966–1998) collaborated to bring together artists and fine art prints from around the globe, transforming The Gallery into a vibrant international exhibition space throughout several years in the 1980’s.
