Pit bulls victimized in the notorious dog-fighting ring of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback
Michael Vick are the subject of an upcoming art exhibition at Syracuse University. The
exhibition, "The Vicktory Dogs Paintings," runs May 13-June 30 at The Link Gallery,
located in the Community Art Wing on the ground floor of The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette
St.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6
p.m. The public is invited to the gallery for an opening reception, Wednesday, May 13, at 6
p.m.
"Vicktory Dogs" is sponsored by SU's new La Casita Cultural Center, in cooperation with
the Community Folk Art Center (CFAC),
the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA)
Office of Community Outreach and Artist Support, and the Culture & Animals Foundation.
For more information about the exhibition, call VPA at (315) 443-8781. For artist
information, call CFAC curator Gina Stankivitz at (315) 442-2230.
"Vicktory Dogs" is the brainchild of Cyrus Mejia, who, along with his wife and a group of
animal lovers, founded Best Friends Animal Society, the nation's largest sanctuary for
abused and abandoned animals. The exhibition features giclee prints of 22 dogs rescued by
Best Friends after Vick's indictment. "They were dogs who no one-not even colleagues in
the animal welfare industry-thought could ever function again in society," says the Utah-
based painter. "Best Friends was virtually alone in the call to give these dogs a chance at new
life."
Mejia says that rehabilitation has been slow but steady, thanks to a talented team of trainers
and caregivers. By depicting the dogs up close in his painting, Mejia hopes people will
confront their own prejudices about pit bulls in general and will think twice about exploiting
them or fearing them, or both. "Humans are the ones who use violence and torture to make
these dogs the symbol of their own aggression," says Mejia, adding that pit bulls and other
so-called "bully breeds" account for a large percentage of animals destroyed on a daily basis
in shelters. "'Vicktory Dogs' are poster children for this minority of dogs who, themselves,
are victims."
Stankivitz is especially excited about the exhibition. "Cyrus is what I would call a 'soulful'
painter. The way he creates harmony out of chaos and depicts the circle of life, especially
between animals and humans, is deeply moving."
Born into a cross-cultural family in New Orleans, Mejia studied painting, drawing and
ceramics at Hinds Community College in Mississippi before going abroad for several years.
A chance encounter with dogs caged in a London research laboratory turned his sights in a
new direction. "I was so shocked and moved by what I saw that I had no choice but to try to
help animals any way that I could," he says.
Mejia founded Best Friends in 1984, while nurturing a career in art. His work is featured in
dozens of museums and galleries around the country, including CFAC, which is presenting
a companion series to "Vicktory Dogs" titled "Pits and Perceptions" in summer 2010, with
Mejia in attendance on opening night. Local residents will get a taste of "Pits and
Perceptions" this summer through the Urban Video Project, an SU Connective Corridor
initiative featuring large-scale outdoor projections of 12 of his paintings. Dates and locations
are TBA. More information about Mejia is available at
http://cyrusmejia.com/.
La Casita Cultural Center is one of 19 new Chancellor's Leadership Projects that exemplify
the University vision of Scholarship in Action. The center seeks to establish a physical
gathering place on Syracuse's Near Westside to foster multimodal, multigenerational
campus-community conversations and to serve as an intellectual and artistic bridge linking
various communities, including Latino populations across and beyond Syracuse. The
project, whose board of advisors includes faculty, students and administrators from schools
and colleges across the University, will work in partnership with a variety of community
organizations and with institutional support from the Near Westside Initiative.
CFAC is a vibrant cultural and artistic hub committed to the promotion and development of
artists of the African Diaspora. The mission of the center is to exalt cultural and artistic
pluralism by collecting, exhibiting, teaching and interpreting the visual and expressive arts.
Public programming includes exhibitions, film screenings, gallery talks, workshops and
courses in the studio arts, including dance and ceramics. A unit of SU's Department of
African American Studies, CFAC is a beacon of artistry, creativity and cultural expression
engaging the community, region and world. More information is available at
http://www.communityfolkartcenter.org/index.htm.
VPA's Warehouse Community Art Wing is a space of engagement, forging meaningful
interactions among students, faculty and staff members, and the campus community. The
intention is to share University space and resources with the public to nurture creativity, to
strengthen university-community ties, and to revitalize downtown Syracuse. The
Community Art Wing also provides resources for artist support and development.
VPA is committed to the education of cultural leaders who will engage and inspire audiences
through performance, visual art, design, scholarship, and commentary. We provide the tools
for self-discovery and risk-taking in an environment that thrives on critical thought and
action. Learn more at http://vpa.syr.edu.
