Morrisville State College library features work of area photographer

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MORRISVILLE, NY— The work of freelance photographer Gerard H. Gaskin, of Syracuse, is on display now through Sept. 20 in the Donald Butcher Library Gallery at Morrisville State College. 

The photographic exhibit, “Legendary” celebrates the vitality of the New York ballroom scene. The collection draws mostly from Gaskin’s book, Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene, from Duke University, to immerse the viewer in the expressive grandeur of the balls. 

An artist’s reception, open to the public, will be held on Sept. 10, from 4-5:30 p.m., in the Butcher Library Gallery. 

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Gaskin’s photos have been featured nationally and internationally. His work is widely published in newspapers and magazines in the United States and abroad, including; The New York Times, Newsday, Black Enterprise, Ebony, Teen People, Caribbean Beat and Downbeat magazines. 

Gaskin’s work has been showcased in The Brooklyn Museum, The Queens Museum of Arts, the Black Magic Woman Festival in Amsterdam and is represented in the permanent collections of The Museum of the City of New York, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, among others. 

He has won various awards for his work including The New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship for Photography and the Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography.

A committed member of this community, Gaskin has been a part of many efforts, photographing images for AIDS awareness and prevention programs. Gaskin earned a B.A. in liberal arts from Hunter College. 

Morrisville State’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs. 

In addition to being named to the 2014 President’s Higher Community Education Service Honor Roll, the college was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an institution in the top tier of the Best Regional Colleges list and ranked second among regional colleges nationwide for outperforming its anticipated graduation rate.