Meet Thom
Art is a natural catalyst of transformation. It raises the heart, and the heart is a melding gateway to oneness.
— Thom Cooney Crawford, painter, sculptor and poet
A Bunch About Me
Thom Cooney Crawford. Explained.
Born in Boston, Thom Cooney Crawford earned his MFA in painting from Syracuse University and did postgraduate work in sculpture at Rhode Island School of Design. He studied at the Art Students League in NYC and the Provincetown Workshops, and with David Hockney and Hilton Kramer at the University of Colorado.
Thom works in three distinct art spheres: painting, sculpture and poetry. His work is included in private collections nationally and internationally. Public collections include the Penn Sculpture Art Collection, Univ. of PA; Cill Rialaig Project Art Collection, Ireland; Rockford Art Museum, Chicago; Weatherspoon Art Museum, N.C.; Everson Art Museum, NY; and Bristol-Myers Squib, NJ.
Museums include P.S. 1, MOMA, NY; Michener Museum of Art, PA and the Stadt Museum, Weilheim, Germany among others. Well-known galleries include Tibor de Nagy, Monique Knowlton, and Howard Scott in New York, as well as Nama Gallery in Tel Aviv. Articles and reviews about his work have appeared in Art in America, Arts Magazine, The New York Times and The Washington Post among others.
After an active professional career with over 33 one-person shows, 16 of them in NYC, he stopped exhibiting and left the art world for a period of self-imposed exile, living and working in a remote area of Ireland. The works manifesting now from this concentrated interval, contain the greater synthesis he has sought.
“
…the way you engage in the un-seeable moves me—your daring is most evident. Your seeing the energy of the Universe sets you very apart from other painting of late.
— Jerome Witkin
Artist, 2020
Once you know the micro, you know the macro.
Connect with it.
The door is open.
A bit about my work
A Lifetime Devoted to Discovery.
Beauty is the elixir of Harmony.
The Inner Eye of Art / The Outer Spark captures the parallels of spiritual awareness, the creative process and a deeper awareness of our interconnectedness, all guiding principles for me. Art’s poetized language stimulates the artist, then the viewer, to traverse from the mundane to the cosmos.
In my paintings and sculptures, there’s a lot going on. The paintings are kinetic, requiring extreme physicality to create. The sculptures are meditative. “Thom” means twin: I have one side that’s very active; the other is contemplative. I seek freshness and innocence, but also wonder and the unknown. What I aim to evoke in all my art is feeling the wonder while seeing the layers present.
The Outer Harmony sparks our Inner Harmony when it’s unveiled and unblocked—a turning point where language, archetype and vision come together in oneness. Art has power to bring harmony out of chaos, to give that moment of stillness and transcendence to keep us in touch with what we are as human beings.
That’s been my journey, and how I’ve come to be where I am now.
“
…the notion of the archetype recalls the work of both Carl Jung and Mircea Eliade.
Harvard Divinity School
And a bit about my history
About Thom’s Exhibitions
Thom Cooney Crawford’s works have been exhibited in many venues all over the world. Select a tab for information on the many types of shows and places where Thom’s works have been seen and experienced.
Solo Exhibitions Throughout My Career
| 2019 | Nurture Nature Center, Easton, PA |
| 2002 | Stadtmuseum, Weilheim, Germany |
| 1998 | Binghamton University Museum, Binghamton, NY |
| 1998 | Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, PA |
| 1997 | Abington Art Center Sculpture Garden, Jenkintown, PA |
| 1997 | Juniata Art Museum, Juniata College, Huntington, PA |
| 1996 | Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA |
| 1996 | St. Peter’s Church Gallery, Citicorp, New York, NY |
| 1995 | Howard Scott, M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1995 | Frank Martin Gallery, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA; catalog in Smithsonian Library |
| 1995 | Art Initiatives Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1995 | Trinity Church Courtyard Sculpture Installation, New York, NY |
| 1994 | Nama Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel |
| 1994 | The Albright College Center for the Arts, Reading, PA |
| 1993 | The Ramnarine Gallery, Long Island City, NY |
| 1991 | Howard Scott, M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1991 | Williams Art Center Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA |
| 1989 | East/West Gallery, Victor, NY |
| 1989 | Howard Scott, M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1988 | Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC |
| 1987 | Howard Scott Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Sculpture Center Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1984 | Monique Knowlton Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1983 | P.S. 1, MOMA, Long Island City, NY |
| 1983 | Sculpture Center (Small) Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Atlantide Art Inc., New York, NY |
| 1981 | Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1973 | Middlebury College Art Museum, Middlebury, VT |
| 1972 | Wells College, Aurora, New York |
| 1970 | SUNY, State University of New York Gallery, Plattsburgh, NY |
| 1968 | Bundy Art Museum, Waitsfield, VT |
| 1969 | Galerie Libre, Montreal, Canada |
| 1967 | Syracuse University MFA Exhibition, Syracuse, NY |
| 1966 | Mobile Art Museum, Mobile, AL |
| 1966 | Spring Hill College, President’s Honors Award Exhibition, Mobile, AL |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2017 | IF Museum/Academy, Easton, PA |
| 2013 | Edge / Line, curated by Elizabeth Johnson, Grossman Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA |
| 2009 | International Design Centre, Emperors Hall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| 2008 | Accola Contemporary Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2008 | Catherine Hammond Gallery, Dublin Art Fair, Dublin, Ireland |
| 2002 | New York Works on Paper, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2002 | Works of Substance-Works of Faith, Marywood University, Scranton, PA |
| 2002 | After September 11th, Woodrow Wilson Gallery, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ |
| 2002 | Artist & the Art of Book, National & International Traveling Exhibition, curated by Curlee Holton, Director of Experimental Printmaking Institute, Lafayette College, Easton, PA |
| 2000 | Six Abstract Artists at the Millennium curated by Robert S. Mattison, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1997 | Exposición Gráfica en Taler de Arts Plásticas Tamayo, Oaxaca, Mexico |
| 1996 | Parsons School of Design Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1996 | Dean’s Gallery, Parson’s School of Design, New York, NY |
| 1995 | Art Initiatives Gallery, Invitational, New York, NY |
| 1995 | Exposito Extremo, curated by Karm Stirner, Easton Center for the Arts, Easton, PA |
| 1995 | Contradictory Conclusions, curated by Bruce Wall, Gallery at Northampton, Bethlehem, PA |
| 1994 | Sculpture Invitational, The Hakone Open Air Museum, Hakone, Japan |
| 1994 | New Acquisitions, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL |
| 1994 | Poetry Inverse Motion, Prints by Thom Cooney Crawford & Curlee Holton, Text: Lee Upton Williams Art Center Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA |
| 1994 | Invitational, Allentown Art Museum, Curator Charlotta Kotik from The Brooklyn Museum |
| 1994 | Landmarks, curated by Jill Snyder, The Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA |
| 1993 | Kouros Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1992 | Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1992 | Age of Bronze Inaugural Exhibition, Ramnarine Gallery, Long Island City, NY |
| 1991 | Tibor de Nagy’s Collection, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1991 | Arts Faculty Exhibition, Williams Arts Center Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA |
| 1991 | Origins, curated by William Zimmer, Howard Scott M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1990 | Installations, Sculpture Center Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1990 | Print Portfolio Collaboration, Centro De Arte Moderna, Lisbon, Portugal |
| 1990 | Invitational: A Bid for Love, Sotheby’s Auction House, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Symbolism, curated by Lenore Malen, Cooper Union Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Fendrick gallery, Washington, DC |
| 1989 | Collage, Kenneth Bernstein Gallery, Long Island City, NY |
| 1989 | Summer, Howard Scott, M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1988 | Search for the Unseeable, Bolgna-Landi Gallery, East Hampton, NY |
| 1988 | Open Studio Exhibitions, Long Island City, NY |
| 1988 | Preview, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC |
| 1987 | Basel Art Fair, Kerr Gallery, (NYC), Basel, Switzerland |
| 1987 | Trans Era, Kerr Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Howard Scott M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Russia, City Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1986 | Empire Bronze Sculpture Exhibition, Long Island City, NY |
| 1986 | Max Coyer & Thom Cooney Crawford, M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1986 | Invitational, Queens Art Museum, curated by Holly Solomon, Queens, NY |
| 1985 | Chicago Art Fair, Monique Knowlton Gallery (NYC), Chicago, IL |
| 1985 | Tobi Kahn & Thom Cooney Crawford, Gallery K, Long Island City, NY |
| 1985 | Invitational, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL |
| 1985 | Artist’s Figurines, The Doll Show, Nellwood Gallery, Long Island University, New York, NY |
| 1985 | Der Die Das, Six American Artists, Deixlfurt Schloss, Munich, Germany |
| 1984 | Chicago Art Fair, Monique Knowlton Gallery (NYC), Chicago, IL |
| 1984 | Psychology Today, curated by Bruce Wall, Thomkins Square Park Library, New York, NY |
| 1983 | C.A.P. New York State Grant Traveling Exhibition, New York |
| 1983 | Invitational, Queens Art Museum, curated by Dore Ashton, Queens, New York, NY |
| 1983 | Group Show, Leila Taghinia-Milani Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Contemporary Realism, The Figure, The Castle Gallery, New Rochelle, New York, NY |
| 1982 | New York Visions, curated by Burnette Miller, Janus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1982 | The Figure Many Views, curated Grace Graupe-Pillard, Tweed Gallery, NJ |
| 1982 | Gallery Artists, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Figures, curated by Judy Glantzman, O.I.A. At Greene St. Space, New York, NY |
| 1981 | Post Modernist Metaphor, curated by Horace Brockington, Alternative Museum, New York, NY |
| 1981 | New Visions, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT |
| 1980 | Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery Museum, Greensboro, NC |
| 1980 | Gallery Artists, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1978 | Six Painters, Soho Center for Visual Artists Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1977 | Exhibition of Willi Mucha’s Art Collection, Collioure, France |
| 1970 | A Clean Well Lighted Place Gallery, Austin, TX |
| 1969 | Invitational, Montreal Museum of Art, Montreal, Canada |
| 1968 | Venture Art, Traveling Exhibition, Vermont Council on the Arts, VT |
| 1967 | Invitational, Munson William Proctor Museum of Art, Utica, New York, NY |
| 1966 | Invitational, Mobile Art Museum, Mobile, AL |
Selected Sculpture Installations
| 2003 | Recipient, Sculpture Commission for a 9/11 Sacred Space Constellation Design for the Grounds on the Unitarian Church in Manhasset, NY (project unrealized) |
| 2001 | Recipient, Sculpture Commission Winged Fountain, Headquarters Bristol Myers & Squib Princeton, NJ (project unrealized). |
| 2001 | 9/11 Ground Zero Maquette-Submission, #409050 |
| 1998 | Winged Dryad, Bronze, Installation at the Michener Museum, Doylestown, PA |
| 1998 | Earth Vessel Seats, Installation, Binghamton University, New York, NY |
| 1997 | Four Uprights & Axis Urn, Installation, Abington Art Center Sculpture Garden, Jenkintown, PA |
| 1996 | Winged Dervish & Boat Wing, Garden and Chapel Installation, St Peter’s, Citicorp, New York, NY |
| 1995 | Shaman Seats, Installation Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA |
| 1995 | Boat Wing, Installation, Courtyard, Trinity Church, New York, NY |
| 1994 | Four Boat Temples, Installation, Courtyard, Albright College, Reading, PA |
| 1994 | Recipient, Public Sculpture Commission for the city of Easton, PA (project unrealized). |
| 1990 | Lorenzino, Stone and Bronze, Commission for Memorial, Villa Angela, Alassio, Italy |
| 1989 | Homage to Georgia O’Keeffe, Bronze, Permanent Installation, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business Graduate School Garden |
*Sculptures are installed in private gardens in Europe and the US
Public Collections
| The Penn Sculpture Art Collection on Campus, Philadelphia, PA |
| Cill Rialaig Project Art Collection, Ballinskelligs, Co., Kerry, Ireland |
| Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL |
| Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC |
| Everson Art Museum, Syracuse, NY |
| Juniata Art Museum, Juniata College, Huntington, PA |
| Bristol-Myers Squib, Princeton, NJ |
| Lafayette Art Collection, Lafayette College, Easton , PA |
| Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA |
| IF Museum/Academy, Easton, PA |
| Experimental Printmaking Institute, Easton, PA |
| Lehigh Valley Hospital Art Collection, Allentown, PA |
| Nurture Nature Center, Easton, PA |
Other Résumé Info
“
…recent works draw together threads he has woven into his art over a forty-year career, and they explore new territory.
— Robert Saltonstall Mattison
Art Historian and Critic
Grants, Fellowships & Awards
|
2012 |
Recipient, Cill Rialaig Residency Award, Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry, Ireland |
|
1998 |
Recipient, The Open Studio Press Award, Mid-Atlantic, New American Painting |
|
1997 |
Finalist, Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant, (Sculpture) |
|
1985 |
Recipient, N.E.A., National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, (Painting) |
|
1983 |
Recipient, New York C.A.P. Grant, (Painting) |
|
1973 |
Awarded Summer Residence Grant, McDowell Colony, NH |
|
1969 |
Awarded Graduate Sculpture Fellowship, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI |
|
1968 |
Awarded First Prize in Painting, New York State Fair, Syracuse, NY |
|
1966 |
Awarded Graduate Painting Assistantship, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY |
|
1966 |
Awarded President’s Scholar Art Award, Spring Hill College, S.J., Mobile, AL |
Publications, Prints, Portfolios & Poems with Visuals
|
2022 |
Art/Poetry: Eclipse Face, Poems in Commentary on Images by Thom Cooney Crawford. Poems by Cathie Sandstrom and Thom Cooney Crawford. |
|
2013 |
Art/Poetry Portfolio: Sappho Meets Orpheus Under the Lyric Tree, Poem by Lee Upton, Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford |
|
2010 |
Art/Poetry Portfolio: Twelve Eclipse Seescapes, Poems & Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford, Experimental Printmaking Institute, Lafayette College, Easton, PA |
|
2002 |
Peace Warrior, Poem & Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford |
|
2002 |
Each Eye Is an Earth, Exhibition Brochure: Poem & Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford, Weilheim, Germany |
|
2000 |
Sacred Space-Sacred Place, Catalogue, Poem & Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford |
|
1998 |
Earth Vessels, Exhibition Brochure: Poem & Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford |
|
1997 |
Uprights & Axis Turn, Exhibition Brochure: Poem & Visuals by Thom Cooney Crawford, Abington Art Center |
|
1994 |
Art/Poetry Collaboration on Theodore Roethke’s Poems, Visuals by Curlee Raven Holton & Thom Cooney Crawford, Introduction Text by Lee Upton |
|
1988 |
Alpha-Omega, Print Portfolio Collaboration, Published & Printed by Graphico Uno, Milano, Italy: Thom Cooney Crawford-Cover Relief, Eligio Calderon-Text, Fabrio Rodrigues & Raymundo Sesma-Etching |
|
1984 |
Some Constant Factors, Poem by Arthur Gregor, Etchings by Thom Cooney Crawford |
|
1973 |
Raising of the Heart, A Visual-Narrative Novel by Thomas M. Cooney (before name change to Thom Cooney Crawford), limited edition printed at Queen City Press, Burlington, VT |
Selected Reviews, Articles and Catalog Essays
| 2020 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford, Nature Nurture Center by Elizabeth Johnson, Delicious Line, January 6 |
| 2019 | Catalog Essay: The Inner Eye of Art / The Outer Spark by Robert Saltonstall Mattison |
| 2012 | Article: Artist Profile by Elizabeth Johnson, The Easton Irregular |
| 2012 |
Article: The Challenging Spaces of TCC by Mary Weston, Aliant Press |
| 2003 | Catalog Essay: Art with Invitation by David Carrasco |
| 2002 | Review: Kreise Und Kreuze Zum Meditation Betrachenn, by Barbara Konnecke, Sud Deutsche Zeitung, March 19, Stadtmuseum, Weilheim, Germany |
| 2002 | Catalog Essay: Thom Cooney Crawford Archetypes, by Ingrid Zimmerman, Stadtmuseum, Weilheim, Germany |
| 2002 | Review: Wahrenehmug des Heilheim by Thomas Wellens, Stadtmuseum, Weilheim, Germany |
| 2000 | Six Abstract Artists at the Millennium, by Grace Gluck, The New York Times, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY |
| 2000 | Review: Artist’s Profile, A Spiritual Energy, by Dave Tobin, Syracuse Herald American, June 4 |
| 2000 | Catalogue Essays: Thom Cooney Crawford’s Sculptures: Sacred Space-Sacred Place, Robert Saltonstall Mattison, New York, NY; Marc Albert-Levin, Paris, France; Lawrence Taylor, Dublin, Ireland |
| 1998 | Article: Michener Museum Sculpture Takes Wing, by Frank Quattrone, Ticket, May 20, Philadelphia, PA |
| 1997 | Article: Sculptor Cooney Crawford Installs Glorious, Sacred Space at Abington Sculpture Garden, by Frank Quattrone, Ticket, June 25, Philadelphia, PA |
| 1995 | Boat Wing at Trinity Church Courtyard, New York, NY, by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, August 18 |
| 1995 | Article: Sculpture Now on View at the State Theater Gallery by Josh Richman, Express Times, Easton, PA |
| 1995 |
Catalogue Essays: Shaman Seats and Earth Vessels, by JM Welker & Lawrence Taylor, Sculpture Installation, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA |
| 1995 | Catalogue Essay: Earth Passage by JM Welker, Painting Exhibition Howard Scott M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1994 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford Paintings and Sculpture by Janet Kopolos, Art in America, March |
| 1994 | Article: This Hole Has Gone to Holier Places by Barbara McAdams, Art News, December |
| 1994 | Article: Boat Wing by Virginia Wiegand, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 25 |
| 1994 | Article: Art, Politics & Mix in Phoenix by Geoff Gehman, The Morning Call, September 28 |
| 1994 | Article: Sculpture Is Causing a Whale of a Conflict by Dave Boyer, Express Times, September 8 |
| 1994 | Review: Art Museum Exhibition by Geoff Gehman, Allentown Art Museum, The Morning Call, January 23, Allentown, PA |
| 1993 | Catalogue Essay, Thom Cooney Crawford, The Archetypal Image by Robert Saltonstall Mattison, Sculptures and Paintings, Ramnarine Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1991 | Review: Works Impressive by JM Welker, The Express Times, September 7 |
| 1990 | Catalogue Essay: Origins by William Zimmer, Sculptures, Howard Scott M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1990 | Review: Symbolism Becomes Contemporary by Corinne Robins, American Book Review, March/April |
| 1989 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford by Michael Brenson, The New York Times, March 31, Sculptures, Howard Scott M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Catalogue Essay: Symbolism by Lenore Malen, Cooper Union Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford, Sculptures by Ruth Bass, Art News, November, Howard Scott M-13 Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Article: Possible Missing Link in the Pulsar Evolution Star Date by Deborah Byrd, Astronomy Magazine, March/April |
| 1989 | Architectural Digest, Sally Sirlin Lewis House, photo of sculpture, April |
| 1988 | Article: Thom Cooney Crawford, Crossing the Bridge by Everette Potter, Arts Magazine, May |
| 1988 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford by Byred Thompson, Washington Reporter, Paintings & Sculptures, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC |
| 1988 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford Heavenly Sites by Pamela Kesseler, Washington Post, May, Paintings & Sculptures, Fendrick Gallery, Washington, DC |
| 1988 | Review: From the Studio by Rose Silvka, East Hampton Star |
| 1987 | Catalogue Essay, Thom Cooney Crawford’s Bronzes by Everette Potter, Basel Art Fair Exhibition, Kerr Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Review: Figures Bomb Magazine, Spring |
| 1986 | Review: Dolls That Are Certainly Not Toys by Helen Harrison, The New York Times, January 5, CW Post University, NY |
| 1985 | Review: By Artists for Artists by Karen Lipson, New, October 18, Long Island City, NY |
| 1984 | Review: Thom Cooney Crawford by Garrit Henry, Art News, September, Paintings & Sculptures, Monique Knowlton Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1983 | Review: Rare Summer Pleasures, Art Speak, June 23, Leila Taghinia-Milani Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1982 | Review: Figures by Bruce Eder, Arts Weekly, December, OIA, Greene Street Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1981 | Article: Thom Cooney Crawford, New Faces/New Images by David Kermani, Ocular Magazine |
| 1981 | Review: The Art of Thom Cooney Crawford by Jonathan Nelson, The Hunter College Envoy, Paintings & Sculptures, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1978 | Review: To Be Young, Gifted and Avant-Garde by Peter Frank, The Village Voice, Soho Center for Visual Artists Gallery, New York, NY |
| 1978 | Review: Choices: Six Painters by Alexandra Anderson, The Village Voice, Soho Center for Visual Artists Gallery, New York, NY |
Teaching
|
1999 |
Kutztown University, (3-D Design), Kutztown, PA |
|
1998 |
Binghamton University, Sculptor in Residence, (Advanced Sculpture), Binghamton, NY |
|
1996-7 |
Parsons School of Design (Sophomore & Junior Sculpture), New York, NY |
|
1996-8 |
Northampton Community College, (Advanced Painting), Bethlehem, PA |
|
1990-5 |
Lafayette College, (all levels of Sculpture), Easton, PA |
|
1976-8 |
Caldwell College, (Painting & Drawing), Caldwell, NJ |
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1972-3 |
Middlebury College, Artist in Residence, (Painting & Drawing ), Middlebury, VT |
|
1969 |
Rhode Island School of Design, (Drawing), Providence, RI |
|
1966-7 |
Syracuse University, (Drawing), Syracuse, NY |
