Alum donates 48 original pieces to Syracuse University Art Museum
Out of printmaker and Syracuse University alum John Thompson’s 48 donated works, Niho Kozuru’s “Cosmic Glow” is one of the collection’s most striking pieces. The donated pieces were chosen to enhance educational opportunities for SU students. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer
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Printmaker and Syracuse University alum John Thompson donated 48 works from his collection to the Syracuse University Art Museum, according to a Tuesday news release. The museums acquired the gift throughout 2024 and 2025.
The collection includes artists like Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Al Held and Trenton Doyle Hancock, among others.
“The donated pieces are just as stunning as they are unconventional, showcasing what happens when artists refuse to accept the limits of their medium,” the release states.
One of the “most striking pieces” in the collection is Niho Kozuru’s “Cosmic Glow,” according to the release. The orange and red monocast rubber sculpture was created in 2013. Other notable works include Held’s color woodcut print, “Pachinko,” Corot’s 1856 “Cinq Sujets réunis” and Richard Ryan’s “Scapes II” print.
Thompson graduated from SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts in 1972. Since then, he has taught at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Framingham State University. He also has his own printmaking studies in Massachusetts and Maine.
The pieces were chosen specifically to enhance educational opportunities for SU students, according to the release. Thompson wanted to expand students’ access to original works, something that was limited when he was a student.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to give back what Syracuse gave me,” Thompson said in the release.
In the release, Thompson said he hopes the gift “strengthens the teaching potential of the museum across campus.” The works reinforce the mission of the teaching art museum, according to the release.
“Part of what I would hope is that the works I’m donating are not treated as precious objects,” Thompson said in the release. “I want students to look at it, examine it, feel that their lives and their emotions are as important as any piece of art.”
