The wild-eyed snarling tiger on the show poster for the current exhibition at XL Projects promises a circus, and we get one replete with sexy sword swallowers, kooky calliopes, improbable beasts and bearded ladies.

What do visitors to Syracuse think of our city? I often wonder if I’m looking at the answers when I visit the Warehouse Gallery. The gallery’s policy is to invite contemporary artists to visit and respond to the environment with unique artwork. The exhibitions must reflect somewhat on our hometown.

One exhibition can’t offer a complete narrative on that period, and the ArtRage show certainly doesn’t pretend to be exhaustive. On one hand, it offers a brief overview of the party’s history, including armed conflicts with police and surveillance of the BPP by the FBI and other government agencies.

Sure, we’ve got Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Orangemen basketball and a mutual dislike for Villanova. But fear not, more positive Syracuse magic came out of days just passed, in the form of art. Nothing brings people together, fosters community, and brings out the beauty and potential of a space better than shared art.

The third show, which featured items Huff has collected over the year to show the continuing stereotyping of Native Americans and the culture, closed Dec. 18 at ArtRage Gallery. That’s unfortunate for viewers of the open exhibits because it would have both put those shows into better context and provided an understanding of who Huff is.

There was a slew of other solo exhibitions around town. The Everson Museum of Art.

There is a point while perusing Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock’n’Roll Photographs, selected by Graham Nash, at Rochester’s George Eastman House, that you realize there are too many photos of, well, Graham Nash. And Neil Young. And Bob Dylan. And nary a photo of some pretty important rock’n’rollers, chief among them Eric Clapton, Green Day and Patti Smith.

The Edgewood exhibit liberally samples Abend’s sculptures, presenting works ranging from a piece which depicts a male-female duo and references Adam and Eve to “Spinoff,” whose elements—steel, wood and copper—play off each other.

Area art galleries display the familiar and comfortable, with a few exceptions

The 2010 fall art season is very much a wide-open affair. It includes retrospectives, group shows organized around a theme, and exhibitions focusing on birds, furniture and Americana, to name just a few subjects.

The Everson Museum of Art (401 Harrison St.; 474-6064) has two exhibits already under way: Good Design: Stories from Herman Miller and Designed to Scale. The first show blends a display of chairs, sofas and other items made by Herman Miller, a furniture company, with photos, storyboards and narrative concerning the company’s chief designers. The exhibition’s focus extends well beyond the items themselves; it interprets the design process and touches on the impact of furniture on a work environment.

Four for fighting: Photographed by Laura Heyman after the Haitian earthquake were: Blondine Herard, Polycarpe Racine, Mariot Herard and Daschmine Herard. This photo is from Pa Bouje Anko, on display at Light Work Gallery.