John Cheney Wood

Wood, John Cheney

John Cheney Wood, 90, passed away on July 20, 2012 in Ithaca, NY. He spent his last weeks enjoying his family, the birds, moonlight and fireflies, music and art in his beautiful studio. John Wood was born on July 10, 1922 in Turlock, CA to Norman Shattuck Wood and Louise Cheney Wood. He is survived by his wife, Laurie Sieverts Snyder; his children, Michael Cheney Wood, (Marjory Johnson) of Aurora, MN, Carol Watson Wood (Ken Maracek) of Alfred, NY; his grandchildren, Galen Wood (Jessica Moline) and Ranier Wood (Willie James) and Casey Maracek and Avery Maracek; his stepsons, Noah (Lydia Bergen) of Boston, MA and Ben Snyder (Rachel Projansky)of Seattle, WA; and several great-grandchildren. His younger brother, James Wood (Ethel) lives in Carmel Valley, CA. His former wife, Suzanne Watson Wood lives in Alfred, NY. He was predeceased by his older brother, Norman Shattuck Wood. John Wood was raised in Concord, MA with parts of his childhood spent in North Carolina and Western New York. He served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps from 1943-45. He earned his degree in 1954 in Visual Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. From 1954 to 1987, he taught at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University, where he was instrumental in founding the photography, printmaking and foundations programs. Professor John Wood was a founding faculty of the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY. In 2009, John Wood had a major retrospective of his photographs, drawings, collages and whirligigs in Rochester, with exhibits at the Memorial Art Gallery, Eastman House, and Visual Studies Workshop. This exhibition was also shown in New York at Grey Art Gallery and the International Center for Photography as well as at Syracuse University Art Galleries and the Prichard Art Gallery of the University of Idaho. A monograph of his work: John Wood "On the edge of clear meaning", edited by Nathan Lyons, was published by Steidl in 2008. John Wood is represented by the Bruce Silverstein Gallery in NYC. In 1993, Laurie Snyder and John Wood moved to Baltimore, MD where Laurie teaches photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art. They continued to spend summers in their beloved home and studio in Ithaca, NY. Gifts in his honor may be made to the John C. Wood, Professor Emeritus Endowed Scholarship, Alfred University, Saxon Drive, Alfred, NY 14802.