The establishment of the first video department and continuous video program at any public museum in the United States, in March 1972, comes as a result of James Harithas’s early conversations with Nam June Paik, with Frank Gilette, and later with the museum’s curator of video arts, David Ross. Its basic idea is that of providing artists with access to the form. Ross goes on to develop an exhibition format for video art, a small archive, a community-oriented education program, and an initial plan for promoting the museum’s participation in the cable TV system to be established in Syracuse during the next few years. A substantial donation from the Rosamond Gifford Foundation provides the basic hardware for the department.