Kate Clark
Kate Clark has been leading the 40Below Public Arts Task Force for over one year. She is originally from New York City and came to Syracuse to pursue a Masters in Public Administration at Syracuse University's Maxwell School. After graduating, she took a position with the City's Department of Economic Development and is currently Syracuse's first Public Art Coordinator. In the spring of 2006, when she first joined the Task Force, Kate and others in the group discovered that there was neither an official system for public art in Syracuse nor was there much public art in the city. Through working with arts organizations, city officials and others, Kate helped to drive the effort in City Hall to craft the Syracuse Public Art Ordinance, legislation passed in July 2007 that created a public art coordinator position, an application process for public art projects, and the Public Art Commission.
Leading the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force, Kate has worked with various volunteers and organizations on the Totem Project, the Urban Video Project, National Parking Day, the David Hayes downtown sculpture exhibition, and of course Lipe Art Park, Syracuse's first art park.
Kate now has a new partner-in-crime, Maarten Jacobs, who will be the Task Force's co-chair. Their first project together is Oh Snap!, an initiative with the Assisi Center that will feature a portable photo booth. The booth will travel the Northside and allow neighborhood residents to candidly photograph themselves. Photos will be displayed in a gallery exhibition at the Assisi Center in the Spring of '08 and will also appear in a publicity campaign among Northside businesses.
Another new project for 2008 will be the Urban Art Rangers, a collaborative project with Syracuse University Professor Joanna Spitzner. Rangers will both inform residents about arts initiates in the city, as well as engage in conversations about the role that creativity and art can play in community revitalization. Volunteers, such as high school and college students, PATF members and others, will be assigned to neighborhoods for 4-6 month periods
The 2008 focus of the PATF will be continuing to garner support and seek "guest" curators for Lipe Art Park and organizing volunteers for neighborhood-based public art projects.
