Poster Project Lives

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Sponsors see value where others have yet to see it

To the Editor:

As spring unfolds, Syracuse enjoys a blossoming of public art: outdoor projections by the Urban Video Project; a new crop of parking meter totems; downtown sculpture installations by David Hayes; the forthcoming Lipe Sculpture Park - all coordinated by the Public Arts Task Force of 40 Below. Also, a new series of illustrated posters for downtown kiosks, produced by the Syracuse Poster Project.

In many of these works, passersby can easily register the artist's spirit and creativity, or, by reading about them, can know these people and take inspiration from them. Less apparent, but as essential as the artists' creativity, is the creativity of the underlying sponsors and supporters.

People who bring together networks of patrons, allocate corporate sponsorship money, or award foundation grants may not be practicing artistic creativity, but they are acting creatively. Why? Because Syracuse has little tradition of sponsoring public art. Anyone who decides to do so is seeing value where others have yet to see it. They're taking a degree of risk and stating a vision.

I cannot speak for the other public art initiatives, but as coordinator of the Poster Project, I would like to acknowledge the businesses that have sustained us in our sixth year. The 2007 poster series is funded through a combination of poster print sales and corporate sponsorship. Our corporate sponsors, Dal Pos Architects and C&S Engineers, have gone beyond check-writing with encouragement and participation. As for sales, we owe similar thanks to the hundreds of Central New Yorkers who buy poster prints each year, and to the two venues that sell poster prints so actively - Eureka Crafts and The Copy Centers.

Jim Emmons, coordinator

Syracuse Poster Project

Syracuse

This item was published on 05/13/2007

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