View Designs by 3 Finalists: City of Syracuse Asks for Community Input to Help Select Asphalt Art Design for City Hall Plaza
Syracuse, N.Y. – The City of Syracuse, in partnership with Adapt CNY, is asking for input from the community to select the asphalt art design intended to transform the driveway in front of City Hall into a welcoming plaza for pedestrians. The public is encouraged to rank three asphalt art submissions in order of preference. The responses will help determine which design will inspire the final asphalt art installation. Responses are open until July 22. After sending out a call for submissions, a selection committee consisting of representatives from the City, Public Art Commission, Adapt CNY and local community identified three semi-final concepts and requested the artists further develop their designs for the scale of the project. Once all community input is received, the committee will recommend a finalist to the Mayor’s Office, which will announce the winning design later this month. The selected artist will have the opportunity to work with the committee and the Public Art Commission to further optimize their concept for the site. The final installation will provide pedestrians an inviting place to gather downtown and forge community connections. “The design committee wants to hear from the community before making a final decision,” said the City’s Public Art Coordinator Kate Auwaerter. “A public vote will help us determine which concept has the most potential to enhance the physical space and encourage conversation that enlivens and enriches the community.” The Reimagining City Hall Plaza project is funded through a $25,000 grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative, which aims to improve street safety through community engagement, art and design. The City Hall Plaza mural installation is anticipated to be complete before the end of 2022. Residents can rank their favorite designs at https://bit.ly/syrplaza-vote. Barbara King Artist’s Intention My mural promotes Syracuse by using vibrant colors and symbolic imagery. The mural will create a welcoming public space in front of City Hall for people to gather, relax or partake in various community activities. In my proposed design, different blocks of similar colors represent various neighborhoods in Syracuse and look like stained glass..…….continued Jessica Whitley Artist’s Intention While brainstorming for this project, I found so many varying aspects of Syracuse that created this space we call home, I decided to focus on combining all of these aspects. The mural itself is composed of a large tree sprawling in front of the steps to city hall, with hands supporting the trunk. Large branches and colorful leaves extend to the edges until the scenery changes to the loosely sketched skyline of Syracuse. ..……continued Sarah Grabman Artist’s Intention I want to be clear this is not the final design. My idea is to do a collaborative mural design with Syracuse teens. The project would be two parts: workshop + installation. The purpose of the workshop is to design the mural as a representative body of those who City Hall aims to serve: the youth & future of Syracuse. And to experientially support/promote the idea that you can take up space and express as an individual while in partnership and harmony with a broader community……..continued
