Syracuse University’s ArtsEngage welcomes Dance Exchange for a two-week residency, Feb. 2-18. The company begins its residency with a performance and talkback session at Plymouth Congregational UCC at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 5.  The group will hold final performances Saturday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. and at 8 p.m. at the Community Folk Art Center Gallery, 805 E. Genesee Street.

Dance Exchange, based in Washington, DC, is an intergenerational company of artists that performs across the country, incorporating dance movements that reflect the people and culture of the city where they perform. To understand the city and culture, the group invites students and the public to recruitment and craft-making workshops to gather stories they build their dance movements around. All skill levels, majors, and community members are welcome to attend the recruitment and craft-making workshops.

Recruitment workshops will be held, Thursday, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m. in the Schine Student Center, Room 304, and Saturday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, 232 East Onondaga St. The craft-making workshop will be held at 1pm in the 601 Tully Event Center, 601 Tully St.

Attendees have the option of performing with Dance Exchange on Feb. 18; craft-making attendees will help build props for final performances. 

All events are free and open to the public.

Dance Exchange was founded in 1976 by Liz Lerman and is now under the artistic direction of Cassie Meador, Dance Exchange stretches the range of contemporary dance through explosive dancing, personal stories, humor, and a company of performers whose ages span six decades. The work consists of concerts, interactive performances, community residencies, and professional training in community-based dance.

ArtsEngage is Syracuse University’s Office of the Arts Presenter. It’s our privilege to engage and inspire SU and the surrounding Syracuse community through diverse performance art. The 2011-2012 season includes David Sedaris, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Harlem stride pianist Stephanie Trick, Kronos Quartet, eighth blackbird, Diavolo and much more. Arts Engage is also proud to collaborate with Syracuse Stage and Ping Chong & Company in the ongoing creation of “Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo,” a documentary theater production based on the stories of CNY Congolese refugees.

See the video from the Post Standard!

On a cloudy day in late January, a bus snaked its way through Syracuse. Yes, it’s a normal occurrence- buses move through cloudy Syracuse on a regular basis. But this bus was special. It was wrapped in art, outfitted with poetry, and it was playing live music!

It was a Connective Corridor bus, which made its way from Syracuse Stage to downtown at 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday, January 27, with a 3-piece jazz concert. William Horrace, professor of economics at the Maxwell School, helped to organize the event along with Centro and Robbi Farschman, director of the Connective Corridor. Horrace, member of “The Bill Horrace Band” stood to play the double bass while his band members relaxed to play acoustic guitar and keyboard.

“The pole I’m leaning on is rough on the lower back,” he joked. “I’m gonna pretend we’re on a ship, just floating in the ocean.”

Despite the minor bumps of a bus ride, the live show was the first successful “Music in Motion” event for the Connective Corridor. The buses have also hosted a performance by Verbal Blend, a poetry group from Syracuse University, for “Poetry in Motion”. The buses are also now mobile art galleries, as they regularly feature community art displays.

Corridor buses are becoming easier and easier to spot. They are wrapped in colorful designs with matching interior upholstery, they highlight beautiful community artwork and they now feature spontaneous live music or poetry displays.

“It’s definitely not an everyday occurrence in Syracuse to hear live jazz on the bus!” says Farschman. “We’re thankful to Professor Horrace for this performance, which uniquely ties into what the Connective Corridor is all about—exposing the community to the wonderful – and sometimes unexpected – opportunities for arts and culture in Syracuse.”

There is a new kind of urbanism in Syracuse, according to Steve Klimek, an SU Engagement Fellow and co-director of The Front. He believes that in a transitioning city such as Syracuse, storefront redesign is the future of revitalization efforts. “Through creative art, storefronts help to improve the vacant real estate,” Klimek notes. “They create this sense of vitality and community in windows that might otherwise have been empty.”

One storefront that will no longer be unoccupied is that of the Media Unit, a new exhibition space for teens which exists in a well-traveled area of Montgomery Street. Taino Palermo of Outliers, Walt Shepperd of the Media Unit, and Gina Fortino of Movin100 came up with the idea to use this window as a gallery to display local student art. With Palermo’s connections to local teens, Sheppard’s space, and Fortino’s media savvy, the three were a dream team of assets. Through the hard work and dedication of these movers and shakers, the Breath of Fresh Air Gallery was born – adding a “breath of fresh air” to the student arts scene in Syracuse.  

“We were focusing in on how to address the needs of teens in the city through art, so we had this collaborative mind meld and came up with the idea to put the artwork in the window of the Media Unit,” Palermo remarks. “The pieces were there, and they came together perfectly,” Shepperd adds.

This sort of collaborative approach is crucial to successful storefront projects, Klimek comments. “So many people in Syracuse are working on projects like these, but the amazing thing is that they’re not always talking to each other,” he laments. “People in this city are more than willing to help out and make things happen once they are aware of a project.”

When Palermo used his resources to reach out to local schools, the results were terrific. “I didn’t even have to finish my sentence before they signed on,” Palermo enthuses about H.W. Smith Elementary School, which provided the inaugural art project featuring colorful paintings and drawings throughout the month of December. When the Frazer School took over the space in January, the window was filled with sculpture, ceramics and dioramas. This month, the window is another example of collaborative efforts: members of La Liga, Fanny Villarreal of ON CARE and former vice president of La Liga, and Artist in Residence for SALT Juan Cruz, identified and gathered artwork done by Latino youths for display.

Beyond that, the group is hopeful that more community organizations will get involved, and the project will continue to expand. “Once we go really public with this and start getting attention for it, there’s no telling where it will go,” says Palermo. “Syracuse itself is transitioning. It’s exciting that this project is a part of the revitalization of downtown.”

The Breath of Fresh Air Gallery is located at 327 Montgomery Street, just steps off the Connective Corridor, which includes a FREE bus service. For more information on the gallery or to submit artwork, please email Taino Palermo at bofagallery@iamanoutlier.org.

Courtesy of ArtRage Gallery, used with permission

It was New York City in the 1970’s and small-town transplant William Knodel was trying to adjust to life amid the hustle and bustle, while also coming to terms with his sexuality. Knodel knew he was gay, but he didn’t know how to cope with it.  One day, he passed an antique shop with an old amateur photograph hanging outside of it. The photo was of young men in swimming attire, lined up outside a tent that said “Men Only.” Knodel bought the photo.

He hung the photo in his tiny apartment, and it gave him a sense of comfort. So, Knodel bought another old photo of men who were posed as though they were partners. Although these men may not have been gay, Knodel had a sense that he and the men were like-minded, and the thought reassured him. The encouragement he felt from these photos is what inspired him to collect photos of men, especially gay men in love. Wherever Knodel went, he began collecting photos to express his identity as a homosexual, and he soon developed a large assortment of images from all over the world.

Knodel now has a collection of 4,000 images dating as far back as the 19^th century, including tin-types, daguerreotypes and photographs.  These photos are not all professionally shot; most, in fact, are shot by ordinary people, and they all focus on the affection between men. These photos will soon be featured in an exhibition called Men Only at ArtRage Gallery.

Last fall, when ArtRage started planning its exhibitions for 2012, Knodel knew he wanted to exhibit his collection there. He was especially eager because the debate over whether or not New York State would pass the marriage equality bill was in full swing. It was a critical time for the gay community. Luckily, Knodel’s causes persevered: the bill eventually passed in New York, and he was able to enlist Nancy Keefe Rhodes to curate the exhibit.

That didn’t mean the roadblocks were over, however. When Knodel wanted to title the exhibition “Men Only,” the idea wasn’t warmly received. Syracuse Cultural Workers, an organization that has close relations with the parent entity of ArtRage, The CORA Foundation, wondered if the title was politically correct. Rhodes assured them it was, explaining, “When you see these images, it’s apparent that it’s not about men hating women, it’s about men loving men. Being gay is not about hating the opposite sex. If you’re with these photos, that becomes clear through the innocence and tenderness of these images.”

Professors on Syracuse University’s campus wanted to recognize this critical time for the gay community and were interested in hosting events that supported the gay rights movement and coincided with the exhibition. Roger Hallas, a professor in the English and Textual Studies department, read about the display and came up with the idea to have David Deitcher, a photographer and author of the book, Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, speak on SU’s campus about his compilation of photos of male affection. Hallas wanted Rhodes to work with him to create events around the topic that would reach both the campus and the community. Rhodes found this a fantastic idea. “It’s a terrific collaboration because Roger brings resources from the University, and we have had great support with donations from many departments at SU.”

With ArtRage’s new exhibition and Deitcher’s lecture, February will be an exciting time to learn more about gay pride. ArtRage will show Knodel’s collection February 4-March 17. An artist’s reception will take place at ArtRage, located at 505 Hawley Avenue, from 7-9pm on February 11. To find out more about the other activities associated with gay pride at ArtRage and on SU’s campus in February and March, check out ArtRage’s website.

This February, Syracuse Stage will host one of its biggest performances yet: Caroline, or Change. It’s a compelling and imaginative musical that reveals the malice of racism and demonstrates the importance of family. Caroline, or Change is a performance that Timothy Bond, Syracuse Stage’s producing artistic director, has hoped to show for quite some time. “I’ve wanted to do this show since I saw it premiere in NYC eight years ago. Finally, I’ve found the time when the perfect cast for Caroline, or Change can come together!”

Bond fell in love with Caroline, or Change because it’s a production that offers something for everyone who sees it. The musical tells the story of an African American maid named Caroline, who works for a Jewish family in Louisiana. The musical is set during the 1960’s, when Jim Crow laws still exist in the south and the Civil Rights Movement is in full swing.  The musical is developed around Caroline and Noah Gellman, the nine-year-old boy in the family who shows Caroline how valuable friendship truly is.

As a single mother, Caroline is angry and filled with frustration about not being able to provide for her four children. Caroline’s attitude begins to change, however, once Noah’s mother dies from cancer and he turns to Caroline for stability and comfort. Noah starts leaving change in his pocket for Caroline to collect while she does the Gellman’s laundry. Noah’s stepmother tells Caroline to keep the change, hoping it will teach Noah a lesson. Caroline hates taking money from a child, but his spare change gives her hope for a better future for her family.

Tony Kushner wrote Caroline, or Change to chronicle his life as a Jewish boy growing up in Louisiana. Noah’s character is not modeled after Kushner, but he did have a strong connection to his family’s African American maid, and he recalls her reactions to the turmoil and inequality during that time period. His housekeeper’s world was turning upside-down, and the musical reflects on the changes she experienced as she went from being an oppressed maid to belonging to a group with a voice that was growing louder and more powerful by the day.

Caroline, or Change is a passionate story, and with this passion comes sensational music: bluesy beats of the south, soulful Motown hits, and melodies of Jewish folk songs. The music echoes that while Caroline faces many challenges, she still maintains a fantastic image of the world around her. “It’s a really imaginative story,” Bond shares. “Caroline is doing laundry when the washing machine breaks into song and a person pops out of it, and three African American women break out of the radio she’s listening to and start beltin’ out soul and pop music from Motown!”

The music will be even more incredible given the sizable cast. “It’s probably the largest musical we’ve ever produced at Syracuse Stage in terms of how many professional actors and musicians that we’re bringing in to the show,” Bond confirms. “There are over 14 professional actors, three local children and an orchestra of 10.”

Marcela Lorca, the director, is a friend and colleague of Bond’s. Lorca has done Caroline, or Change once before at the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota with Greta Ogelsby in the roll of Caroline. The two are performing together again at Syracuse Stage, and Bond could not be more excited about it. “I met Greta when she auditioned for me for a part in Crowns. She asked if I’d mind if she sung Eyes on the Sparrow. I said, ‘Go on ahead, girl. Knock it out!’ She started singing and I thought, Oh Lord! By the end of the song, we were both just crying; she tapped into something so powerful within me. I knew I had to work with this woman for the rest of my life!” Kushner has even seen the production that Lorca did of Caroline, or Change in Minneapolis and was swept away by Ogelsby as well. Bond knows it’ll amaze Syracuse, too.

Caroline, or Change is about resilience, love and the inter-connectedness among all people. According to Bond, “You’re going to see some of the best talent that’s ever been on our stage and one of the more important musicals of this century.” Caroline, or Change will run from February 1-26. Tickets are $18 for those under 18 and $28-$50 for adults. Syracuse Stage is located at 820 E. Genesee Street, just steps off the Connective Corridor, which includes a FREE bus service!

There is a grand community of artists in Syracuse – some well-known, some at the creative fringe, and others whom we have yet to discover. One of our aims on the Connective Corridor is to seek out these folks and highlight their endeavors. For the next several months, we will follow Brendan Rose, Syracuse Public Artist in Residence (SPAR), and his triumphs (and sometimes trials) as an up-and-coming regional artist. Consider this an insider’s look into one local artist’s life.

Brendan Rose may be a little stuck. It’s February, which means he has just about three months before his next grand installation is supposed to be unveiled. The timeline is enough to make anyone nervous, especially since it seems like the beloved serpent took more like three seasons. No ground has been broken, and no masterpiece has been constructed. So what’s the hold up? The thing is, it wouldn’t be a true Brendan Rose piece if it wasn’t carefully thought out, piece by piece. And that’s where Rose is stuck. He’s in that dreaded place called the brainstorming stage.

Luckily, he’s got some pretty cool brainstorms going on. The catch is whether these incredibly diverse concepts can become one concrete (no pun intended) art installation. Let’s take a sneak peek into what he’s thinking and how he got there.

Picture yourself walking down a street during a rare, sunny day in Syracuse with your best friend, or your boyfriend or girlfriend. You’re staring at the ground, enjoying your stroll, and then a brightly colored circle sitting on the ground says:

"Smile at Each other"

It makes you smile and then laugh, and then it makes your day just a bit better. You think about it, but not too much. But it affected you in some unidentifiable way. This circle (and many others just like it) is just one piece in a project from Brendan Rose and Stasya Erickson, fellow public artist and Northside Collaboratory’s beautification coordinator. Rose and Erickson worked with SU students enrolled in Erickson’s one-credit course at SU, entitled “Dialogue and Action on Public Art,” to create circles of public action.  

Rose enjoyed the idea of the project so much that he wanted to see if he could incorporate concepts from it into his installation. He hopes to see if his work can make you smile or have an impact on your day.

But is Syracuse’s Public Artist in Residence influential enough to pull smiles out of thin air and put them into the public realm? “Can I determine that if you dance in this particular circle, you’ll be lucky?” Rose questions, referring to another circle from the project. “Can I play God like that?” One thing he does know, whether he has any control over it or not, is that believing in something makes it real.

“If you set up frameworks for people to personally believe in something and they connect with it, then they can carry it with them,” Rose muses. “As a public artist, I want to provide a place like that for people, and then put it in the public space.”

Once he’s landed on an idea for this place, he must present his idea to the Public Art Commission, receive approval and then actually build the thing or things – all by May 31. And let’s not ignore some of the other things he’s got going on. There’s the “Six Make One” show at Craft Chemistry with Brianna Kohlbrenner and Lock 49, happening now until February 11; the “Snow Show” at the Creekwalk with the Public Arts Task Force, which will take place on February 25 from 3-7pm; and, the light sculpture installation behind the MoST that he’s working on with Save the Rain, to be complete in 2013. Gulp.

But Rose is lucky, because he found an idea he can really connect to: finding love in Syracuse. And even if he has to go through the process of creating an installation, he wants to work on different sides of the project as well (you know, in his free time), whether it be collecting more love stories or commemorating the locations around the city where people have fallen in (or out of) love. “I’ve started to become invested in a bigger way,” Rose realizes. “It’s partly my own personal evolution as an artist. I’m probably going to continue and think about it beyond my role as Public Artist in Residence.”

For a man struggling with the responsibilities and time constraints of public artistry, it’s just another day in the life. The good thing is that if he ever gets bogged down by his numerous commitments, he can always dance in the middle of a circle, and maybe something incredible will happen. After all, you make your own luck!

“There are three things we care about: Letterpress, the environment and making a profit. In that order.”

I listened carefully as Cathy Smith, customer account manager, identified some important principles of Boxcar Press. I was a third of the way through the winding tour of the giant that is Boxcar Press, but I didn’t know that. Looks can be deceiving. I’d think this must be it, but then I would be led into an even bigger room with even more people working on even more projects. There is a whole world made up of printing, paper and design – and it exists in the Arts Shops at Delavan on the Near Westside.

The world of Boxcar Press is owned by Harold Kyle and Debbie Urbanski. They started Boxcar at what was then The Delavan Center in 2003 and quickly outgrew their space and moved into a bigger spot within the booming facility. The new space (about 25,000 square feet) has allowed Boxcar to expand its business in incredible ways. But something tells me business was expanding long before then.

“Martha Stewart gave a huge kick to the letterpress business,” says Smith. “Stewart and social media really helped people to realize how unique and detailed letterpress printing is.” The company started two sister companies to handle the newly-found adoration for letterpress: Smock Paper and Bella Figura Letterpress. Smock is intended for in-person orders and prints solely on bamboo paper, while Bella Figura conducts most of its business online and prints solely on “Bella Cotton” paper. Everything else is printed by Boxcar using mostly “Crane’s Lettra” cotton paper. And this is no ordinary paper. “We get our paper from a 500-year-old paper mill in Germany,” Smith explains. “It’s been there since the time of the Gutenberg press.” 

They create t-shirts, greeting cards, wedding invitations (brides are one of the biggest clients), stationary and boxes. From design to printing to corner-rounding and edge-painting, everything is done in house. It’s a big job, but they’ve got a big team. There are more than 90 employees working on about 50 orders a day (it rises to about 85-100 orders during the peak seasons). There are nine to 12 letterpress machines in operation on a day-to-day basis, and employees must observe each “run” that a letterpress makes. In total, it takes about two weeks to complete one order “from design to shipping out,” according to Smith. “We can do it in one week if there’s a big rush.” Once an order has gone through the process (which includes numerous quality checks), then it’s sent off to one of Boxcar Press’ loyal clients. These are customers that live anywhere from New York City to Los Angeles to Minneapolis to Houston.

My head’s spinning at this point. This huge production was happening under my nose this entire time, on the outskirts of downtown Syracuse, and I didn’t even know it! And that’s not all they do: Boxcar Press provides materials to design centers and DIYers – everything you would need to be self-sufficient with letterpress (except for the 90-person team, of course).  They regularly send out their scraps to letterpress centers and schools if they can, and they try to recycle all of their materials, due to their emphasis on sustainability. It’s rumored that even the photo polymer scraps are turned into patio furniture and sold. Biodegradable bags and vegetable-based ink are standard for the company, which prints with 100% wind-power.

“There are three things we care about: Letterpress, the environment and making a profit. In that order,” Smith states. It definitely seems like Boxcar Press is achieving all of its goals beautifully, sustainably and successfully. For more information, visit Boxcar Press’ website. Boxcar Press is located at 509 W. Fayette Street, just steps off the Connective Corridor, which includes a FREE bus service.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Transportation will award Syracuse a $10 million grant today to pay for the next two phases of the Syracuse Connective Corridor, a project to link downtown and University Hill with a new pedestrian- and bike-friendly streetscape.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who had lobbied federal officials for the competitive grant, said Syracuse will receive its full request from the DOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, program.

The federal money will go toward a $17.2 million project to build new sidewalks, benches, energy-efficient lighting and new lanes to limit the distance pedestrians must travel to cross between streets as they travel the corridor. The work will include the installation of pedestrian count-down timers at crosswalks.

The city and Syracuse University have agreed to provide $7.2 million as their share of the project.

Schumer, the third most powerful Democrat in the Senate, had asked U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to support Syracuse’s application.

Schumer and other advocated noted that University Hill and downtown Syracuse, separated by Interstate 81, are home to five of the 10 largest employers in Central New York. More than 47,000 people work in the corridor.

“I went to bat for Syracuse with the secretary because this job-creating project is exactly what Syracuse needs – I’m thrilled they’ve heeded our call,” Schumer said in a statement today. “We’re finally going to link these two parts of the city with a new network of bike lanes and sidewalks and make significant improvements to traffic flow so that people, goods, and services can flow throughout Syracuse. This plan is a clear winner for Syracuse and will help create hundreds of good-paying construction jobs at a time when we need them the most.”

Besides Schumer, Central New York’s congressional delegation, including Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-Onondaga Hill, and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had advocated for the project with federal transportation officials.

Buerkle recently took Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, on a tour of the proposed corridor. The congresswoman also sent a letter to LaHood, urging the DOT to approve the grant.

Last month, I took a trip to Cazenovia to meet Alan Rothschild, a local business owner in Syracuse and collector of patent models. Rothschild is a quiet man who lives in a remote home, hidden in the woods. We’re talking so hidden, that I was nervous to even step foot on the property. Once I built up the courage to venture down his long, narrow driveway, I entered a home to see hundreds of artifacts and hear the ticking of dozens of old, wooden clocks. Instantly I thought, Wow, now this man is a collector.

Rothschild is indeed a devoted collector, and his compilation of patent models has taken him across the country, gotten him attention in acclaimed publications, and offered him a chance to exhibit in world-famous museums. In fact, starting this month, Rothschild will exhibit his impressive set in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. The display will feature 32 patent models from his massive collection and will be at the museum for two years.

Rothschild is absolutely thrilled for this opportunity. “It’s very rare for the Smithsonian to do an exhibit focusing on one individual’s collection. It’s also quite unusual for the Smithsonian to do an exhibit for two years,” he shares. Rothschild’s spotlight at the museum is well-deserved, as he’s been collecting for almost 15 years, and he has around 4,000 patent models.

Wondering what a patent model is? When an individual created an invention, he or she needed to submit a miniature model, usually no larger than 12”, that showed how it functioned in order to receive the patent. Rothschild’s collection consists of models of various inventions, from wooden shoes and artificial legs to gear-cutting machines. They date back to the early 1800’s, when the American patent system started, and include models from famous inventors, such as Eli Whitney, Christian Steinway, and B.F. Goodrich.

What sparked Rothschild’s craze for collecting?

Right before he went to college, he bought his first car: a 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe. Rothschild remembers, “My parents were kind of upset at the time – most kids weren’t buying 30-year-old cars.” Rothschild, however, liked the age of the car and thought it looked cool. He made it his mission to restore it and make it drivable, and it’s still in his garage and running today.

Rothschild left Syracuse for the Albany College of Pharmacy (in the Sport Coupe, of course), where he developed an interest in patent medicines (i.e., medicines sold before the Food and Drug Act, when regulations or medical prescriptions weren’t necessary). He started to collect old apothecary items and eventually came back to Syracuse to build an 1800s-style apothecary shop. He ran this shop for 25 years until he donated it to the Syracuse Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in the 1980’s, where it still exists today.

Once he sold the apothecary shop, Rothschild wasn’t sure what to do. “I felt a little lost. All of the sudden, my collecting days came to a halt. I guess fate or destiny led me to patent models.” After Rothschild bought his first patent model in 1996, he became instantly hooked and had to buy another, then another, until eventually he realized he had become a serious collector. “It was a natural happening for me to get involved with patent models,” he explains. “I love artifacts, I love history, and I especially love mechanical objects. I was always a thinker and always thought of inventing something myself.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, then, Rothschild has two inventions of his own: a vehicle inspection sticker that warns drivers when their car needs to be inspected, and another warning system that can be used for anything that needs inspection! For example, if you’re worried about forgetting to change the batteries on your smoke detector, you can put Rothschild’s sticker on it, and it will signal when the batteries need to be changed!

The Smithsonian will feature Rothschild’s collection from December 11, 2011, until November 3, 2013. Can’t make it to Washington D.C.? Check out part of Rothschild’s collection in Cazenovia, where you can take a private tour of his museum. For more information about Rothschild’s patent models, his museum and his exhibition, check out his website.

When you look around town, it’s pretty easy to spot a Connective Corridor bus. They stick out from the others with their vibrant colors and haiku poetry. When you step inside, you’ll notice eye-catching upholstery, internet technology, and hi-tech electronic screens and voice systems.

Now look up. Do you see it? Now on these creative buses, you’ll also see art.

For the next two months, each of the three Corridor buses will feature images of various artistic projects. One bus will highlight the poetry of Somali Bantu refugees, one will host the photography of SU student Allyssa Kaiser, and the third will include the creations of local students involved with the Photography and Literacy (PAL) Project.

“My vision is for the buses to be mobile art venues,” explains Robbi Farschman, director of the Connective Corridor. “I want the buses to be ‘Poetry in Motion,’ ‘Music in Motion,’ ‘Drama in Motion’ and open them up to be mobile performance spaces. We did a test run last year with Verbal Blend, an SU poets’ group, and the reception was absolutely fantastic!”

Too, the possibilities for the buses to become something unique and culturally relevant are endless. With the addition of ‘Art in Motion,’ Farschman’s vision is starting to be realized. For example, the Somali Bantu poetry offers startlingly true accounts of what it’s like to grow up in a refugee camp. And because Syracuse is actually a hub for refugee resettlement, it’s an obvious choice to give a voice to.

“This project raises awareness of the many people we have in our community,” says Farschman, who worked with SU’s International Young Scholars to mentor the Somali Bantu teens in a creative writing program which produced the work. “These are people that might not have been able to showcase their talents because they didn’t have the funds to do so.”

Which is to say, none of this would have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for the generous support from a few local businesses and organizations. Sponsorships from the Genesee Grande Hotel, Pastabilities Restaurant and Syracuse University’s Office of Community Engagement, all helped to make this come to life.

“This was a natural match for us,” enthused Karyn Korteling, owner of Pastabilities. “Art is foundational for a strong community. We can work to bridge some of the gaps in our community through its universal language.”

Her statements were echoed by Tom Fernandez, director of marketing at the Genesee Grande. “The Genesee Grande has been a huge proponent of the Connective Corridor,” he says. “It’s wonderful to see everyone connect on this project and breathe some life into the community.”

The collaborative efforts to infuse art into unexpected places suggest that this project will only enhance the mission of the Connective Corridor. Every two months, the goal is to replace the images to highlight other exciting endeavors in Syracuse. Please visit here for more information on how to participate with this project. In the meantime, hop on a Connective Corridor bus and enjoy all of the new things public transportation has to offer!