Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival and Jazz in the Square anchor new FLY SYRACUSE ARTSWEEK event

Syracuse, NY – The long-standing Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival and the popular Jazz in the Square come together to anchor the new Syracuse ArtsWeek in Downtown Syracuse from Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27.

The concept for ArtsWeek began by combining the two popular downtown festivals into one larger event. The Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, presented by the Downtown Committee, and Jazz in the Square will serve as anchors of the four-day event, with the Connective Corridor as the link to these and other cultural venues in the area.  An arts walk will serve as a pedestrian conduit between Columbus Circle and Clinton Square, celebrating the visual and performing arts with a focus on public art. 

ArtsWeek is the collaborative effort whose sum will become much greater than its parts.  It holds great potential for the future and will grow to become a signature summer program for the region, a cultural tourism attraction for Syracuse and a potent vehicle for the economic and cultural profile as the “Creative Core” of Upstate New York. 

Many area organizations worked with the Downtown Committee to coordinate ArtsWeek events, including the CNY Jazz Arts Foundation, Syracuse University, the Cultural Resources Council, the City of Syracuse Public Arts Commission, the 40 Below Public Arts Task Force, the Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Syracuse New Times, the Onondaga County Public Library, the Arts Branch of the YMCA, the Writer’s Center of the YMCA, the Everson Museum, the Red House, and the Syracuse International Film Festival.

Major funding for both anchor festivals was provided by a New York State Community Events Program Grant through Senator John A. DeFrancisco.  FlySyracuse, a joint initiative of the Metropolitan Development Association and the City of Syracuse to promote convenient, competitive air service, is the title sponsor of Syracuse’s inaugural ArtsWeek.

 “Bundling our nationally competitive arts makes a very powerful statement about the high quality of our culture which makes us New York’s Creative Core,” said David Mankiewicz, executive director of the Downtown Committee.  “Our art scene is a tremendously valuable regional asset that is recognized on a national scale.”

Columbus Circle will become one anchor for ArtsWeek, where the Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival returns  for its 38th year starting July 25, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This spectacular three-day event will showcase some of the country’s most talented artists, craftspeople, and entertainers.

On the other end of ArtsWeek, Clinton Square will host Jazz in the Square on Thursday, July 24, 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.; Friday, July 25, 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.; Saturday, July 26, 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Returning this year with an even bigger and better all-star lineup that includes a Syracuse Symphony Orchestra Pops jazz concert, Jazz Alley restaurant row, fine wines, a scholastic festival, strolling musicians, a musical “Arts Bus,” and late night club appearances by festival bands.

The 200 block of Montgomery Street is the site for the Syracuse New Times 18th Annual Street Painting Festival sponsored by The Art Store on Saturday, July 26, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Prize money will be awarded to the winners. Artists can download the Artist Application at www.syracusenewtimes.com, street painting link.  The rain date is Sunday, July 27.

The following events will be held on Saturday, July 26, 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.:

Brendan Rose, a graduate architecture student leads the design and construction of “Tectonic Sculpture,” a large public art sculpture that visitors can help assemble during ArtsWeek. The project aims to engage public exploration and inspiration through built work symbolizing Syracuse’s emerging renaissance. 

The Redhouse presents Community Mapping: Notes for a Peoples’ Syracuse.
Building upon a concept that began in Chicago, ArtsWeek visitors will create subjective and non-traditional maps, telling a visual story of memories and lost histories that have shaped the perception of the people who live, work, and play in Syracuse.

OH SNAP!  The ArtsWeek mobile photo booth is a creative documentary project in which people of all ages and backgrounds capture and share experiences through photography. Hundreds of portraits will be collected of individuals walking along the Arts Corridor and will be projected throughout the corridor.

Park(ing) Day is performance art that utilizes juxtaposition, allowing visitors to rethink how space is used in urban areas.  The 40 Below Public Arts Task Force will use a parking space to create an urban oasis with a variety of materials like trees, shrubs, grass, and a place to sit and enjoy the space.

The Urban Art Rangers will create ArtsWeek ‘Zine, an art newspaper/’zine to document ArtsWeek by capturing the experience of the event involving visitors in the process by encouraging people to write short stories, interviews, take photographs and create drawings.

YMCA Downtown Writer’s Center and will host a book fair featuring local authors, readings and book signings from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 26.

The Onondaga County Public Library will host a story-time and craft activity for kids and families on Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Everson Museum hosts “The Object and Beyond: 2008 Everson Biennial.” Work by artists from across the Central New York region will be on display ranging from traditional to conceptual art including a new outdoor sculpture and the Syracuse Ceramic Guild 2008 Juried Exhibition.

The Connective Corridor will offer free park-n-ride from the Syracuse University campus on the Connective Corridor bus to ArtsWeek. Provided by Centro for all riders, the service will run every 20 minutes from the SU campus:

• The Quad 4 parking lot at College Place (located near the campus entrance on Comstock and Euclid Avenues) will be open to the public after 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 24 and Friday, July 25; all day on Saturday, July 26, Sunday, July 27. 

• Stadium, Henry, Fine and Standart with Connective Corridor bus stop located at Waverly and Irving Avenues will be open Thursday through Sunday, all day.

A programming committee has been created to guide planning and growth in future years.  In 2009, this event may expand its geography and its duration as other elements are added, and may offer many other kinds of music, dance, and visual arts in the future.