The Syracuse Poster Project is looking to expand its effort to connect local artists with the community through a grant contest by the Central New York Community Foundation.

The project, which was established in 2001, asks community poets chosen by head of the Syracuse Poster Project Jim Emmons to submit haiku-style poems about the city of Syracuse. The poems are then given to SU art students, who create unique posters that reflect the content of the poems. Sixteen of these poster submissions are chosen and displayed in kiosks in Syracuse, according a Dec. 18 SU News release.

“It sort of follows the chancellor’s directive of combining the university with the downtown and regional area of Syracuse. It’s a great project that I’ve really enjoyed working on,” said professor Roger DeMuth, who has been a part of the Syracuse Poster Project since its creation.

Funding for the Syracuse Poster Project comes from selling postcards, note cards and 11-by-17 prints of the posters both online and at Eureka Crafts in Armory Square. But the organization is hoping to get more funding through a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation, according to the release.

The foundation is celebrating its 85th anniversary by awarding $8,500 to projects in four different categories that “better the quality of life in the region.” The Syracuse Poster Project entered the fourth category, “Arts, Culture, Recreation and Civic Engagement” in hopes of getting funds for its initiative, “New Americans,” according to the release.

The initiative consists of creating packets of note cards to give to those who immigrate to Syracuse. The note cards would feature the most popular Syracuse-inspired poster art. Also included with the note cards would be information about local arts and culture groups, according to the release.

“The city has a history of welcoming and receiving refugees and immigrants, and the Syracuse Poster Projects has said it would be nice to capitalize on this fresh energy,” Emmons said.

The project is also making some changes to how the posters are created. Although traditionally all of the 16 posters are modeled after poems, illustration professor Yvonne Buchanan reversed that relationship with one piece this year, Emmons said.

“We commissioned Yvonne to create an image and we publicized that image and asked poets to write a poem complementing that image,” Emmons said.

In addition to the new poster series, the organization is putting together booklets of themed poems, which will help create and promote more business, Emmons said.

The posters go a long way toward making the city more vibrant and showing the people of Syracuse that creative entrepreneurship works. The project gives everyday people the opportunity to express what is special to them about Syracuse, whether it is a well-known landmark or a small “backyard epiphany,” Emmons said.

Said Emmons: “Hopefully the poster project is inspiring other people to come up with projects like it.”

Published on January 17, 2013 at 12:24 am

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