The Connective Corridor has partnered with the College of Visual and Performing Arts to create art installations that will be placed along the route.

The Connective Corridor and VPA announced that artists can submit applications to have their work permanently displayed along sites on the corridor. There’s $650,000 in funding for between six and 10 pieces of art. The individuals behind the project said they hope that the artists selected will also be engaged with the surrounding Syracuse community.

The Connective Corridor was designed to link University Hill with downtown Syracuse while illuminating the architecture and urban spaces. Since the establishment of the two-mile corridor in 2006, the directors of the Connective Corridor have hoped to have an outdoor art installation along the route.

Lucinda Havenhand, the interim associate dean for VPA, said in an email that the project will be used as a teaching tool. The students will be able to learn directly from shadowing the processes of the project, meeting with the artists that are finalists, experiencing their proposals and presentations and helping with the implementation and installations of the projects.

“The is a hands-on experience that is invaluable to emerging artists as they make the transition from school to practice and we are very excited that the Connective Corridor has asked us to collaborate with them on this,” she said.

Quinton Fletchall, who works in the SU Office of Community Engagement, highlighted the goal of the project coordinators, saying he hopes both the artists and students benefit from the project.

“Come spring, we hope that when the artists are conducting the art installations, possible public art classes and guest lectures will be made available to the general public of Syracuse and Syracuse University students,” he said.

The call for submissions for the art installations is open to all varieties of artists and mediums, in the hopes of bringing variety to the Connective Corridor. The Connective Corridor and VPA are asking artists to submit both letters of interest and qualifications, in addition to their initial concepts. The call is open to local, national and international artists and artist teams. Artists can suggest a single piece or a series of thematic installations. The deadline for submissions is March 1.

A jury will select the pieces to be installed along the route. The jury will consist of “both local and national jury members, artists, curators, developers, people at different levels of governing, VPA professors and university alumni,” Fletchall said.

Each artist whose submission is selected will receive a budget between $50,000 and $75,000 for their installation. Artists with thematic installations that emphasize a cohesion of the Connective Corridor will receive and larger sum for their projects.

One significant issue that artists will have to factor into their designs is the climate of Syracuse. The artists must take into account that their projects will be exposed to extreme temperatures and variable weather conditions, according to the project’s request for qualifications. Thus materials must be both highly durable and UV resistant.

This current art solicitation is considered the overarching conclusion to the construction of the Connective Corridor. The installation is expected to begin in the spring of 2016, and be completed by June 30, 2016.

Published on January 29, 2015 at 12:01 am