On Monday, October 1, at 10:00 a.m., Mayor Matthew Driscoll and Common Council President Bea González held a reception to introduce the members of the City of Syracuse Public Arts Commission. On hand a half hour early were at least a couple dozen friends of the arts who gathered to thank the City for the Public Arts Commission and for following through with an earlier decision to appoint Astria Suparak to the Commission. Coffee from Eastwood coffee roaster, Cafe Kubal, was served before the speeches began. (pictures here)
One person curiously not mentioned in any of the speeches was Eastwood resident Kate Clark, MPA and Fulbright Scholar, and the city’s first ever Public Art Coordinator. Kate oversees the public art process from application submission to project completion and serves as a liaison between the City departments, businesses, the community, and TNT with regard to public art, among many other tasks. Kate has done research involving other cities and members of Syracuse City hall to come up with a streamlined process for public art and a program for it. She has also been the project manager for public art projects here, such as the David Hayes sculptures, Lipe Art Park, Totems Phase II, National Park(ing) Day, and she helped to initiate Urban Video Project, Floating Galleries and the Public Art Trail. She is also the chair of 40-below Public Arts. We are fortunate to have such a bright and hardworking advocate for the arts in City Hall, and she deserves full recognition for her efforts.
Glad to see Kate get her props somewhere. She’s the unheralded hero of city government and deserves all the credit in the world. The fact that the city doesn’t recognize, let alone promote her, is a bit curious. I detect the scent of threatened male egos…
Dominic, thanks for this comment! Anyone who would like to convey their thoughts to those who might be in a good position to recognize and promote her, go to our Action page and scroll down a bit for contact information.