SeekSyracuse is a participatory public art project that is free and open to everyone. All that is required is a camera/camera phone, an interest in riddles, and an eye for uncovering the hidden alphabet in our city. SeekSyracuse invites you to find and photograph the letters that spell SYRACUSE found on historic buildings in downtown Syracuse. The catch is the letters must come from the architecture itself: a window frame forms the letter “E”; the connection between a sign and a building forms a “Y”. The second catch is that the letters must be “found” on a particular set of buildings. To identify which buildings, you must solve simple riddles that will lead to the selected buildings.
How to Participate:
First, solve the riddles to identify the buildings. All the buildings are located in downtown Syracuse and are in easy walking distance of each other. Once you have solved the riddles (below), visit the buildings with your camera/ camera phone and start your search for the individual letters that make up the word SYRACUSE. Remember: the letters must come from the architecture itself; no written letters are allowed. (For all the rules, please see below.) For tips on how to frame your shot click here. Select the images that you would like to submit and email or text them to SeekSyracuse@ci.syracuse.ny.us. You can submit individual letters or go for the entire word. Be sure to include with your email your name, age, address, and phone number and the name of the building on which you found the image. You can submit images at any time. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, July 28, 2010.
Awards:
All accepted submissions will be featured in an interactive display in City Hall Commons Atrium on ArtsWeek Saturday, July 31, 2010 during the day. All submissions will be judged based on their composition and creativity. The best of the individual letters as well as the best complete SYRACUSE will be featured as banners on the City’s website. The winners will receive large format posters of their winning letter(s) to be presented on Saturday, July 31 in City Hall Commons at 11:00 a.m.
Rules:
- Anyone may enter, individually or working as a team
- Letters must come from the architecture itself; no written letters are allowed (for example, no letters may come from signage or carved letters on a building). Participants may enter individual letters or the entire word.
- All submissions must be made electronically. Each submission must include the participant’s full name, age, address, phone number and email address with the image as an attachment (preferably jpeg format).
- All images submitted must be the original work of the participant.
- With the exception of cropping, images submitted may not be altered in anyway. This includes using software such as Photoshop to adjust photos, change backgrounds or add borders.
- SeekSyracuse organizers and City of Syracuse have all rights to reject and refuse to publish or use any images, which refusal shall be in the complete discretion of the organizers and the City of Syracuse.
- All images submitted shall become the property of the City of Syracuse upon submission.
Submissions:
Please submit your images to SeekSyracuse@ci.syracuse.ny.us With your entry, include your name, address, phone number, and email address and teh name of the building from which your image was taken.
Deadline:
All submissions are due by 5pm, Wednesday, July 28, 2010.
Questions?
If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Kate Auwaerter at kauwaerter@ci.syracuse.ny.us.
SeekSyracuse Riddles
Solve these riddles to identify the buildings that are part of SeekSyracuse. You can use your ingenuity and creativity to find all the letters on one building or one letter per building, it’s up to you.
Founded in 1863,
it’s had two homes on Montgomery.
It’s not that big a mystery.
It’s just the best time in history.
It was a church that harbored slaves,
who carved their faces in its caves.
The carvings are at OHA
and it’s a restaurant today.
Columbus Circle is its fourth home,
but this is its second House with a dome.
Designed by the firm of King & King,
it’s where the bells of justice ring.
Designed by the architect, Thomas Lamb,
its stage has been home to many a “ham”.
One of our city’s historic buildings,
it’s said that a ghost roams its Persian gildings.
Dedicated to the service of our country at war,
home to the Crunch and concerts and more.
The sites of great battles are carved in its walls,
but music and cheering echo through its halls.
It once quartered soldiers of the northern alliance.
It now houses wonders of modern day science.
The Syracuse Symphony plays on its green
and magical movies play on its screen.
It once was a mill where Jacob ground flour
and several canal boats would pass by the hour.
In a room on the first floor that’s totally “green”
comes a broadcast on Fridays that’s heard but not seen.
Known as St. Mary’s until 1904.
To enlarge it they tore down the bathhouse next door.
Architect Russell’s Romanesque/Gothic pen
conceived this Cathedral in 1910.
A stainless steel sculpture, “The Spirit of Power”
is perched at the base of its Art-Deco tower.
With wings extended as though poised for flight,
it’s also known as “The Spirit of Light”.
It’s housed presidents, movie stars, rock stars, and more.
It’s seen weddings and dinners and meetings galore
It has eighty-six years of historical lore.
It waits now to see just what future’s in store.
The Beadle Tract was chosen in 1909
because the rail-way and the canal-way both converged on that line.
The Post Office building had an impressive design
and for eighty-two years it’s helped Clinton Square shine.
The City is run from within its walls
and Common Councilors walk its halls.
With an exterior of limestone block,
its tower has neither a bell nor a clock.
Helpful Hints
- Make a sightfinder by cutting a two-inch square out of a piece of paper and take it with you.
- Quietly and slowly, walk around the entire building, across its front, around its back, or wherever you have safe access.
- Be sure to look up at the top.
- Check out the base, too.
- Hold your sightfinder about ten inches in front of your eyes. Close one eye and explore the building’s details. Move the sightfinder closer and farther from your face; the closer the bigger the detail and the farther the smaller the detail.
- Think outside your normal idea of the way letters look, be creative.
- Look places you might normally miss when walking by: cracks and crevices, building joints and decorative features, stones and bricks or just the mortar.
- Revisit buildings to see how light and shadows change your perception.
- Have fun!
