iSchool hosts opening celebration of Windows Project

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 5 p.m., the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) will host its opening celebration of the iSchool Windows Project. The project will showcase the eight finalists and their finished artworks, installed throughout Hinds Hall.

The event will begin with messages from School of Information Studies Dean Elizabeth D. Liddy, SU Provost and Vice Chancellor Eric F. Spina and College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Ann Clarke, followed by a message from the project coordinators, Jaime Snyder and Anne Cofer. The artists will be available for discussion as guests walk around Hinds Hall to view the new artwork.

The project received an overwhelming response from students, faculty and staff, with a total of 34 submitted proposals from teams across campus. From the proposals, 12 semi-finalists were chosen to give a public presentation of their ideas. Dean Liddy was able to award commissions to eight finalists whose original art works have been permanently installed throughout Hinds Hall.

The artists worked throughout the summer to complete their designs. Installations began June 2, allowing the artists to work in the environment in which their artwork will be displayed. Margie Hughto, professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and winner of the Dean’s Design Prize, held a ceramics workshop over the summer where members of the iSchool community, including Dean Liddy, came to experience the different techniques Hughto used to create “Information Spiral.” Hughto also sat down with members of the iSchool community to get their interpretations of what should be included in “Information Spiral.”

The iSchool Windows Project artists and their pieces are:

• “Stacked” by Cofer, an adjunct faculty member in VPA;
• “Connectivity” by Thomas E. Day, a junior in the School of Architecture;
• “PROJECTions” by Clare Olsen, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture;
• “Funambulists” by Gail Hoffman, a part-time assistant professor in the foundation department in VPA;
• “Binal Staircase” by Aaron Hraba, an adjunct instructor and photography lab supervisor in the Department of Transmedia, VPA; and John Wesley Mannion, manager of the Digital Imaging Lab, Community Darkrooms at Light Work;
• “Information Spiral: Ice Age to Space Age” by Margie Hughto, a professor in the Department of Art in VPA;
• “Miscellaneous” by Darcy Van Buskirk, a master’s degree student in sculpture in the Department of Art in VPA; and
• “Overlooked Information: The Carbon Espalier” by Errol Willett, an associate professor in the Department of Art in VPA.

The project began in April 2009 and sought to raise awareness of the iSchool’s accomplishments and scholarship while exploring the connections between information, technology, art and design. The project provided a commissioned opportunity for SU artists and allowed the partnership between the iSchool and VPA to expand.

The event is open to all students, faculty and staff members. Those planning to attend should RSVP by Friday, Oct. 23, to Iris Stewart at istewart@syr.edu or 315-443-2736.