Third ‘Get on the Bus’ trip March 20 to coincide with Th3

Third ‘Get on the Bus’ trip March 20 to coincide with Th3March 13, 2008Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

On Thursday, March 20, the public is invited to join the third “Get on the Bus” free Connective Corridor bus ride to get a taste of Syracuse’s art and culture. Part of a series of five student-hosted Connective Corridor bus rides, this event coincides with March’s Third Thursday (Th3), a citywide arts open held on the third Thursday of every month.

The trip starts at SU’s Connective Corridor bus stop at College Place at 5:15 p.m. and returns there at 6:45 p.m. Free parking is available in the Quad 4 lot, accessible from College Place. The Connective Corridor bus travels the 1.5-mile signature strip of music, performance, visual art and other cultural venues connecting University Hill with downtown Syracuse.

The ride begins at Syracuse University and will first stop at The Red House, a nonprofit cultural center located on South West Street, where guests will enjoy a poetry reading. The bus will visit Jazz Central, located on East Washington Street, where riders will stop to hear a jazz rehearsal in progress. The bus trip will also include live music and information on the history of the city’s 15th Ward, an African American and Jewish neighborhood visible from the Corridor bus that was dismantled by the installation of Interstate 81.

This evening event is the third of five “Get on the Bus” events curated by students in the SU course “Art in Action.” In each case, a Connective Corridor bus travels to two cultural venues currently operating along the Corridor. The students have coordinated brief events at the venues and will additionally describe to the bus riders one cultural richness that no longer exists downtown — including the 15th Ward, a Native American presence, the Erie Canal, active life around the mansions, and large European immigrant groups. By the end of the semester, students will offer proposals for ways of engaging the arts and culture in the revitalization of Syracuse’s downtown.

For more information, contact Imagining America at 443-8590.