Attention artists and designers: Leave your mark on campus in a permanent art installation in Hinds Hall

Attention artists and designers: Leave your mark on campus in a permanent art installation in Hinds HallMarch 25, 2009Margaret Costello Spillettmcostell@syr.edu

Looking out the ground floor windows in the newly renovated Hinds Hall, some see an unappealing raw concrete window well. Others see the possibilities in this blank canvas. Former Dean Raymond F. von Dran, during his meticulous planning of the Hinds Hall renovations, had envisioned that these spaces would be used to display unique works of art designed specifically for the School of Information Studies (iSchool).

Current iSchool Dean Elizabeth D. Liddy would like to make this vision a reality-the finishing touch to an award-winning Hinds Hall renovation project. The Windows Project will result in the selection of as many as six commissioned site-specific art pieces to be permanently installed in the Hinds Hall window wells. These windows that run along the south and west sides of the building provide natural light to classrooms and computer labs on the ground floor. However, because these rooms are below ground level, the windows look directly out onto raw concrete window wells. The focus of the commissioned artwork is to integrate these unfinished but highly visible spaces with the rest of the building.

Building on rapidly growing synergies between the iSchool and the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) and other units on campus, Liddy invites all student, faculty and staff artists and designers to submit their renderings for one to all six of these window wells. Artwork can include a wide variety of media: sculpture, painting, mosaics, multimedia or other formats. The iSchool has allotted about $2,500 per window to cover the costs of materials and fabrication.

The iSchool will be sponsoring an information session for anyone interested in The Windows Project on Thursday, April 2, from 5-6 p.m. in the Innovation Studio, Room 011 of Hinds Hall. Liddy will present an overview of the iSchool, including its mission, values and vision. Artists can use this information to inform their designs. The Windows Project organizers will also be on hand to answer any questions about the process and expectations, and artists can tour the ground floor to study the window wells. Refreshments will be served.

As the iSchool is inherently interdisciplinary, artists are encouraged to form interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students to work on their concepts and designs. Special consideration will be given to cross-disciplinary teams. Independent study credit may be available to eligible students.

The deadline to submit proposals is Thursday, April 23, at 5 p.m. Proposals can be e-mailed to windows@syr.edu or dropped off in person or mailed to: Windows Project, School of Information Studies, 114 Hinds Hall, Syracuse NY 13244. Please label materials: iSchool Windows Project.

From the submitted proposals, a jury-including Liddy and other iSchool members, VPA Dean Ann Clarke and local artists-will select a group of semi-finalists who will be invited to give a public presentation of their proposals during a reception Thursday, April 30, from 6-8 p.m. in the Innovation Studio, Room 011 of Hinds Hall. The panel of judges expects to announce commission winners Tuesday, May 5, at 5 p.m. in Hinds Hall.

For more information, visit http://ischool.syr.edu/windowsproject.