Urban Video Project retains SU graduate to develop summer program

Urban Video Project retains SU graduate to develop summer programJune 05, 2009Jemeli Tanuijetanui@syr.edu

Adam Brown, a 2009 graduate in film from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), will spend the summer working at SU’s Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development, lending support to the office’s work in the Urban Video Project (UVP).

Brown’s main duties will include technical production, content development and engaging the community in soliciting UVP content. He will work with Denise Heckman, UVP academic director and associate professor of industrial and interaction design at VPA.

“We are really excited to have Adam join us as we continue developing this new medium for public art and dialogue,” says Heckman. “Adam is a great example of the growing number of graduating students who choose to stay in Syracuse because in their time here they’ve come to recognize our city as a place with a lot of potential for career development, as well as a place where they can connect with the community on a very personal level.”

Brown started working for UVP as a part-time work-study student his senior year, building awareness of UVP among the student body as well as helping to format submitted content. Now he hopes to use his new position to explore new avenues to incorporate artistic integrity, expression and experimentation into UVP. He also wants to help UVP’s goal of expanding the artist network to include more local groups, organizations and schools.

“I have always been looking for opportunities that will allow me to combine my love for film/video with community work,” Brown says. “This position with UVP provided me that perfect opportunity.”

Brown, who grew up in two communities-Elizabethtown, Ky., and Orlando, Fla.-has always been interested in film, editing and technology. Away from work, he is working on a short narrative film with a friend.

UVP is a public arts initiative of Syracuse University and Time Warner Cable that aims to bring art to the streets and buildings of Syracuse’s Connective Corridor-the signature strip of cutting-edge cultural development connecting University Hill with downtown Syracuse-by projecting artwork onto local buildings daily from dusk-11 p.m. UVP currently projects at three locations: the Monroe Building, 333 E. Onondaga St.; the Onondaga Historical Association Museum, 321 Montgomery St.; and an LED screen at Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St.