Three finalists have been chosen to develop plans for how to best present Syracuse’s many cultures in and around Syracuse's Heritage Park. The Onondaga Historical Association chose the teams as part of an invitational design competition.
OHA Executive Director Lisa Romano Moore said the site is complicated…not just culturally, but also with infrastructure and adjacent historic buildings.
“We felt that it was important to make sure we were reaching out to firms that had experience with architecture and engineering and landscape and urban planning and really understanding the whole dynamic of the space on top of just designing what it might look like," she said.
Moore said they started the Full Circle Design Competition with 40 nominated artists from here in Syracuse and across North America. A selection committee reduced that to 17 and then the three that will now work on their designs.
But what does the future hold for the much-debated Columbus Monument? Moore said the OHA didn’t make its inclusion or removal a requirement for the design firms. She added that the overarching goal for the past decade has been to help tell more stories of cultural prejudice and resilience.
“I think our neutrality has made people nervous because we aren't taking a stand," Moore said. "It allows us to give as much information without trying to influence an outcome. And then artists who are creative thinkers and can turn those historical materials into new ways of storytelling in the space.”
The finalists are Creative Urban Alchemy out of New York City, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer from Quebec, and Ten x Ten Studio in Minneapolis with MASARY studio in Boston.
The OHA will host a public presentation by each finalist on November 10th, and the designs will be on exhibit at the museum through November 24th. A committee will select and announce the winning design in December.
**Editor's note: WAER general manager Joe Lee is an OHA board member.
