Friday, September 28, 2007
An Un-connected Corridor
Courtney Rile, the gallery coordinator at Delavan Art Gallery, says the Connective Corridor, a new service meant to bridge together theaters and galleries in downtown Syracuse, hasn't been "fully realized" yet. The corridor was an idea that began a few years ago, but still seems to be just an idea. She says her gallery, which is one of the stops along the corridor route, has helped the corridor more than the corridor has brought business to her.
For instance, the Delavan Art Gallery has collaborated with the Redhouse and Warehouse Gallery down the street to form the TH3 or Third Thursday program. The program keeps the galleries open from five o'clock to eight o'clock at night on the third Thursday each month. Rile says this encourages people to visit each gallery those nights since they're all located along West Fayette Street. The gallery's regular hours are during the day Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The gallery keeps itself alive with the program and its location. Rile says right now it's just a bus. She says the corridor still needs to make physical changes, like lighting and street walks.
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2 comments:
With all due respect, this blog is missing the point.
Yes, I was quoted correctly in the first paragraph, however let me give credit where due!
When the Connective Corridor was first announced, I was told that it would take about four years until it "fully realized" completion. Year One was the design competition. Year Two is creating the official design. Year Three is beginning to implement the design and Year Four is finishing. We are in Year Two. This means we shouldn't even begin to see a physical change until next year. In any institution, changes of these size take time.
Besides, while we can't physcially see the Connective Corridor yet, it is more significant as an idea and because of that it has already begun to have an effect. Since I-81 was built as a result of some bad urban planning, Syracuse University and the downtown of the city of Syracuse were cut off from each other both physically and psychologically. SU and the city of Syracuse NEED each other. A school is less interesting without a vibrant community and a post-industrial city like Syracuse needs the fresh energy, ideas and dollars that flow through SU. To this end, the Connective Corridor has already begun to bring people together from both sides of the city. Collaborations are happening and students are coming downtown. That's great! Five minutes ago I had a conversation about how so many student journalists from SU have come to visit Delavan Art Gallery in the past two weeks. I can only believe this is because of the Connective Corridor. Give it time!
The second and third paragraphs are completely incorrect. Delavan Art Gallery is open from Noon-6 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. because those are the hours that work best for the people that visit us. Of course we get visitors! Why else would we be open then? Also, the gallery was around before The Connective Corridor project began... the project can only help us!
I can't wait for the day when the walkway and future bike path underneath 81 on Genesee Street are well-lit and safe to use. ...And yes, I'm not happy with SU for letting go of Astria Suparak, former Director of The Warehouse Gallery. However, on the whole, Chancellor Nancy Cantor has been a visionary and the Connective Corridor is a much needed vision for both SU and Syracuse.
Just like you, I look forward to seeing what direction the vision takes.
With all due respect,
Courtney Rile
Delavan Art Gallery
Part of the beauty of today's media is what we see in these postings. A reporter posts a story. A person involved has an objection and posts it as well. The reader is informed in both cases.
As it turns out Ms. Greenberg now has edited the original story it it more difficult to see exactly what Ms. Rile's objection was. But Ms. Rile made her points well and in a civil fashion and she got results. That's the part I like best. Rather than a blogger ranting and people posting irate comments, we have intelligent and thoughtful discourse. Imagine! On a blog!
As a consumer of news I learned a lot. It makes me, as the professor, very happy. This is after all a course in reporting so I believe everybody wins here.
-jsn
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