Syracuse Public Art Commission Meeting - August 25, 2026: Mural Project Presentation and Commission Updates
Syracuse Public Art Commission Meeting - August 25, 2026
Due to a lack of quorum, the Syracuse Public Art Commission could not conduct official business or votes. Chair Benny Guzman opened the meeting informally to allow a presentation and discussion. The meeting focused on a proposed mural project at the Whitlock building, updates on commission vacancies, and planning for a future special meeting.
Discussion Items
- Mural Project at Whitlock Building: Local artist Allie Walker presented designs for two murals on the Whitlock building, adjacent to Salt City Market. The murals would replace a previous heart mural and a chalk wall, aiming to create a more inviting entrance near a playground. The designs include a "Lonely Treat" theme with a tree and a heart motif. Walker is a recipient of the Heart of Syracuse Award. The project is also being considered for a Charm grant (applied, extended to October 9, 2026). Owner Brian Goodfellow (Whitlock Partners) expressed support and stated the building owner would fund the project if the grant does not come through. Walker described community involvement plans, including an arts and crafts day with wooden hearts. The commission discussed phasing, graffiti prevention, and coordination with Salt City Market, which has granted a 10-foot easement. Walker noted each wall would take about a week to paint, working during off-peak hours.
- Commission Administrative Updates:
- The public art coordinator position will be assigned a job number by the county on August 28, 2026, then posted on the city website. Interviews will follow a 10-day posting period.
- The mayor has reviewed applications and expects to appoint two new commissioners by the end of August. One additional candidate is pending council approval. The commission discussed the need for an onboarding packet and potential replacement of non-attending members.
- The commission needs a secretary to take minutes; currently, the role is split between the public art coordinator and a commissioner. The chair proposed reviewing the onboarding packet at the next official meeting.
- Future Meeting Scheduling: Because no quorum existed, the commission will hold a special meeting to vote on the mural project, appoint a vice chair, and review onboarding packets. Dates considered: September 9, 10, 14, or 15, 2026 (avoiding September 11). The meeting must be publicly noticed at least 10 business days in advance.
Key Outcomes
- No votes or formal decisions were made due to lack of quorum.
- The commission will schedule a special meeting in early September 2026 to officially vote on the Whitlock mural project and other pending items.
- Allie Walker will be notified of the meeting date and the outcome. She will also send updates regarding the Charm grant and community involvement plan.
- The public art coordinator position will be posted once the job number is assigned, and the commission will continue efforts to fill vacancies and improve meeting attendance.
Meeting Transcript
I am going to get started with the meeting. So unfortunately, and I'll just speak to you, Ali, because you're here. Um but it's everybody is fine. Okay. Oh, okay, good. Okay, because that's the because I know that there was like a question of deadline issues, and so okay. Um but yeah, we'll still host this meeting again, just because we don't have quorum, we cannot officially do business. Um, but I will start the meeting regardless, and that way you have a chance to present and so um so yeah, so uh real quick, I'll call this meeting order. Um again, my name is Benny Guzman. I'm the chair of the public art commission. Um, I'll just have the commissioners go around and introduce themselves. So Sophia Gutierrez. Manuel Carter, Lisa Lambert. Yeah. Oh, okay. Um but yeah, um, since we don't have any minutes and we can't vote, we'll just move on to the main motion. Um, yeah, I'll invite Allie to come up and talk a little bit of the project. No, you can sit right there. Um, just be sure to do this because I think they are still recording, so yeah. But yeah, um, take it away. Uh my name's Allie Walker, I'm a local artist here in Syracuse. Um, and today we're talking about the Whitlock building. We're looking at two walls. Uh if you enter from the parking lot side of uh Salt City Market, the Whitlock building is uh adjacent to it, they have that lovely mural on there right now. There used to be just a lonely heart. Um so, anyways, if you enter from the back portion of uh not the Salina Street entrance, but the other the parking lot entrance, you'll see two walls that are um adjacent or facing the uh playground, anyways. We're talking about those two, and if you turn your page, you'll see those at the top. Uh those are the two designs that we were um looking to do. Uh I was basically um recently uh recipient of the uh uh Heart of Syracuse Award. So the Whitlock partners got in touch with me and said, Hey, let's put a heart on the building, but let's reimagine it. Um they originally had just uh a beautiful red heart on there, um, and they decided to reimagine into something a little bit more fun and kind of have it take flight over by the playground. Uh because I was the reciprocal, because they had the heart on the building, we just thought that would be uh the partners, whitknock partners, Brian Goodfellow. Uh thought that that would be just a great merriment for the two. Then uh that brings us around the corner to the first wall, which is the lonely treat. Uh it's just really a beautiful welcoming um entrance mural. You have a tree for vitality. I can't even say the word vitality, and it's really um uh the lines are supposed to cause movement just to bring you around the corner to kind of give you uh, you know, make the viewer kind of look a little bit more. Um we've talked to Salt City Market, we've talked to South City Coffee, uh, they've been in the conversation with the design heavily, um, and they support the project. Uh so it's just basically um trying to get this to fruition. Yeah. Um, I was approached by uh Jimmy Monto and Alex Coleman with uh charm project. We had already kind of been working on this already, and um they said if there was any projects that were already in um works for you, we would love to be a part of that if you want to go through the application process. So we've gone through the application process. Um they've extended it to October 9th. Okay. Um, and we're just under review at the moment. Alex has gone on paternity leave, so um now uh Jeremy and I are just updating each other. We're almost there. There was a little bit of he wasn't sure I was here tonight about the things, but uh I think we're up to date now. Um so basically they're very interested.
openpublica.com