Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2019SYR17
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Echoes of Legends
poster information
Description
Echoes of legends
murmurs of up—and—comers
drift over concrete
When I wrote this poem, I have to confess, many different locations in Syracuse came to mind. The immediate connection for me was the Carrier Dome, where so many legends and unknowns have made names for themselves. But what I'm really pleased with, in terms of this piece, is that it can be applied to lots of well-loved spots in the city—the Walton Street bustling in the summer; the Palace Theatre, where my husband and I had one of our first dates listening to Tommy Emmanuel, Loren Barrigar, and Mark Mazengarb; or any other location where people have an opportunity to leave an imprint on the city. It can speak differently to people.
I've always been interested in traditional sign painting and neon signs and have spent much of my career photographing and painting them. The nostalgia of my old signage combined with type as a design element has always been fascinating. Each line of the haiku sounded like it could be the title of a movie, so the marquee of the Palace Theater was the perfect place to showcase a haiku. So, I began to research people from Syracuse who had connections to the entertainment industry. Each person I discovered then became a character in the poster design. Clockwise from the top left: James Van Heusen (born 1913) an Emmy and Oscar winning composer; musical film actor Albert Gordon Mac Rae (b. 1921); writer/actress Viva Hoffman (b. 1938), who was an Andy Warhol collaborator; and silent film actor Carlyle Blackwell (b. 1884). While most people know about well known Syracuse residents, I liked the idea of celebrating the unsung heroes of the industry and how they each contributed to the rich history of Syracuse.