VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Mascot aims to connect more Syracuse residents with art and poetry
Trinity Corbett: And the Syracuse Poster Project is introducing a new face to help connect with the community. As the organization celebrates 25 years of bringing poetry and art together, they’ve created a mascot to help inspire creativity and outreach across the city. For 25 years, the Syracuse Poster has used poetry and art to bring people together. Now, the organization has added a new character to the mix.
Jim Emmons: We’re having to think about the longevity of the Syracuse Poster Project. And I have been conscious of wanting to breathe new life into the project in different ways, the mascot is one way to do that.
Corbett: Meet Paige, a smiling scroll designed by Outreach Coordinator Naomi Masingale. She says creating the character wasn’t as simple as putting a face on a piece of paper.
Naomi Masingale: I thought, well, what could represent the Poster Project? There are a lot of mascots that represent either art or poetry, but not both.
Corbett: But the community helped shape Paige, too. At last year’s Syracuse Arts and Crafts Festival, visitors were asked to help name the mascot. And one really stuck.
Jonah Sahm: My main thought process around suggesting that name was solely that it was a paper pun, since their mascot was a poster itself.
Corbett: And that local participation is exactly the point.
Emmons: It’s important for us to engage the community…and so we would want people to have a say in what the name is for the mascot.
Corbett: Now, project leaders hope Paige will become more than just a mascot.
Masingale: The mascot is meant to be for everybody, not just the project.
Corbett: As the Poster Project looks towards its next chapter, organizers hope Paige will help inspire even more people to engage with art, poetry, and the Syracuse community. Organizers say community involvement will continue to be a major part of Paige’s development, with plans to gather more feedback through monthly meetings and expand the mascot’s role in future programming.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — As the Syracuse Poster Project marks its 25th year, the organization has introduced a new mascot in hopes of connecting more people to its mission of bringing art and poetry into public spaces.
The mascot, named Paige, is a smiling paper scroll designed by Outreach Coordinator Naomi Masingale. Organizers say the character is intended to serve as a new outreach tool while helping the group engage younger audiences and encourage greater community participation.
“We are now in our 25th year, so we’re having to think about the longevity of the Syracuse Poster Project,” said Executive Director Jim Emmons. “I have been conscious of wanting to breathe new life into the project in different ways.”
For Emmons, mascots are a way to expand the organization’s reach beyond its annual poster competition and public art displays.
Creating Paige proved to be more challenging than simply designing a character.
Masingale said she wanted the mascot to represent both visual art and poetry, the two elements at the center of the Poster Project.
“I thought, what could represent the Poster Project?” Masingale said. “There are a lot of mascots that represent either art or poetry, but not both.”
Before settling on Paige’s final design, Masingale experimented with several ideas, including baby herons inspired by Syracuse and mascot concepts based on the kiosks that display posters throughout downtown. Eventually, she returned to a familiar symbol already associated with the organization: a scroll.
Not only did Masingale design Paige, but she also envisioned her as more than a mascot.
“I think maybe she’d be the type of person that creates things for other people to join in with,” Masingale said. “Not the person that sells, but more like the person that invites.”
The community also played a role in shaping the character.
At the Syracuse Arts and Crafts Festival and through social media outreach, residents were invited to submit name suggestions for the mascot. Among the submissions was “Paige,” suggested by Syracuse University student Jonah Sahm.
“My main thought process around suggesting that name was solely that it was a paper pun since their mascot was a poster itself,” Sahm said.
For Emmons, allowing community members to participate in the naming process reflected the organization’s broader mission.
“It’s important for us to engage the community at different levels for the purpose of building community,” Emmons said. “We would want people to have a say in what the name is for the mascot.”
Organizers have already begun incorporating Paige into stickers and promotional materials and hope to expand the mascot’s role in future outreach and fundraising efforts. Masingale said she would like to see the character evolve alongside the community it represents.
“The mascot is meant to be for everybody, not just the project,” she said.