Creating a new civic and public art space in Syracuse NY

The goal for The Full Circle Design Competition is to create a new civic space that acknowledges the many cultures that make up this community ― creating a place that is welcoming to all.

Like many public projects, the development of a park or installation of new public art includes a call for proposals. Such competitions help ensure that plans and artwork are developed by qualified professionals capable of executing the project at scale, and that designs are developed in compliance with local ordinances and requirements of the project site.

The project site is located in Syracuse’s historic Cathedral Square neighborhood.

It includes St. Mary’s Circle (more commonly known as Columbus Circle) where a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus, and other bronze elements depicting Taíno and indigenous people of the American Plains are installed on a stone plinth located in the middle of a water filled basin. The southern boundary of the project site is an undeveloped space that was once home to the Powelson Business Institute. It is separated from the circle by a one-way street.

OHA’s mission is centered on education and heritage. The project site for the competition is within a historic district surrounded by significant architecture, art, entertainment, and cultural resources. As the facilitator of The Full Circle Design Competition, OHA will develop a repository of historic materials and resources to inform artists and designers about this unique public space. Funding for this project is provided by the Mellon Foundation.

The Columbus statue and the other controversial bronze elements are historical objects. Like many of its state and local history organizational peers, OHA is committed to preserving and maintaining public access to these items, ensuring that people can learn about their history, regardless of their location. With this in mind, OHA will remain neutral on the location of the statue and bronze elements, accepting design ideas that relocate the statue and/or the bronze elements, as well as those that leave them in place.

A Curatorial Committee has been assembled to go through this process with assistance from OHA’s consulting partners Forecast Public Art and EDR. Together they will develop the scope for the project, select the final designs to advance to a public exhibition phase, and select the winning design. 

Public art and urban space competitions benefit from technical knowledge of public art, landscape design, urban planning, historic preservation and planning, and experience with civic infrastructure projects. The majority of the Curatorial Committee are local community members who possess this expertise. The Committee also includes representatives from Syracuse’s Italian American community, the Onondaga Nation, and two nationally recognized experts who have research specialties in monuments, memory, and commemorative spaces.

As is common with juried competitions, it is important to prevent undue influence or lobbying of committee members. In order to ensure a fair process, the committee will not be named until after the winning design is announced.

The Full Circle Design Competition is a limited call art competition. Invitations will be sent to designer(s) from the local community and across North America.

OHA’s public art consultant, Forecast Public Art, will work with the Curatorial Committee to develop guidelines and requirements for the project. Qualified designer(s) must have past public art experience, including the ability to work with the project’s scale, materials and community context. They will be sent a formal “Request for Ideas” and provided with a brief that describes the project goals and theme, details and constraints of the project site, competition budget and timeline, and selection criteria.

The Curatorial Committee will select 3 finalists to invite to Syracuse for tours or virtual walk-throughs and to meet with stakeholders for a design team site visit to further develop their site-specific designs.

A public exhibition will be held in early November 2026. The winning design will be selected by the Curatorial Committee before the end of the calendar year. The winning design is then available for the city of Syracuse to proceed with the administrative reviews, approvals, funding and construction.

With assistance from Forecast Public Art, The Full Circle Design Competition issued an invitational request for qualifications from nominated North American designers.  Nominations included local, regional, and national practitioners in the art, design, landscape and architecture, and public space fields. Due to the project funding timeline, and the scale of the project, all nominated designers must demonstrate prior experience in completing public art installations in public space.

OHA will host a public exhibition of the 3 designs in November 2026. There will be presentations by the designers/artists, along with public lectures and engagement activities leading up to and during the exhibition. The designs and presentations will be virtually accessible through this website, which will also include a link to provide feedback during the exhibition phase of the project. Information for lectures, community engagement, and other public events will be announced on this website, and across a variety of social media and traditional outlets.