Now accepting proposals!

We want to hear about your creative community based idea to enliven our city! If you are interested in presenting at the upcoming DISHES dinner, submit your idea to us at saltcitydishes@gmail.com by January 15, 2012.

date is set for the next dinner!

Plans are in motion (and we're hungry already!) for the next Salt City DISHES dinner which will be happening on.... drum roll.... SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19th, 2012. Yuppers people, we can't wait!!!

We will be Requesting your Proposal in a few days.... start organizing your bright/creative idea to enliven Syracuse!

we're still here

The DISHES committee will be taking a short break and will be back in December, ready to promote the February 2012 dinner!!! Stay tuned!

SUBPAR, we love it!

SUBPAR has successfully installed their handmade ceramic printed tile's at 748/750 N. Salina St. An impressive must see in person!

Thanks for dancing with us!

The dance party was a blast and we raised a nice pocket of loot to help fund the next dinner! Thanks to everyone who came out on the hot hot night! We definitely had a bit more food left over than we would have liked, but much of it was happily donated to the local parish!

Special thanks to Graphik Nature Studios for the photographs, DJ Afar & Jeff York for the spinning tunes, Eleven Winery for the tasting; Wagner Brewing for the beer, Wild Flour Baking for the mini-vegan cupcakes, Craft Chemistry for the cheesie nachos and popcorn, Northside UP for the mood-lighting, Not Another Theatre Company for loaning us their PA system, Thanos Imported Grocery for the cheese platter and olives, Sparky Town for the cookies and brownies, and thanks to our DISHES chef Luke, from Mandana Inn, for the cornbread and honey butter!

Come dance!!!

The 'Dance for DISHES' party is tonight!!! We have the gym all dec'd out, DJ in place, food snacks ready, beer and wine all set - we just need you and your friends! 100% of the profits will help fund the 2012 season.

Here's the entrance to the space:

Dance for DISHES - WHERE IT'S AT

it's in a gym? YES

it's on the Northside? YES

it's off N. Salina? YES

so where is it?

get yours!

Tickets now available for the anticipated 'Dance for DISHES' at:

Craft Chemistry - 745 N. Salina St

Sound Garden - 310 Jefferson St

Recess Coffee - 110 Harvard Pl

See you on the dance floor Syracuse!

You say wHaT?!

Yes all! Dance for DISHES is in a gym! Same complex as the St. Clare Theatre where we host the community dinners, but this time we just thought we would change up the atmosphere!

Here's a sneak peek -

Salt City DISHES Summer BASH!

Can't wait for our dance party on the 19th!

Tickets go on sale August 12!

Love,

DISHES

Bikes 4 Peace: Upcoming Repair Clinic

Want to learn to mend a flat? Fix your brakes? Hang out with some awesome volunteers?

The May 1st DISHES winner, Bikes 4 Peace, will hold its next bike repair clinic on August 3rd at the Spanish Action League, 700 Oswego Street, in Syracuse.

Next event: August 19th!

We're thrilled to announce our next event, an end-of-summer bash in the gym of the Assisi Center, on the 800 block of N. Salina Street.

Friday, August 19, 8-11 pm
Dance, eat, drink!
Live DJ

Tickets, $10-$20, go on sale beginning August 12 at Recess Coffee and Craft Chemistry.

All funds go to funding DISHES' community dinner/grantmaking series. Help make it possible for us to continue awarding grants in 2012.

Ty Marshall's "Cardiff Giant"

Check out the Post-Standard's article on Ty Marshall, one of our May 1st presenters. Marshall is looking for support for his recreation of the Cardiff Giant, which he hopes to unveil in time for the hoax's 142nd anniversary this October.

Marshall hopes to raise $3000 to make his project possible. You can donate via Kickstarter here.

Good luck, Ty!

Bikes 4 Peace, our May 1st Winner!

On May 1st, Bikes 4 Peace, a program put on by the Syracuse Peace Council, won the $1,000 DISHES grant. Thanks to a rocking group of volunteers, Bikes 4 Peace sponsors free bike repair clinics for kids throughout the city of Syracuse.

The next bike assessment is scheduled for Thursday, 7/14 at 6 pm, SUNY EOC (100 New St., 2nd floor, Room 238).

The next repair clinic is slated for Saturday, 7/16. Details still to come about where that clinic will be held.

For more updates, and to check out what Bikes 4 Peace has planned for the rest of the summer, check out the group's Meetup site. There are some terrific resources on the site for cycling in Syracuse. Now that the city has announced its "complete streets" initiative, there's never been a better time to take up two wheels.

Syracuse Art Library

Just two more days to visit Syracuse Art Library's first show at Petit Library on Victoria Place, off Westcott St. The show features work by 10 local artists. Take a piece home and give a home to our homeless local art.

For more about the Art Library, presented at the May 1 DISHES, you can visit the group's Facebook page.

Congratulations, Art Library, on your first show!

Art on the Porches turns 11

In town this weekend? Our friends in the Strathmore neighborhood are putting on the 11th annual 'Art on the Porches' event this Saturday, June 18th from 11am - 5pm.
At the May 1st dinner, the 'Art on the Porches' organizers presented their mission to expand their outreach efforts for this year and the years ahead. And we'd like to let them know we'll all be there!

It is an excellent opportunity to meet local artists and buy art while eating delicious foods and jamming to great music! Bonus - if it rains, the art is "on the porches!"

For more information, please visit the Facebook event page.

Sponsor Spotlight: Small Potatoes

Enormous thanks to Small Potatoes, which is donating Flour City's Rasta Pasta for our May 1st dinner.

Small Potatoes is working on expanding, and needs your help. You can learn more about founder Marty Butts's plans for the bigger, better, buffer Small Potatoes -- and also pledge your support -- here.

Sponsor Spotlight: Grindstone Farm

Many thanks to Grindstone Farm, which is donating spinach for Sunday's DISHES. Grindstone is an organic farm in nearby Pulaski, NY. It grows more than 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables, which you can plug into with your very own CSA share. There are full and half seasons, "academic" shares (academic year only), even a flower share. CNY flowers delivered to you all summer -- what a fantastic way to celebrate the season. (And when you go pick up your share, you can think about that first line of Mrs. Dalloway: Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.)

For more, visit Grindstone on the Web!

Sponsor Spotlight: Wild Flour Baking Co.

The dessert rampage continues!

Many thanks to Wild Flour Baking Co., which is donating the vegan cupcakes that we're lucky enough to indulge in on Sunday evening.

The locally-owned company bakes with organic ingredients whenever possible, and relies on "pure muscle" to bake their scrumptious cupcakes -- such "old school" tools at whisks, bowls, and thermometers. And evidently, they "have the biceps to prove it!"

Personally, I have the satisfied belly to prove how delicious Wild Flour cupcakes are, but that's because I'm on the consumption end of this cycle.

You can reach Wild Flour at info@wildflourbakingco.com, or on Facebook, where you can find out about specials and other baking news (like the peanut butter cups that are coming soon!).

Sponsor Spotlight: Bittersweet at DISHES

Bittersweet
121 W Fayette St, Syracuse, NY 13202
315-474-WINE

I remember the first time I stumbled on Bittersweet this past winter. Syracuse was suffering under a cold, steady drizzle -- and I was too.

Bittersweet appeared out of the gloom, a warm-looking space offering the ultimate in warming treats -- dessert and wine. (For those who like to pair wine with something a little more substantial, "heartier" fare, including sandwiches and salads, is also available.)

We're so lucky that Bittersweet owner Patrizia Barbieri is donating its delectable Death by Chocolate Cake to the DISHES dinner next week.

If you can't wait that long to try a piece, stop in to taste your own! Bittersweet is open until midnight Monday-Thursday, and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. (I guess we're not the only ones who have chocolate crises late at night.)

Foodies out there can plan trips around specials (flourless chocolate cake! Chocolate and cheese cake!), which are often announced via Facebook.

Sponsor Spotlight: Columbus Baking Company

The folks at Columbus Baking Company were generous enough to support DISHES on our debut run. In fact, they were our first supporter for that event. We're honored that, for the May 1st DISHES, they are donating pizza dough! Which -- you guessed it -- means that, among other delectables, our chefs are making pizza.

You can pick up your own round of pizza dough from the company, which is located at 502 N. Salina Street (315 422 2913). Or visit the company on Facebook here.

SOLD OUT

All the available tickets have been purchased. THANK YOU, Syracuse, for your incredible show of support. May 1st, here we come!

Nearly SOLD OUT!

Tickets for Salt City DISHES are now sold out at Craft Chemistry and Sound Garden. If you are looking to purchase, make your way to 2nd Story for the last remaining few!

Tickets go on sale TODAY

Finally, the day has come! Salt City DISHES tickets will be available for purchase at 2 p.m. today at Craft Chemistry, Sound Garden and 2nd Story Bookstore. Don't wait too long to buy them, remember what happened last time?

Tickets for May 1st dinner on sale Friday, April 15th!

Get your tickets! Get your tickets! Tickets are available for purchase on Friday, April 15th! For the ticket price of $10-$20 (you choose what you pay), enjoy a home-cooked locally sourced meal, drinks, live music from the SU Klezmer Ensemble, dessert, and 8 unique Enliven Syracuse presentations! What could be more exciting? Oh yes, you get to vote on the project that you want to see happen!

Purchase your tickets at any one of these amazing local businesses:
Craft Chemistry 745 N. Salina St
Sound Garden 310 Jefferson Ave
2nd Story Cafe & Bookstore 550 Westcott Ave

Your ticket purchase will benefit the selected project chosen at the May 1st dinner and support the future happenings of the DISHES dinner/events. Thank You!

Past DISHES presenters

Ami Olson at The Eagle published a really nice write up last week about what happened to past DISHES presenters' projects. You can check out the article here. The article includes updates about Walking on Water, Syracuse Skillshare, Thumbs UPstate Improv Festival, the Syracuse Community Cookbook Series, and Storefront for Syracuse. Thanks, Ami!

We're so delighted that these projects were able to grow their audience and see their projects realized after presenting at DISHES.

Looking to find out more about the first winner of DISHES, SUBPAR? You're in luck, because they will be presenting an update at the next DISHES, on May 1st, about their winning proposal. Just another reason to buy your ticket (when they go on sale on April 15th) to the next DISHES dinner!

May 1st promo flyer!

A Photo Finish

We're surfing these final days of the May 2011 RFP.

In case you need a little inspiration, you might want to check out Lorna Oppedisano's piece on what's new for our May event; take a look at some of the new additions to the Sunday Soup Network (Phoenixville, PA; Northampton, MA; Providence, RI; and Bologna, Italy, with the charming name Cosa bolle in pentola?); or check out the video below.

Creativity takes space. Space means time alone. Don't fear it.

Gorgeous new promo video, thanks to Courtney Rile and Michael Barletta of Daylight Blue Media!

In case you forgot what the first DISHES felt like back in January; if you weren't able to make it; or if you're still not sure what this whole DISHES thing is all about -- check out our new promotional video!

DISHES Event from Daylight Blue Media on Vimeo.

A million thanks to Daylight Blue Media.

Last chance for a grant in 2011!

Hey! you! Syracuse! Yeah, you!

We have an important announcement about the May 1st DISHES.

It is likely to be our last grant-making community dinner in 2011.

Don't worry, we're not going away. Here's the deal.

Our summer event will be a different animal. (Details about that, as they say in publishing, TK.) In the fall, the people of DISHES will take a rest. You know, to gather acorns and nuts and things, and prepare for hibernation. We'll be back with another community dinner/grantmaking initiative in 2012.

That means May 1st is your last chance until January 2012 to secure a grant to support your project.

So if the promise of $1000 wasn't motivation enough... Be sure to get those proposals in tout suite!

New addition to the Soup Network: Flagstaff SUPPER

The "Soup Network" has a new member -- Flagstaff SUPPER.

To celebrate, we sat down to talk with one of its founders, Carolyn Deuschle. (OK, we sat down and emailed with her. But still.)

Have a read and get inspired!


Tell us a little about SUPPER!
SUPPER is a lot like DISHES. We bring people together for a dinner, at the end of which we fund a community enrichment or public art project. We seek to be an artist incubator, and in so doing we really want to try to bring people's attention to how their work can improve Flagstaff, by whatever definition improving Flagstaff means to them. Along the way, we want to expand the idea of what an artist is.

What does it stand for?
SUPPER stands for Supporting Urban Projects for Public Engagement and Revitalization.

Who did you team up with to make it possible?
From the start, I teamed up with two friends and a local businessman, turned friend, who runs a delicious bagel shop here in town. Recently a woman, who caught wind of our project, because coincidentally she was fielding interest in a FEAST-like event of her own in Flag, has joined our group.
Everyone brings something different to the table---whether that's a different creative perspective, skills in accounting, connections, or understanding of catering and hosting events. Obviously, none of us have ever done anything like this so a lot of discussions happen, sometimes about the most seemingly inane parts of the event. But everything feels really important to us, and we're all trying really hard to work together to make this as good as it can be on the first go-round.

How are you different from the traditional "FEAST" model?
Something that might make us a bit different from other food-based micro-grant initiatives is that we're working hand-in-hand with the city's public art commission. Since Arizona is such a heavily trafficked tourist destination, a certain amount of tax is apportioned from the sales of bed, board, and booze (it's called the BBB tax) to go to public art and beautification projects. That said, we want the commission to see SUPPER as a kind of artery for what they do, and to support us and the projects we fund. It's really important to us that a public art project that gets a SUPPER grant doesn't get taken down shortly after it's erected, so we're seeking to build a strong relationship with the commission so our projects get approved by the city for installment on public property. So far, the commission has been really supportive of SUPPER.

When and where is your first event?
Our first event is on Saturday, May 7th and it will be at Mia's Lounge, a bar here in town. We searched high and low for an all-ages venue in Flagstaff that would be a good host to SUPPER, but we really felt like we didn't have any options other than a bar. We hope that one day we can have it be an all-ages event, but until then, Mia's is a really fantastic space and we're very grateful that they've been so generous with us.

What are your hopes for it?
We want people who've never dreamed of calling themselves an artist to apply for a SUPPER grant, and for them, regardless of whether they get the grant or not, to feel community support for their project and the creativity they bring as an individual. Another hope is that SUPPER funds projects that have a tangible impact on the community.

What is the art scene like in Flagstaff?
The art scene in Flagstaff is really interesting. Of course since the Grand Canyon is so close (Flagstaff is the closest city to the canyon), there's a lot of paintings of that landscape and the galleries here are mostly filled with southwestern art. But there's also a lot of people doing their own thing, exploring art on their own terms despite that commercial lure. Though Flagstaff is a small town (around 60,000 people), there's a lot of diversity here too. There's a huge Native American and Hispanic population, both bringing their own artistic voices into the mix. A common thread that unites people in Flagstaff seems to be their love of the environment and the outdoors, regardless of cultural background. And I see this often times as the underlying theme of the kind of art that gets produced here. All that said, I'm really curious and excited to see what proposals end up being submitted for our first event.

Is there anything that you've figured out along the way that you wish
you'd known when you first started to put SUPPER together?
As much as I tried to prepare myself, I still don't think I realized just how hard and time-consuming it would all be. But on the other end of that, I also didn't realize how good it would feel when community businesses and members showed their support and generosity with their skills and resources. It helps me remember that we're all in this together, in a certain way, that I'm not the only one willing to invest my time and resources into this project, that other people believe in it, too. I guess I'm glad I didn't know this from the start though. It probably feels better as a surprise.

Do you have any all-time favorite public art projects -- in Arizona or
elsewhere?
Actually, one of my all-time favorite public art projects I saw when I visited Flag a couple of years ago, a few months before I eventually moved here. I was driving through the Navajo Indian Reservation, a desolate place in the Painted Desert where there's really not much to look at besides the vast expanse of the landscape and the abandoned and decaying buildings that line the highway. But when I looked closer I saw that on the sides of these buildings an artist---who I eventually learned was a physician who worked at the reservation named Chip Thomas---had wheat pasted posters of members of the Navajo tribe. I'm not sure entirely what the intent of the project was---perhaps to bring drivers-by face to face with the community they were crossing----but it was provocative nonetheless. And as a newbie to the West, it helped show me the possibilities of art-making in the western landscape.

Request for Proposals

Have an idea to brighten up the I-81 underpass?

Want to start an urban farm?

Launch a workshop series downtown?

Salt City DISHES: Dine in. Sustain Happenings. Enliven Syracuse! is a quartely event series/community dinner that provides grants to public arts projects that make the city of Syracuse a more dynamic, vibrant place to live. DISHES is a unique opportunity to present your idea - and gain funding - at a delicious community meal. The audience votes on the project that has the most potential. The winner takes home a grant to realize their project and returns to the following DISHES dinner to tell us about how it went.

We're currently soliciting project proposals for our upcoming dinner on Sunday, May 1. Presenters will compete for a $1000 grant to fund their work.

Your proposal must include:

A title; budget; timeframe for completing it; where it will take place; and who will be involved with putting it into action.

Please also include a brief (250-word) summary of why it matters and what it will do for the community, and include any visuals or relevant URLs. E-mail the whole package to saltcitydishes@gmail.com by April 1st.

Proposals from people who haven't yet pitched a project will take priority. And please note that we endeavor to fund projects that enjoy the support of our city's many different stakeholders. We're not able to support guerrilla art projects at this time. Finally, to be eligible for consideration, projects must be slated to take place in the city of Syracuse.

Have questions? Email us: Saltcitydishes@gmail.com

facebook.com/saltcitydishes / Twitter: @Saltcitydishes

Can't wait for everyone's proposals!

Join our mailing list!

Planning is underway for the next Salt City DISHES, scheduled for May 1. To make sure that you're up to date, send us a message to join our mailing list! We'll be sending out information about advance ticket sales, the menu, press, the progress of our January winners, SUBPAR, and other important information.

We promise not to overload your inbox with crap, or sell your information to this guy (or to anyone else for that matter).

photo courtesy eqcomics.com

We need you: Getting ready for our next event!

Hey guys! Christine here, and just wanted to give everyone an update on what's going on with the planning for the next event :)

If anyone has been following our Twitter feed (@SaltCityDishes), you'll know that I've been posting tweets about our next event at the St. Clare Theater at 5PM on Sunday, May 1st. We're all really excited, but wanted to know what you guys are looking forward to the most, such as the food, music, presentations, people, etc. We want to know what you think! Let us know in the comments below, or via our various social media accounts:

Twitter: @SaltCityDishes
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaltCityDISHES
Email: SaltCityDishes@gmail.com
Also, we have new guidelines for the request for proposals -- they will be up soon. We will be accepting proposals beginning tomorrow, March 1, until April 1st.

We're so excited and can't wait for May!! Can't wait to hear back from you guys!!
~Christine

Link for photo

Redhouse Art Radio interviews the ladies behind DISHES

The co-founders of Salt City DISHES, Briana, Stasya and Rachel, had a unique opportunity to talk about themselves and the DISHES effort on the monthly podcast "Arts Talk" by Redhouse Art Radio. Give it a listen, let us know what you think and get pumped for the next DISHES - May 1st, 2011.

Arts Talk: A Conversation with the Ladies of Salt City DISHES

The Syracuse NewTimes: Deep DISHES

Photo by Robyn Stockdale of Graphik Nature Studios

Nothing brings people together, fosters community, and brings out the beauty and potential of a space better than shared art.

Read Lorna Oppedisano's full story here.

The Eagle: Salt City Dishes links artists with community to fund projects

Photo by Maren Guse.

With money tight all around and arts taking an especially hard hit in every budget process, are community generated funding systems like DISHES the future of public art?

Read Ami Olson's full story here.

Salt City Dishes Wrap Up

Hi there! My name's Christine and I'm helping out with the social media for Salt City DISHES by mainly blogging, using our Twitter account (@SaltCityDishes), as well as posting things to the Facebook Fan Page.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend, the inaugural event was held at the St. Clare Theater on North Salina Street, on Syracuse’s North Side. The theater had a comfortable and cozy atmosphere, with small candles lining the tables throughout the room, along with strands of lights strung across the ceiling. DJs from WAER, Syracuse's local campus radio, played background music as the guests arrived.

Briana's homemade cupcakes were also a hit (and very pretty to look at!)

Once everyone was seated, our hosts for the night, Briana and Stasya, welcomed everyone to the event, thanking everyone who was able to help make it a reality. While listening to them speak, I thought about not only the importance of this event for a city like Syracuse, but its ability to bring together groups of people who might all share the same cause, but might not have been necessarily ever able to ever meet if it was not for DISHES. It made me proud to be able to be able to work with this organization.

Nine groups gave presentations about how they planned to use the money from DISHES to better Syracuse or the surrounding area. After the groups presented, our diners voted on the project they believed had the most potential -- awarding them $1,000 to realize their project.

The first presenters were Thomas and Meg from Library Far. Library Farm allows people to "check out" a plot of land at the Northern Onondaga Public Library in Cicero, NY, where they can grow their own fruits and vegetables. Anyone is allowed to sign up and begin using a plot of land.

http://www.nopl.org/library-farm

Twitter.com/noplibrary

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Joe, Mike, Ken and Vanessa presented their idea for hosting an Upstate Improv Festival in Syracuse on April 8 & 9, 2011. The event would be "another reason for young artists to visit and perform in Syracuse," they said, and would be based on other such festivals in Providence, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. In addition to comedy performances, the festival would provide workshops on improvisational skills.

upstate improve website

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Tonja Torgerson and Joel Weissman, with Syracuse Urban Beautification Public Arts Resistance (SUBPAR), were next to present.

View the video of their winning proposal on our Facebook page, as well as a summary of their project on our blog as well or within the article that appeared in The Eagle. One of the things that I liked most about their proposal was the amount of detail for each individual tile that would be placed to make the city more aesthetically pleasing.

__

Daniel Alguilera from Syracuse Community Cookbook Series was next to present. He proposed collaborating with the Photography and Literacy (PAL) Project and La Casita Cultural Center where the cookbooks would not only pass down recipes to younger generations, but allow them to become more engaged within in their culture. Listening to his proposal, I thought of the recipes that have been passed down to me from my grandparents and how important they are to me.

__

Jay Muhlin and Nathaniel Sullivan, from Walking on Water, were up after Daniel. They proposed a collaborative audio tour for those wishing to walk down Water Street from Crouse Avenue to Clinton Square. Being within their 'target' audience, one of the interesting things that I took away from this presentation was their solution of trying to make more students walk downtown. I was initially hesitant at first, but after listening to their presentation, believed in their project and wanted it to succeed.

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Storefront for Syracuse presented after a short intermission, proposing to revitalize old abandoned store fronts in Syracuse's downtown area, making them usable for local artists and students wishing to use them for exhibitions, and giving a new look to Syracuse's downtown.

http://aias.syr.edu/front

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Sara Mills from Art Cart presented her idea of a mobile bus with art supplies that would travel to outdoor locations throughout the city, providing free art activities within the community.

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Skillshare was the second to last group to present: they proposeda day of free community workshops for anyone with a skill they would want to share with others. This past summer, Skillshare included workshops such as Real-World Community First Aid, Composting 101, Community Bike Repair and Divine Decks.

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The final presentation was from FiboCuse, whose goal was to define the Fibonacci Spiral in Syracuse and gradually expand it beyond the city. Markers defining the spiral would be placed throughout the city and would be made between a collaboration of local high school students and artists.

Out of all of the night’s presentations, this was the most interesting and unique approach in attempting to improve Syracuse's overall image. I had heard of the Fibonacci sequence before, but never applied in this way. I hope that this project does become implemented, because of its originality and promise for Syracuse.

The night ended with a performance from Brown Bird, whose music perfectly complimented the atmosphere of the night. Overall, it was an amazing time and a great way to meet new artists and thinkers within Syracuse. I cannot wait for our next event in May and I am excited for what new ideas I will see there!