Lydia Hatch, an International Relations major at Syracuse University, is helping with grant applications and other resource development.

Jing Chen, of the Engineering School at SU, is adding new features to our website.

Hoa Bui, a graduate of
PACE University, helps with bookkeeping and accounting.

Terrell Hargrove McShan originally joined us as an intern. Now he's back as a volunteer, working on
resource development.

Board Member Jancy Ball selling poster prints at the Syrcause Arts & Crafts Fest, 2009.

Jancy Ball and Ben Sio,
board members, assemble poster prints.

Lynn McDonald, board member, at Syracuse Arts
& Crafts Festival.

If you like seeing art in public places and you believe in art as an expression of community, help make it happen! Our poets and artists produce beautiful work. But to share this work with the broader community and make it financially viable entails an array of tasks. Help us by volunteering. You’ll get to share skills, learn new skills, and work with artists, poets and other champions of cultural life in Syracuse.

Our nonprofit group has a board of directors, a fledgling team of volunteers, and opportunities for high school and college interns. We meet for regular work sessions at the Syracuse University Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St. Check the following opportunities, find one that inspires you, and contact us.

For an informative story about the value of volunteering, read this article from the New York Times.

Graphic Design
Artists from Syracuse University design our annual poster series. But we still need illustrators, typographers and graphic designers to create publicity and marketing materials: letterhead, point-of-sale materials, brochures, poetry solicitations, web pages, invoices, thank-you cards, etc.

Micro-publishing
We're going to make better use of our large archive of haiku by developing haiku booklets, with guest curators selecting haiku around regional themes. We could issue a booklet, for instance, with the best haiku referring to Onondaga Lake, or turn out a booklet of crow haiku (why do crows inspire so many poets?). The task calls for volunteers interested in book design, fabrication, and distribution.

Accounting
In 2009, we began accounting with Quick Books. We’re now reaching out to new retail accounts. Our accounting system has to record a variety of sales (on-line, special order, wholesale, consignment, etc.), track royalty payments for artists, and complement our fund raising work. We need guidance and help from bookkeepers and accountants.

Computer Programming
We use databases to keep in touch with poets, artists, customers, sponsors and patrons. Since the development of our on-line store, this work has become more sophisticated. We need technicians who can design and maintain databases in Access, Excel, and other programs. And we need information technology people to set up hardware and software and manage files.

Sales
We need people with retail experience to help develop additional retail outlets for poster prints. Volunteers can help us reach out to gift shops, frame shops, coffee shops, and other sales venues.

Marketing
To attract people to the on-line store, we will expand the public display of posters, and develop other ways of directing people to the web site. We need people to develop these additional venues and connections—for instance, by arranging for cafes and other public places to display posters from past years’ series.

Campus Liaison
In 2009, advertising and marketing students at the Newhouse School of Public Communications developed a plan for marketing poster prints to the campus community. We need a liaison to coordinate this work.

Printing
We work closely with The Copy Centers, a downtown copy shop, but would also benefit from the expertise of professionals in the printing industry. Volunteers could help us diversify into other printed products, such as note cards and calendars.

Fund Raising
We need people with development experience who can secure grants, patronage and corporate sponsorship.

Writing
We need writers to help with a variety of tasks, including applying for grants, generating publicity, communicating and corresponding about our activities, and helping with the annual solicitation of haiku. The haiku solicitation involves reaching out to the poetry community, networking with schools and writing programs, and inspiring good work. We also need writers to help us launch and maintain a blog.

Reporting
Each poster print comes with an information sheet, with pictures of, and comments from, the poet and artist. We need people to gather those comments by recording and transcribing what the artists and poets say.

Civic Relations
We request permissions, funding, sponsorship, and in-kind support from a variety of institutions, including city and county government, the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan Development Association, and Syracuse University. We need ambassadors who can develop relationships with these institutions.