Former Strathmore Speaker Series Speaker and Syracuse-native, Billy McBride, returned home from Western Massachusettes to speak at the Strathmore Speaker Series this past April. Syracuse.com caught wind of McBride’s visit
Reclaiming Our Past: The Hotel Syracuse
The Strathmore Speaker Series is proud to announce that developer Edward M. Riley and muralist Katerina Spilio will present on the restoration of the historic Hotel Syracuse at the Firebarn at 7 pm on Thursday, May 12th, 2016.
Ed Riley
Riley, a Syracuse-native, has 40 years of experience in design, construction, and real estate development and hotel operations. In August of 2014, he resigned from his post as Senior Vice President for Design, Construction, and Real Estate with Pyramid Hotel Group to return home and begin work on the restoration of one of Syracuse’s most historic landmarks, the Hotel Syracuse.
Prior to joining Pyramid, Riley worked with Intrawest Placemaking, Marriott Resorts, and Waterford Development. He has been an architect of record and co-developer on several historic restoration projects in Armory Square area of downtown Syracuse, including the Bentley-Settle, Piper-Phillips, the McArthur, Worth & Cooney buildings. He is a graduate of Onondaga Community College and Syracuse University’s School of Architecture.
Katerina Spilio
Spilio, who was born in Athens, Greece, emigrated to the United States at the age of four and settled in New York City. While attending Hunter College High School, she began an apprenticeship in Byzantine iconography with her father, training in the creation of traditional Eastern Orthodox icons for churches. Spilio continued her education at New York University, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design at The London Institute, and the New York City Art Students League. She received her BA in English from Pace University. As part of Byzantine Icons Studio, Katerina has created original artwork ranging from twenty-five foot Pantokrator and sixteen foot Last Supper to miniatures five inches across. Her work is represented in private collections across the United States, England and Greece.
Former Pro Football Player Billy McBride to Speak at the Firebarn
Photo of McBride coaching by Masslive.com.
The Strathmore Speaker Series is proud to announce that Syracuse-native and former professional football player Billy McBride will return home to share his remarkable personal story and speak on race, diversity, and inclusion at the Firebarn on Sunday, April 17th, 2016 at 2 pm.
McBride is a 1974 graduate of Central Tech High School (today’s Institute of Technology) in Syracuse, N.Y., where he was named First Team All-City in football and basketball, and All-Upstate in football. Additionally, he received the Omar Spencer, Outstanding High School Athletic Award and in 1972, was named YMCA Youth of the Year.
Photo of McBride from his Central Tech days provided by Billy McBride.
A 1979 graduate of Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in recreation, McBride was a two-sport athlete in basketball and football. He was a member of Tennessee State’s 1975 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four team and was drafted into the NFL by the San Francisco 49ers shortly after graduation.
Today, McBride serves as the Assistant Athletic Director-Diversity and Inclusion, Director of Club Sports and Senior Coach at one of America’s premier liberal arts institutions, Amherst College in Amherst, MA.
McBride has been a guest motivational speaker at many colleges, elementary and high schools, and consulting firms, both domestically and internationally and on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.
McBride is also an accomplished art critic and author having lectured, written, and produced a podcast on the work of George Bellows in conjunction with the Amherst College Mead Art Museum.
Photo of McBride lecturing on the work of George Bellows by Rob Mattson/Amherst College.
More information about Billy McBride can be found here.
[Re]thinking Syracuse with Jason Evans
Photo of Jason Evans provided by Jason Evans.
The Strathmore Speaker Series is proud to announce that architect and artist Jason Evans will speak at the Firebarn at 2 pm on Sunday, March 20th, 2016.
Photo of Jason Evans in front of “Flowscape” by Syracuse.com.
Jason Evans, a Syracuse native, has been practicing architecture locally since graduating from Syracuse University’s School of Architecture in 2008. He has a passion for cities, and especially Syracuse, that is reflected in his work as a designer as well as throughout his life endeavors. He is the creator of [re]think syracuse, on online platform and blog of ideas for the city, and creates unique pieces of art and apparel inspired by the neighborhoods of Syracuse. He is the designer behind some large-scale collaborative pieces of downtown public art including the 2-block long Arterie, and Flowscape, located in Perseverance Park.
Photo of some of Evans’ art by Syracuse.com.
Evans can be found on Facebook here and on the web here. His artwork can be purchased here.
The Strathmore Speaker Series is Proud to Announce its Spring 2016 Season!
The Strathmore Speaker Series is proud to announce its Spring 2016 lineup. The season will kickoff on Sunday, March 20th at 2 pm with a presentation by architect, artist, and founder of [re]think syracuse, Jason Evans. Our second event of the season will feature a presentation by Syracuse-native, former professional football player, and diversity and inclusion expert, Billy McBride on Sunday, April 17th at 2 pm. Hotel Syracuse developer Ed Riley and muralist Katerina Spilio will conclude our season with a presentation on the exciting restoration of one of Syracuse’s most historic landmarks on Thursday, May 12th at 7 pm.
All events are held in the Onondaga Park Firebarn and are free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!
2016 Strathmore Calendars are still avaliable
The Strathmore Speaker Series is still selling 2016 Strathmore Calendars for $20 each. Please contact us here if you’d like one.
Proceeds from all sales will be used to sustain future Speaker Series events and programming which are free and open to the public.
“Social Impact and Syracuse” – Tim Rudd to Speak at the Firebarn
Social policy expert and recent candidate for Onondaga County Legislature’s 15th District, Timothy Rudd will speak at the Firebarn on Thursday, November 19th at 7 pm. Timothy will discuss exciting new strategies to finance investments in people and their applicability to communities like Syracuse.
Timothy is a Research Associate for MDRC – a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social policy research organization headquartered in New York City. For the last four years Timothy has been heavily involved in the first Social Impact Bond (SIB) in the United States. The project used a $9.6 million loan from Goldman Sachs to pay for cognitive behavioral therapy for 16-18 year olds in the New York City jail system on Rikers Island. If the program can reduce the amount of time participants spend in jail by more than 10 percent, the City of New York will repay the loan using money saved by keeping program participants from returning to the jail system. If the program fails to reduce recidivism by the required amount then the City of New York pays nothing and investors lose their investment. The project examines a number of new and innovative ideas about how governments can most effectively invest in their people.
Timothy’s presentation will introduce the SIB concept and describe how it could change the way government pays for investments in people. Additionally, he will comment in a private capacity about how similar ideas might have value in places like Syracuse. He will examine questions such as: Is it appropriate to use debt to increase the level of investment in people? What are the costs related to the way government currently makes investments in people? Does a lack of investment in people perpetuate poverty? And, can financial innovations unleash new capital that can be used to disrupt the cycle of poverty?
Timothy was born and raised in Syracuse. He graduated from Henninger High School, Syracuse University, and has an MPA from the Maxwell School. He lived and worked in New York City for six years including three years working for the New York City Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. He currently lives in the Elmwood neighborhood of Syracuse where he works for MDRC from his home.
Sean Kirst “Sells-Out” the Strathmore Speaker Series
Beloved Syracuse-area writer and journalist Sean Kirst presented to a standing-room-only crowd at the Onondaga Park Firebarn on Sunday, October 18th. Kirst, who recently announced his departure from the Post-Standard/Syracuse Media Group after 27 years of storytelling, addressed topics ranging from how he fell in love with Syracuse and the Strathmore neighborhood, to why he’s a Mets fan, and Roger Clinton’s love of “eatin.” He also discussed why he’s leaving the paper and what he plans to do next. A full audio file of Kirst’s presentation can be found here, while Time Warner Channel 10’s coverage of the event can be found here.
At the conclusion of the event, the Strathmore Speaker Series and the Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association presented Kirst with a token of appreciation on behalf of the Strathmore community. The photograph of a “Sunrise Over Onondaga Park,” was taken by long-time neighborhood resident and avid photographer, Vincent Miller, whose work can frequently be seen in the Strathmore Neighborhood Facebook group and on his own Facebook profile.
Photo by Vincent Miller.
Sean Kirst on “Syracuse: What I loved, why I stayed, what still drives me wild”
Writer and long-time Strathmore resident, Sean Kirst, will speak on Syracuse: What I loved, why I stayed, what still drives me wild at the Firebarn at 2 pm, Sunday, October 18th, 2015. The event is free and open to the public.
Since receiving his first paycheck as a journalist more than 38 years ago, Sean Kirst has built his writing career on his passion for the cities and countryside of Upstate New York. Before coming to Syracuse, Kirst worked for newspapers in Rochester, Niagara Falls, and his hometown, Dunkirk, New York. Kirst joined The Post-Standard/Syracuse Media Group as a writer in 1988 and became a columnist in 1991. Today his work focuses primarily on civic issues – often starting at the neighborhood level – involving struggle, hope and passage, the themes that dominate our Upstate lives.
Photo from Newshouse.
In 2009, Kirst became the first Upstate journalist to win the Ernie Pyle Award for human interest writing, presented annually to the one journalist nationally who best personifies the approach and ethic of Pyle, the renowned World War II correspondent. In 2010, Kirst received both the national Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in column writing and the national Capitol Beat award for commentary, for his columns on state government in Albany. He has won two national Clarion Awards for opinion writing. Kirst has also been recognized by the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors for his interactive involvement with readers, through his blog, and he has been honored by the U.S. Justice Department for sensitivity to victims of violent crime. In 2014, the Syracuse Press Club added his name to its Wall of Distinction.
Kirst is also the author of “The Ashes of Lou Gehrig,” a collection of baseball essays, and co-author of “Moonfixer: The Basketball Journey of Earl Lloyd,” the autobiography of basketball Hall of Famer Earl Lloyd, who in 1950 became the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association. The England-based Tolkien Society credits Kirst with proposing the worldwide Tolkien Reading Day that is now held every March, a celebration that always includes a gathering in Central New York.
Born in 1959, Kirst lives in Syracuse with his wife, Nora, a kindergarten teacher in the Syracuse city schools. They have three children: Sarah, Seamus and Liam.
Judge Joe Fahey to speak about “James K. McGuire: Boy Mayor and Irish Nationalist” at the Firebarn
Author and Onondaga County Court Judge Joe Fahey will be speaking at the Strathmore Speaker Series at the Onondaga Park Firebarn this Sunday, September 20th, at 2 pm. Come hear him talk about his latest work, a biography of one of Syracuse’s most interesting mayors and an early Irish nationalist, James K. McGuire.
Judge Fahey has taught at the Syracuse University College of Law and has written numerous articles on the Irish peace process. His latest work is a non-fiction book about his maternal great uncle, who was the mayor of Syracuse from 1896 to 1901.The book was the winner of the 2014 CNY Book Award for non-fiction.
Fahey is currently working on a biography of Fenian leader Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa and belongs to many Irish historical and cultural organizations. He considers himself first and foremost an Irishman.
The event is free and open to all!
STRATHMORE SPEAKERS SERIES 