A gutted RV stands behind a locked fence in the rear of the ComArt Building on Syracuse University’s South Campus. In the spring, this RV will be a classroom that hosts literacy and photography programs to students in the Syracuse city school district.

The project will be conducted through SU’s Partnership for Better Education, which brings resources of SU and other universities to students in city schools.

The Mobile Literacy Arts Bus, or M-Lab, is being built by a group of nine undergraduate students and one graduate assistant in professor Marion Wilson’s social sculpture class in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Wilson approached the university two years ago to propose the idea. Soon after, New York Sen. David Valesky’s office approved a legislative grant of $15,000 for the project.

‘This is a good thing, a great use of state tax payer dollars to help this project, which is going to end up helping a lot of the Syracuse city school kids and help them be exposed to art, which can really benefit their long-term education,’ said Cort Ruddy, Sen. Valesky’s chief of staff.

POMCO Group, an insurance company based in Central New York, gave an additional $30,000. The project is viewed as an effort to expose inner-city students to educational opportunities that they may not otherwise have, Ruddy said.

‘Our hope is that by helping to fund this program, we will provide a lasting impact to the city school students by giving them greater access to educational experiences that inspire creative thinking and innovation,’ said Kevin Williams, director of POMCO Group marketing and communications. ‘Hopefully it will transfer over to success later in life.’

The Syracuse city school district is an insurance client of POMCO Group.

Ruddy, who called the project ‘academics with a social conscience,’ said he hopes the students involved will gain ‘personal growth from a project of this scope.’

The diverse group of artists, including architects, art historians, industrial designers and sculptors, meets once a week for six hours to talk about design issues and to work on the physical structure of the M-Lab, Wilson, the professor, said.

During class time, the students are usually divided into three groups with different responsibilities such as collecting materials, working on the light design and laying down the floor, which will be constructed out of recycled scrap wood donated by Stickley Factory and The Redhouse Arts Center.

Wilson works on the project ‘every day, nonstop,’ and students spend time gutting and building parts of the RV in small groups throughout the week.

‘We do everything collaboratively, which means with nine people, designing takes a lot longer,’ Wilson said. She said the primary goal of the project was to create a collaborative student design team, changing the classroom dynamic while creating something new.

‘This is one of the best things that SU has,’ said junior Sam Harmon, a sculpture major involved in the project. ‘(It’s) really a great opportunity. These are the kind of classes that really keep me excited about the contemporary art realm.’

Published on October 30, 2007 at 12:00 pm