Stephen Ryan, local graphic designer and professor at Onondaga Community College, has put his talents to use by capturing what some might call the simplicity of old days, of hanging out on the nose of an old boat and spending lazy summer days on the water.
“We were thrilled when Steve offered to do some work for us,” said Sue Dove, executive director of the Skaneateles Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re glad to have a Skaneateles resident do this for us.”
Ryan said he did the work pro bono because it was a way for him to be part of the community – a community that has become his home. For Ryan, who grew up in the Strathmore section of Syracuse, Skaneateles is “still Pleasantville” where the streets are safe and the village has an idyllic feel to it.
“I wanted to capture the essence of the boat show and also of Skaneateles,” he said.
He found an old photograph of kids sitting on a boat and the committee overseeing the poster’s creation supplied the rest of the photographs he used. One of the photos he chose to use was of the Judge Ben Wiles as it floated in the waters of Skaneateles Lake while a smaller boat zooms past its bow. The scene was captured by local photographer Stu Lisson, Dove said.
“Steve’s work was great. He really took a piece of the past and a piece of the present,” she said.
Commemorative posters will once again be on sale this year. Ryan’s design is available for $10 at the Skaneateles Area Chamber of Commerce office on Jordan Street and First National Gifts, 2 E. Genesee St. in Skaneateles.
“We look forward to having it all over the place to promote this year’s show,” Dove said.
The poster is a collaboration of three different posters Ryan developed for the judging committee to choose from. When he submitted the posters to the judging committee, Ryan told them to be honest with him about what they liked and what they didn’t like.
“I’ve got broad shoulders. I can take the abuse,” he said.
The committee decided there were parts they liked in one and parts in another, so the final design is a combination of all three mock-ups.
“It evokes the atmosphere of the event,” Ryan said about the poster. “It gives the feeling of what the event is.”
The 2009 Skaneateles Antique and Classic Boar Show will be in full swing from 3 p.m. Friday July 24 to 3 p.m. Sunday July 26. For more information, log onto the Chamber’s Web site at Skaneateles.com.
